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.
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
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.
No Way Out
Directed by Kristofer Aaron Morgan
Written by Kristofer Aaron Morgan & Eric Vespe
2011, USA
Morgan and Vespe previously collaborated on the action-oriented horror short film Blind (2004) and show leaps and bounds of growth with No Way Out, a nightmarish short that’s much better in every way than Blind.
Morgan and Vespe are currently working on their horror feature The Home.
Incubator
Written & Directed by Jimmy Weber
2011, USA
Director/screenwriter Weber delivers a huge improvement over his previous horror short The Gatekeeper (2010) in this take on the well-known “kidney donor” urban legend.
Incubator can be seen as the type of short film that plays like the first scene of a feature film as in the case of Deus Irae or a self-contained piece that would make a great double feature paired with David Alcalde’s El Ciclo.
Weber went on to make the horror feature Eat in 2014.