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.
Tuck Me In
Directed by Ignacio F. Rodo
Written by Juan J. Ruiz
2014, Spain
Making a truly memorable ultra-short horror short film is no easy task but Rodo and Ruiz achieve that difficult goal with Tuck Me In.
If you like your short horror very short, watch this back-to-back with Jason Eisener’s excellent One Last Dive.
8
Written and Directed by Raul Cerezo
2011, Spain
In the world of dark magic, rituals must be performed according to strict rules. If those rules are not followed to the letter, the events of 8 might be the result.
A film that would have been very at home as an episode of the Boris Karloff-hosted Thriller or Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, this short would put a smile on the faces of the late, great horror writers Robert Bloch, Fredric Brown and Richard Matheson.
https://vimeo.com/31978327
Leyenda
Directed by Pau Teixidor
Screenplay by Pau Teixidor, Miguel Angel Blanca & David Gonzalez
2011, Spain
Reality collides violently with fantasy in Teixidor’s debut short film Leyenda, which continues Spain’s strong track record of horror short films that includes Nacho Cerda’s Aftermath and Genesis, David Alcalde’s Happy Birthday to You and Victor Garcia’s El Ciclo and T is for Tiles.
Teixidor and his screenwriting partners create a perfect level of ambiguity that will have most viewers scrambling to re-watch Leyenda. Teixidor made the horror feature Purgatorio in 2014.
T Is For Tiles
Written & Directed by Victor Garcia
2011, Spain
After years of toiling on feature film sequels and a Syfy Channel movie in the wake of his critically acclaimed short film El Ciclo, Garcia wrote and directed this excellent short film for the ABCs of Death competition that was created to find an entry for the “T” section of the film.
Lee Hardcastle’s claymation short T is for Tiolet won the competition and was included in the film but Garcia’s short is vastly superior to Hardcastle’s well-animated but ultimately juvenile piece.
Happy Birthday To You
Written & Directed by David Alcalde
2006, Spain
Screenwriter/director Alcalde followed up his ambitious apocalyptic black-and-white short film Dr. Curry (1997) with this superb short about a meeting of individuals with very dark secrets.
Despite his obvious talent and a very successful career directing commercials in Spain, a feature film has eluded Alcalde, who in the past has been connected to the horror films 27 Times (aka The Seeing) and In the Playground-a remake of the 1976 Spanish killer kids classic Who Can Kill a Child?.
Both of these projects fell apart-Who Can Kill a Child? was remade in 2012 as Come Out and Play by another director-but it’s been announced that Alcalde is set to helm an unnecessary remake of the 2006 French home invasion film Ils (aka Them).
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
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.