Midnight Clear
Directed by Joe Russo
Written by John Jesenky & Joe Russo
2017, USA
Veteran horror short filmmaker Russo abandons the more whimsical tone found in some of his previous work like Take-Out (2009) and Peeping Tom (2010) for this dark, outstanding piece that cleverly moves in unexpected directions.
Midnight Clear makes an ideal double-feature pairing with Brandon LaGanke’s Play House.
Ayuda
Directed by Patrick Mason
Written by Patrick Mason & Raul Serpas
2018, USA
Two day laborers find themselves in way over their heads in this fresh take on classic horror genre elements.
Ayuda uses great autumnal atmosphere as a backdrop for its horrific events.
Director Mason is someone to keep an eye on.
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.
The Job
Directed by Nick Blatt
Written by Erik VanBezooijin
2016, USA
At the recommendation of a friend, a former champion cyclist takes odd, high-paying employment that raises potentially dangerous questions in this assured debut short film from Nick Blatt that features very solid acting.
It Began Without Warning
Directed by Jessica Cutright & Santiago C. Tapia
Written by Jessica Cutright & Santiago C. Tapia
2017, USA
A bloody showdown between a parent and a child takes on an even more sinister and horrifying dimension in It Began Without Warning-an apocalyptic piece that deserves feature-length treatment.
The Cutright/Tapia directing team cut their teeth on the dark horror short films Territorial (2011) and Pookie (2016).
She
Directed by Keegan Wilcox
Written by Matt Pelfrey
2015, USA
Two well-meaning men pick up a highly distressed woman who appears to be lost.
They then discover that no good deed goes unpunished in this very well made horror short that’s anchored by an excellent acting performance from Claudia Graf.
She is a potent, horror genre- encased glimpse at the devastating effects of sexual violence.
Sequence
Written & Directed by Carles Torrens
2013, USA
Chaos erupts as a man wakes to find everyone he comes into contact with has had a deeply disturbing dream about him the night before in this multiple award-winning short film.
Director Torrens also directed the horror shorts M is for Mom (2013) and Hide & Seek (2014) in addition to the ghost/haunted house horror feature Apartment 143 (aka Emergo, 2011).
His latest horror feature called Pet recently world premiered as part of the 2016 SXSW Festival’s Midnighters program to very positive reviews.
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.
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.
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.