Category: Surreal/Altered Reality Horror

GENESIS

Genesis
Written & Directed by Nacho Cerda
1998, Spain

Director/screenwriter Cerda followed his gruesome, uncompromising and controversial short film Aftermath (1994) with another striking piece of work highlighted by the performance of Aftermath lead actor Pep Tosar and the visual style of the great Spanish cinematographer Xavi Gimenez.

Genesis, a story of shattering loss influenced by the Pygmalion story in Greek mythology, was nominated for a Spanish Goya award in 1999.

Cerda went on to co-write and direct the disappointing horror feature The Abandoned in 2006 and is currently in development on a film adaptation of the World War II-set horror graphic novel I Am Legion.

Genesis is available on DVD from Unearthed Films, packaged with Aftermath.

EL CICLO

El Ciclo
Written & Directed by Victor Garcia
2003, Spain

Accomplished special effects technician turned director/screenwriter Garcia makes a very strong debut with this award-winning, mind-bending short film.

Chilean director Ernesto Diaz Espinoza’s 2012 ABCs of Death segment “C is for Cycle” and Dutch director Maarten Groen’s 2014 horror short film Rotor both tackle a narrative similar to Garcia’s but if you want to see the concept done right, look no further than El Ciclo.

The film industry attention Garcia received for this short film led to largely thankless jobs directing Return to House on Haunted Hill (2007), Mirrors 2 (2010), the Syfy Channel movie Frost Giant (2010) and Hellraiser: Revelations (2011).  His most recent feature is the 2013 supernatural horror film The Damned.

Garcia made another excellent short film T is for Tiles for the ABCs of Death competition in 2011.