The Crossing
Written & Directed by Arseny Syuhin
2016, Russia
An emotionally distressed woman encounters a bizarre, dangerous entity in an underground tunnel in this polished horror short that features a John Carpenter-style electronic music score.
The Crossing was the last in a series of genre short films auteur Syuhin made before directing the solid science fiction-horror feature Superdeep (2020).
Night Crawl
Written & Directed by Gregory Schultz
2019, USA
Two inmates try to tunnel their way out of prison and discover an underground cave in this grim, well-made horror short.
Auteur Schultz has stated that he places a high priority on production design and his detailed work in that area really pays off here.
Home Invasion
Written & Directed by Liam Banks
2023, England
Veteran horror short film auteur Banks delivers his best work to date with this gory tale of a pair of thieves who get much more than they bargained for when they enact the titular crime.
Liam Banks also made the horror shorts The River (2022) and Did You See It Too? (2019), among others.
Moshari
Written & Directed by Nuhash Humayun
2022, Bangladesh
In a post-apocalyptic world, two sisters must survive the night hidden behind mosquito netting as their home is invaded by a blood-sucking predator.
This multiple award-winner contains high-grade effects and has hit it out of the park as a Hollywood calling card with the recent announcement of Jordan Peele and Riz Ahmed taking executive producer roles on a feature-length version of Moshari.
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.
Setaceous
Written & Directed by Tel Benjamin
2017, Australia
A late-night car alarm turns out to be much more than an annoyance to the residents of a suburban neighborhood in this well-made piece of automotive terror from short form veteran Benjamin.
The filmmaker next made the futuristic short film The Obscure (2018).
Prey
Written & Directed by Bill Whirity
2019, USA
A first date quickly spirals into madness but, as is the case with many horror short films, all may not be as it seems.
Prey is slick, memorable work from Whirity, who also made the horror shorts Semblance (2014) and Below (2015).
Oscar’s Bell
Directed by Chris Cronin
Written by Chris Cronin & Sam Cronin
2018, UK
A camping trip takes a very dark turn in this award-winner from veteran short filmmaker Chris Cronin.
Delivering an excellent piece with almost no dialogue (cinema’s most overrated element), Cronin uses a slow-burn approach and superb sound work to create genuine suspense. Oscar’s Bell has a bit of a 1970s feel to it, and that is intended as a major compliment to this talented director.
Boniato
Directed by Eric Mainade & Andres Meza-Valdes & Diego Meza-Valdes
Written by Eric Mainade & Andres Meza-Valdes
2015, USA
A migrant field worker decides to seek a better life but is thrown into a living Hell as she is attacked by flesh-eating creatures in this slick and gory short.
Florida-based filmmakers Andres Meza-Valdes and Diego Meza-Valdes previously made the horror shorts The Room (2007), Halfway (2009), Play Dead (2011) and Haunt Ed (2012) but Boniato is by far their most effective and accomplished work to date.
Zygote
Directed by Neill Blomkamp
Written by Neill Blomkamp & Thomas Sweterlitsch & Terri Tatchell
2017, Canada
A bizarre and deadly creature hunts the two survivors that have eluded it in an Arctic mining station.
This very high production value short features a great monster and goes very well with Jeronimo Rocha’s Dedalo (2013) and Andre Leblanc’s The Storm (2013).
Blomkamp also directed the horror shorts Rakka (2017) and Firebase (2017) as part of his Oats Studio film production slate but Zygote is by far the best of the bunch.
Short films of any kind are rarely graced with the large budget that director Blomkamp had available for Zygote but, as the director of District 9, Elysium and Chappie, working with big budgets is what he does.