Alice Jacobs is Dead
Written & Directed by Alex Horwitz
2009, USA
A scientist works at creating a cure for a devastating disease, concealing a dangerous secret along the way.
This take on the potential end of civilization focuses on the relationship between its two lead characters, with just enough of the outside world on view to effectively provide Alice Jacobs is Dead with its grim backdrop.
The performance by veteran actor Adrienne Barbeau is excellent.
The Horizon Project
Directed by Scott Belyea
Written by Zack Mosley
2013, Canada
Uninfected survivors of a devastating pandemic are thrown into a nightmare scenario while being transported to a safe haven in this extremely relevant short film.
Director Belyea also made the apocalyptic short film Children of the Dark (2011).
The Horizon Project makes a great double-feature with Ashlea Wessel’s Tick.
Lunatique
Written & Directed by Gabriel Kalim Mucci
2016, Brazil
After an unspecified apocalyptic event, a survivor arms herself and leaves the relative safety of her shelter for a dangerous journey into the ash-covered remains of a destroyed city.
Creator Mucci, who frequently collaborates with horror short veteran Carlos G. Gananian (Akai), is planning a feature-length version of this bleak and very ambitious short film.
Midnight Clear
Directed by Joe Russo
Written by John Jesenky & Joe Russo
2017, USA
Veteran horror short filmmaker Russo abandons the more whimsical tone found in some of his previous work like Take-Out (2009) and Peeping Tom (2010) for this dark, outstanding piece that cleverly moves in unexpected directions.
Midnight Clear makes an ideal double-feature pairing with Brandon LaGanke’s Play House.
The Last Halloween
Directed by Marc Roussel
Written by Marc Roussel & Mark Thibodeau
2013, Canada
A group of costumed children go door to door in a ruined neighborhood carrying bags of candy and some dark secrets in The Last Halloween.
This excellent apocalyptic short film that had a very successful festival run shows both the external and internal devastation caused by the end of the world.
Filmmaker Roussel had previously made the award-winning 2010 horror short Remote but The Last Halloween is a more accomplished and effective piece of work that also happens to feature the welcome presence of Canadian character actor Julian Richings.
In the massive and ever-growing world of horror shorts, a film has to be unique to stand out and The Last Halloween is definitively unique.
M is for Messiah
Directed by Nicholas Humphries
Screenplay by Bob Woolsey
2013, Canada
Fans of Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man and Ben Wheatley’s Kill List will be especially attracted to veteran shorts director Humphries’ brief, enigmatic and captivating look at the end of the world made for the ABCs of Death 2 contest.
Humphries also directed the award-winning horror short The Little Mermaid, which despite being very popular in the horror shorts world, fails to have the same impact as M is for Messiah.
The director went on to make the feature films Death Do Us Part (2014) and Charlotte’s Song (2015).