BEATING HEARTS

Beating Hearts
Written & Directed by Matthew Garrett
2010, USA

Garrett creates a disturbing take on the “killer kids” subgenre with Beating Hearts, a short film you are not likely to forget any time soon.

This film can also be seen as an outstanding entry in the world of the domestic horror film occupied by other great short films such as Douglas Buck’s Prologue and Brandon LaGanke’s Play House.

Garrett previously made the excellent short film Ellie which he later incorporated into his superb anthology feature film Morris County which is available from Unearthed Films.

The filmmaker is also the curator of the Vivisections Horror Short Films program at the Mausoleum of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia.

ONE LAST DIVE

One Last Dive
Written & Directed by Jason Eisener
2013, Canada

Best known as the maker of the feature film Hobo with a Shotgun based on his highly entertaining fake trailer of the same name, Eisener also directed the well-known horror-comedy short Treevenge and a kids-oriented horror-comedy short called Want to Believe.

The director also contributed the “Y is for Youngbuck” segment to The ABCs of Death (2012) and the “Slumber Party Alien Abduction” segment to V/H/S 2 (2013).

Brief and extremely creepy, One Last Dive is Eisener’s best work to date.

M IS FOR MESSIAH

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).

EL MATADOR

El Matador
Directed by Gigi Saul Guerrero
Written by Shane McKenzie
2013, Canada

This ABCs of Death 2 contest entry (previously known as M is for Matador) is perhaps best described as a brief glimpse into a confined world of total madness.

Guerrero previously made the lesser horror short Dead Crossing and went on to make the horror short El Gigante and the segment “Dias De Los Muertos (aka Day of the Dead)” for the 2014 horror anthology Mexico Barbaro.

M IS FOR MALNUTRITION

M is for Malnutrition
Written & Directed by Peter Czikrai
2013, Slovakia

An ABCs of Death 2 contest entry, Czikrai’s zombie short may be slightly over-directed at the beginning but ends up very effectively channeling a classic Twilight Zone feel in the best way by film’s end.

Zombie burnout may be growing in the horror community but Czikrai finds a way to hit a fresh note just as Ben Howling & Yolanda Ramke did with Cargo and creates something compelling and memorable.

Cizkrai also wrote and directed the exceptional horror short films Good Night and A….

M IS FOR MAILBOX

M is for Mailbox
Directed by Dante Vescio & Rodrigo Gasparini
Screenplay by Dante Vescio, Rafael Baliu & Rodrigo Gasparini
2013, Brazil

In this entry in the ABCs of Death 2 short film competition, Vescio and Gasparini create the type of horror short that could be perceived as the first scene of a feature film in the vein of Pedro Cristiani’s Deus Irae.

Both short films lay the groundwork for great horror features that would be exciting to see.

Vescio and Gasparini directed the horror feature The Fostering (aka O Diabo Mora Aqui) in 2015.

CARGO

Cargo
Directed by Ben Howling & Yolanda Ramke
Screenplay by Yolanda Ramke
2013, Australia

At this point in cinematic history, it’s very difficult to make something special in the zombie subgenre.

Ben Howling (great name for a horror director) and Yolanda Ramke do just that with Cargo as the directing duo puts the focus on the devastating personal losses that follow in the wake of a plague of the undead.

PLAY HOUSE

Play House
Written & Directed by Brandon LaGanke
2012, USA

Ever wondered which short film you should watch to get yourself in the mood for a screening of Joseph Ruben’s 1987 classic The Stepfather?

You found your answer here in LaGanke’s disturbing horror short Play House.

Douglas Buck is correctly considered the godfather of what might be called “domestic horror” in the short film world with his creations Cutting Moments, Home and Prologue.

LaGanke creates another classic in the subgenre with this film.  Play House is a tremendous improvement over LaGanke’s black comedy short film debut Bunny Boy and shows directing talent that begs to be applied to a horror feature.

OTHER

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.

SPOILER

Spoiler
Written & Directed by Daniel Thron
2011, USA

Incorporating a high-tech police procedural element, Spoiler’s unique take on a zombie apocalypse has been very accurately described as “Michael Mann meets George Romero” by both viewers and Thron himself.

An accomplished visual effects artist who made a crime short film called Code 77 in 2015, let’s hope Thron returns soon to the world of horror filmmaking.