True North
Written & Directed by Brian Mitchell & Ian Start
2021, USA
The death of his child and the disintegration of his marriage puts Elliot in a downward spiral.
After a disturbing, enigmatic call from his wife, Elliot travels to their remote cabin in the woods and comes face-to-face with another level of personal horror.
Ian Michaels turns in an excellent lead performance here.
Co-creator Mitchell also directed the horror cinema series History of Fright (2018).
Fish Out of Water
Written & Directed by Kirsten Carthew
2015, Canada
In a wintry post-apocalyptic world, a young woman fishes on a frozen lake for her only source of food. When another survivor arrives on the scene, the woman’s solitary way of life stands to change permanently.
Those who like their apocalyptic cinema on the frigid side should watch this accomplished short as a double-feature with Daniel Byers’ Ice Man.
Auteur Carthew’s futuristic feature film Polaris has its world premiere at this year’s Fantasia Film Festival.
Nightingale
Directed by Jasper de Bruin
Written by Simone Duwel
2020, Netherlands
In this accomplished horror short, a nurse working the night shift at a nursing home tries to conceal a gruesome secret.
Hopefully, we will see another horror short from director de Bruin in the very near future.
La Oscuridad/The Darkness
Written & Directed by Jorge Sistos Moreno
2019, Mexico
A young woman emerges from a lake, beaten and battered. After making her way to an elementary school, she meets up with the principal and dark secrets are revealed.
Watch this excellent short as a double-feature with Keegan Wilcox’s SHE.
Highway
Written & Directed by Vanessa Gazy
2016, Australia
A young hitchhiker gets warnings about calamitous future events over the radio in this accomplished, Twilight Zone-esque short.
The filmmakers create a great sense of atmosphere throughout.
Auteur Gazy also made the short films Foal (2015) and Shiloh (2018) and is the creator of the television series Eden (2021).
Within
Written & Directed by Rory Wood
2021, Canada
The discovery of a mysterious den in the woods has a catastrophic effect on a family in this very well-made short that features great cinematography and superb sound design.
Keep an eye on Rory Wood, who currently has another short film in the works called Last Night.
Sound from the Deep
Written & Directed by Joonas Allonen & Antti Laasko
2017, Finland
After failing to find adequate spots for deep-sea oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean, a ship’s crew decides to change course in order to investigate an unusual sound.
Moving into uncharted waters, the crew makes a life-altering discovery.
This very ambitious short successfully puts an environmental spin on the literary work of H.P. Lovecraft.
Progeny
Directed by Justin Daering
Written by Kenda Greenwood & Justin Daering
2019, USA
A factory worker is forced into surrogate parenthood by his alien boss in this well-made, thought-provoking short.
Just as Ashlea Wessel does in her great short Tick, director Daering delivers a highly memorable look at an altered society in a brief amount of screen time.
While it works very well on its own, Progeny clearly lays the groundwork for a feature film.
Ice Man
Written & Directed by Daniel Byers
2019, USA
A survivor known as “Ice Man” battles a band of cannibals in a snowy, post-apocalyptic world.
Auteur Byers creates a very memorable short, successfully channeling Richard Matheson’s classic novel I Am Legend along the way.
Byers had previously made the period zombie short Bloodyback (2016) and is currently in post-production on the feature film Banishment.
P.O.W.
Directed by Doug Cook & Eric Covello
Written by Doug Cook & Mark Prosia
2015, Canada
With town residents occupied by an event honoring military veterans, two thieves break into a home in search of some easy loot.
Once inside, their plan goes sideways and the robbers are thrown into a grim and very dangerous situation.
This one makes a great double-feature with Jonathan van Tulleken’s Off Season.
The filmmaking duo of Cook & Covello has been quiet since P.O.W.. Let’s hope they have more cinematic work in the pipeline.