If there’s one thing I’ve learned from attending and writing about horror film festivals over the past few years, it’s that the short film selections often end up being more interesting and memorable than the features. I have a real soft spot for short-form horror fiction, and I frequently find that a quick, punchy burst of horror storytelling can be just as effective as a 90-minute fright flick, if not moreso.
This year’s edition of Panic Fest played host to a wide variety of horror shorts – some funny, some creepy, some gory, some disturbing, some long, and some the very definition of “short”. In fact, there was so much on offer as part of their virtual shorts line-up that it was a daunting endeavour to curate a small selection of interesting curiosities to recommend via The Geek Show – but I’ve managed to narrow my selections down to a pleasantly sinister number of 13. So, without further ado, let’s take a closer look at these tiny terrors…
Molly’s Crossing (dir. Jacob Streilein) was one of the shortest offerings on the entire Panic Fest lineup, boasting a miniscule runtime of only 1 minute and 48 seconds, and yet the punch it packs is undeniable. Gorgeously animated by, seemingly, only one person, Molly’s Crossing tells the tale of two friends on a night-time drive along a supposedly haunted road – with one of the pair seeming all too eager to test out the veracity of the legend surrounding it. It’s a conceptually and audio-visually strong piece, but what stuck with me the most is the unspoken darkness that lies at its heart, and the quiet implications to the piece which haunt far more than any roadside ghost ever could.
A haunting of a very different kind takes place in Halfway Haunted (dir. Sam Rudykoff), a humorous ghost story which sees a struggling tenant, Jessica (Hannan Younis), begrudgingly make a deal with the poltergeist haunting her house (Kristian Bruun) a’ la’ Beetlejuice (1988), in order to avoid getting evicted by her heartless new landlord, Stephanie (Sugar Lyn Beard). It’s a funny, charming, and occasionally more-gruesome-than-expected tale of renting struggles and spiritual possession that benefits from a good sense of humour and some very strong performances, especially Younis; her physical performance as the possessed Jessica truly has to be seen to be believed – at once funny and impressive.
The most unique case of possession witnessed at this year’s Panic Fest belongs to Lady Puritan (dirs. Justin Streichman, Gustine Fudickar), in which a modern-day woman’s body (Fudickar) is hijacked by the spirit of her axe-crazy puritan ancestor (Dorothy Dubrule). Formally experimental and visually stunning, Lady Puritan is an audacious piece of filmmaking and all the better for it – not least because of Fudickar’s unflinching, astoundingly daring lead performance. Lots of horror films nowadays sell themselves as being the “weirdest” and “freakiest” film in decades, but Lady Puritan is a rare beast in how naturally, earnestly freaky it is.
A violent body-stealing persona also has a prominent role in Jekyll/Hyde (dir. Joshua Leonard), a reworking of Stevenson’s classic tale of deviant dual personalities that tells the story of a dinner-date from hell. Leonard’s approach to the material at hand is a minimal yet theatrical one, and makes for an effective update of one of literature’s most beloved monsters – especially once it reaches its inspired twist reveal, one which continues in the source text’s tradition of making audiences wonder where “Jekyll” ends and “Hyde” begins.
The dining-table terror continues in Spill (dir. Carter Breaux), in which four dinner-guests are invited to play a game of truth and lies with their wealthy host and mutual friend, Dante (Jachin Liké) – one where the stakes are as high as they come. Enjoyable and tense in equal parts, this 9-minute exercise in bloodshed and betrayal acts as a good reminder that honesty is, on the whole, the best policy – especially if you have an unstable rich friend with a flair for theatrics.
Perhaps even more unpleasant than the social gathering in Spill is the one at the heart of Would You Rather (dir. Sophie O’Donovan), in which an ostracised young Irish woman, Sadhbh (Enya Donohue), finds herself feeling incredibly unwelcome at a house party with her judgmental “friends”. This is a deeply unpleasant piece of filmmaking, and I mean that as a compliment; its violence is nasty, but not nearly as nasty as the characters responsible for it. Having been a university student for the past couple of years, the accuracy with which O’Donovan portrays the casual cruelty apparent in far too many modern social group dynamics is both astonishing and disturbingly relatable.
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Social pressure continues to produce gruesome results in Vowels (dir. Rafael De Leon Jr.), which follows a budding actress (Alexa Smith) with a speech impediment as she prepares to record an important self-tape audition. De Leon has previously proven that he can construct a compelling piece of short horror, and Vowels is no exception, combining the psychological and the visceral to create a piece of shocking cinema that revels in righteous frustration. This is a solid depiction of “letting the intrusive thoughts win” in a wince-inducingly gory yet undeniably cathartic fashion, and the little touches of the fantastic throughout only add to its poignant impact.
More body-horror and a social stigma of a different kind combine in Breeder (dir. Sapphire Sandalo), which made for one of the toughest watches of this year’s festival, but also one of its most rewarding. Inspired by Filipino folklore, the film follows Mary (Kristine Gerolaga), a young pregnant woman in the midst of considering the decision to have an abortion against her mother’s wishes – only to be visited by a terrifying demonic force with horrifying plans to force her hand. At once both a grim meditation on familial pressures and a rallying cry for bodily autonomy, Breeder is arguably the most disturbing short out of all my recommendations – albeit all with a very clear purpose. It also features a strong, culturally-specific supernatural element, one which will leave viewers unsurprised to see Host (2020) writer and producer Jed Shepherd’s name make an appearance in the credits.
The theme of the horrors hidden within “traditional family values” continues in Trad (dir. Dave Bekerman), in which a live-streamer, Mary (Milly Sanders), adopts the persona of a 1950s-style homemaker at the request of her deadbeat musician husband (Andrew Perez) in the hopes that the grift will bring the pair out of their financial woes; as the demands of both her concerning newfound audience and her uncomfortably enthusiastic partner grow more and more overbearing, “Homemaker Mary” is driven to the brink of insanity – and once that line is crossed, blood will be shed. The film plays like a very modern reworking of a twisted E.C. Comics morality tale, complete with a fair amount of very, very dark comedy, yet it also takes the time to linger on the darkness of its more serious observations about right-wing internet culture and the latent misogyny behind the “tradwife” phenomenon within it. It’s solid, thought-provoking stuff – not to mention the fact that it gets very Roald Dahl with its final shot, and I’m not talking about his stuff for kids.
The stresses of the modern age continue to play a factor in Don’t Bury It (dir. Kristian Fitsall), which manages to be one of the funnier titles on this year’s Panic Fest line-up. Doug (Will Close) has lost it all: his girlfriend (Manpreet Bambra), his job as a gravedigger, his general sense of dignity, and perhaps even his mind. Rather than dealing with the problems in his life in an appropriate manner (or any manner at all), he decides to do what he knows best – bury them! It doesn’t matter if it’s unwashed crockery, or broken appliances, or people who try to make him realise that there is anything unusual about his behaviour – they’re all going under the lawn. Don’t Bury It fulfils the comic potential of its premise in a variety of ways, and – like the growing mound of soil behind Doug’s home – its plot gradually builds and builds until there’s no going back, and the resulting punchline is fitting and very funny (if slightly spoiled by the short’s poster).
More modern-day frustrations feature in My Severed Arm (dir. Casey De Fremery), in which a woman (Olivia Rose Prince) pursued by a slasher-killer (Ryan Romine) comes face-to-face with another terrifying force in her attempts to fight back and survive the night – unskippable YouTube ads! It’s a silly and stylish little film that speaks to a feeling that all those who use the internet in this age of endless invasive marketing and corporate-owned social media will know all too well, and the joke somehow manages to never outstay its welcome throughout the short’s 9-minute runtime. The relevance of the film’s title only becomes apparent about halfway through, and thankfully it does not disappoint.
There are few adverts more bizarre and uncanny than those for medication, as can be seen in LingKellia (dir. Adam Raynes), a fictitious television commercial for a prescription drug with some less-than-desirable side effects. By far the shortest film on the entire Panic Fest lineup, LingKellia nonetheless manages to be good messy fun, and its absurd tone lends it to pair nicely with one of the festival’s feature-length offerings, which I also recently reviewed – Buffet Infinity.
The topic of slimy body-horror and unwanted catches brings us to the final title in this round-up, and my personal highlight of the fest – Pearls (dir. Alastair Train), a wholly original take on the classic tale of a deal that seems too good to be true – and it is. Another one in the E.C. Comics vein of gruesome pitch-black comedy, Pearls follows Tony (Rory Murphy), a man whose struggles with keeping it up downstairs lead him to seek the assistance of a shady oyster dealer (Mark Wingett), whose wares seem to bear magical properties. To say any more would be to give the game away, but just know that the note this ends on is spectacularly dastardly, and there are a couple of unique body-horror images throughout which are bound to stick to your brain like a limpet. The fates of the characters in this one are enough to make those with shellfish allergies feel thankful for their intolerance.
Puritan ghosts, pregnancy demons, psychotic gravediggers, and dodgy oysters – this kind of variety (and quality) is what keeps me coming back to the short film showcases at festivals time after time. Everyone who made one of these shorts should be especially proud of their work, as well as the countless others that I didn’t have the time and space to mention. For anyone who is even vaguely interested in the sounds of these shorts, I urge you to check them out wherever possible, be it at festivals or when they eventually receive a wider release elsewhere – you could well be about to discover your next favourite horror filmmaker.
