They Will All Die in Space
Written & Directed by Javier Chillon
2015, Spain
Moving into the darker side of science fiction after his comedic short Decapoda Shock (2011), auteur Chillon delivers a great piece of space horror with a grim tone reminiscent of many American science fiction feature films of the early 1970s.
Some viewers might be initially thrown off by Chillon’s decision to shoot in black & white but it is ultimately a very effective choice.
The Storm
Written & Directed by Andre LeBlanc
2013, USA
It is not uncommon for a horror short film to play like the opening scene of a feature film.
This is the case with great horror shorts like Pedro Cristiani’s Deus Irae, Dante Vescio & Rodrigo Gasparini’s M is for Mailbox and Can Evrenol’s Baskin among others.
However, it is very unusual for a horror short to play like the first scene of the last third of a feature film like The Storm does.
Made by highly accomplished visual effects artist LeBlanc, this film is an ambitious take on the “Arctic horror” subgenre occupied by such feature films as all three versions of The Thing, Yim Pil-Sung’s Antarctic Journal (2005) and Larry Fessenden’s The Last Winter (2006).
The filmmaker is currently in post-production on another science fiction-oriented horror short called They Watch.
Other
Directed by Daniel DelPurgatorio
Screenplay by Anthony R. Williams, Daniel DelPurgatorio & Rob Foster
2012, USA
Accomplished animator, effects artist and designer DelPurgatorio creates this dark tale of a visionary doctor’s attempt to cure his own terminal illness with unexpectedly grim results.
Perhaps best known as the co-director of the animated short Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter, Delpurgatorio directs Other in the style of the early David Cronenberg films Stereo and Crimes of the Future but with more memorable results.
DelPurgatorio directed another science fiction-oriented horror short called Body(s) in 2015.