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Reviews
The Nocnitsa (2019)
Very engaging.
This film was very entertaining and surprisingly engaging for a 6-minute film. What I liked about this film was the moody atmosphere and the intriguing mystery. The film opens in a very interesting way with a young woman sitting in her living room crying about something. Her husband comes home and asks her what is wrong and he notices a large cut mark on her forehead. The film then takes an interesting turn and we see everything that leads up to that point. I am not normally a fan of films starting with something that is going to happen and then seeing the past events after that, but I thought this film did it very well and pulled it off brilliantly.
The opening scene wetts the viewer's appetite and sucks you in right away by showing the first scene of the woman crying. It makes the viewers wonder what happened and it makes your imagination run wild. Was she attacked by a person a creature or some kind of entity? Etc. This mystery added to the film for me because I went into the film knowing nothing about it. I liked the dark atmosphere and the creepy sound effects. The look of the creature that torments the woman is freaky. It is a very creepy-looking creature and I liked the design a lot. I thought the writing and directing were good. The suspenseful scenes in the bedroom are well-shot and eerie. The main woman does a very good job in her acting. The special effects were great and I was not bored once during the film. I highly recommend this film.
Two Devices Connected (2018)
Short but interesting.
This film was entertaining and I was impressed with how the film was able to build up suspense and tension without showing the viewers much. The plot is simple, it follows a woman who walks to her car in an empty parking garage. When she gets in the car, a second device connects to her car's Bluetooth. It can't be the woman's phone so it has to be someone else's phone, but nobody is with the woman so why is another device connecting to her car's Bluetooth?
This concept was intriguing. The film is very short at only 3 minutes so we don't get any character development of the main woman, but this didn't bother me much, because the story was interesting and I liked the fact that it was suspenseful even though the whole film takes place in a car. The sound effects were well done and they helped build up the tension. The main actress does not speak but her performance was still okay. The directing was good and I thought the way the suspense and tension were built up during the film was well done. The ending was also clever and well done.
Lights Out (2013)
One of the best David F. Sandberg films.
I enjoy this one. I have seen this a few times now and it holds up well. The film is very suspenseful and creepy. It's about a woman who is alone in her house and one night she is in her hallway and she turns off the light and she sees a dark figure standing in her hallway. She thinks it's just a trick of the dark or her coat rack at the end of the hall, so she turns the lights on and off repeatedly, and the dark figure appears every time the lights go off and it disappears whenever the lights go on. This scene was very well directed and creepy and I like the concept of the dark figure appearing and disappearing. It was well shot and it was good writing. The film has a dark atmospheric tone and it's a well-made film. The acting from the woman was good and the creep factor was there during the full 2 minutes and 40 seconds of the film. The scene where the woman gets in her bed and hears a running noise in her hallway was pretty creepy too. The last scene was also scary and well done.
Sweet Dreams (2021)
Creepy and well made
I enjoyed this one. It was dark moody and atmospheric. The plot is simple but effective. It's about a man who has trouble sleeping because he believes there is something in the dark watching him. He had the same problem when he was a kid and he is troubled by his childhood memories of a dark figure in his room. The film does a good job of being eerie without showing much. For example, the man hears what sounds like creaking floorboards and some kind of thumping noise. Even though the viewers don't know what the noise is, it's still eerie and it makes your imagination run wild.
I liked the idea of the man trying to face his childhood fears, and I thought the actor who played this character did a good job. I also like how the movie was filmed, there are some interesting camera angles. The story was engaging and suspenseful and I liked it. When the dark figure is revealed it is incredibly creepy and frightening and it sent shivers down my spine. It's definitely one of the scariest looking entities I have ever seen in a horror short film. Overall I liked this film and found it entertaining.
Balcony (2015)
A pleasant surprise.
This film was surprisingly intriguing for a 15 second short film. It's about a woman who is standing on her balcony and she looks opposite her and sees a creepy looking lady staring back at her on another balcony. What happens after that is very bizarre and very original. The film feels eerie even though it's very short. I like the dark tone the film has and I liked how it was filmed. The sound effects were eerie and well done too. Coming up with creepy and original ideas in only 15 seconds is not easy, but this film pulled it off brilliantly with an ending that was clever and made me think even when the film was over.
Beast of Prey (2020)
This was Decent.
This film is surprisingly effective and well made for a 3 minute film. The film starts off with beautiful cinematography of the forest from above. I love the dark moody atmosphere. The film feels moody and erie even though the viewers don't see much. The plot follows a young woman who is being chased by something so she runs into a cabin and locks herself in a room. The sound effects are creepy and well done. I also liked the sinister music. The acting from the lead woman is pretty good. She gave an engaging performance. The directing is okay and so is the writing. At one point there is something on the other side of the door that tries to break into the room the woman is in. The film has an interesting plot moment, but I don't want to give away too much and spoil the film. The film does a very good job of building suspense and tension and I enjoyed that aspect of this film a lot. The only problems I have with the film is the running time being too short and the ending being slightly anticlimactic. The film had some really interesting ideas and it would have benefited from 2 or more extra minutes so we got more of those things. Overall I did like the film and found it entertaining for its short run time.
Attic Panic (2015)
Not as good as Sandbergs other films but still okay.
This film had its moments. The attic was a creepy setting. The lead woman did an okay job acting. The atmosphere was not overly dark or atmospheric but had a subtle creepy tone. The directing is okay, and so is the writing. The plot follows a woman trapped in an attic with a figure under a white sheet. I personally like the idea of an entity/ghost under a sheet, chasing someone, the idea is creepy. The sound effects were subtle and not over the top and sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. Here I thought it was just okay. The suspense was alright, especially the scene where the woman locks herself behind a caged door to protect herself from the entity. Was it a little bit silly? Yes, since ghosts can go through doors. But it made sense considering the woman was trapped in the attic and had nowhere else to run. I like the film okay but this should have been longer so we got more character development. Overall it's still worth a watch.
See You Soon (2014)
Just okay.
There is not much to say about this film because it's only 14 seconds long but I will say I like the dark moody atmosphere of the film. The film does a good job of producing a creepy vibe even though not much happens. The film opens up with a woman sitting in her room looking at a photograph of her dead husband and she suddenly sees a dark creature figure in the reflection of the glass frame she's holding. When she looks behind her there is nothing there but when she looks back at the picture frame she still sees the creature in the frame. I will admit I like how that scene was shot, it was an interesting idea having the creature in the frame but being invisible behind her. That was well done and so was the jump scare at the end. The creature is very creepy-looking looking and it's a genuinely scary design. Overall I liked the film but this was way too short to leave a lasting impact on anyone. I like the concept of the creature in the reflection, but the film would have been more effective at 2 minutes or even 1 minute. But for a 14-second short film, it was okay and worth a watch.
Creaks (2020)
Creepy and suspenseful.
This was well made and I liked it. Melissa Chantaj gave a good performance. The directing is very good. The writing is simple but surprisingly engaging and effective. The plot follows a woman who gets into bed to read a book and she starts hearing creaking noises coming from her closet. The noises start and stop and her closet doors slowly open inch by inch. The woman gets a peak of a dark shadowy figure in the closet and she closes the doors and gets back into bed. The closet scene was surprisingly tense and suspenseful. Despite being a dark film that takes place at night, the film does have relatively good lighting so the viewers can see around the room. I liked the idea of the woman pushing a chest in front of the closet doors to try and stop the doors from opening. The film has a nice dark atmosphere and some okay sound effects. The shadow creature is extremely creepy looking and I liked its design. Despite the film being only 4 minutes long it was very entertaining and suspenseful and it had creepy moments that had me on the edge of my seat. This film is definitely worth a watch.
Blackout (2019)
This was okay.
I liked this film. In the first 20 seconds of the film, there is some beautiful cinematography of the forest and the moving car from above. Shots like that always look beautiful and they are nice to look at. The story is simple but effective. It was well made for a low-budget film and I never expected a great film, I just wanted to be entertained and I was. The writing and directing are okay. The story is about a blackout and most of the film takes place in a garage. The blackout causes the lead woman to be trapped inside the garage.
I thought the acting from Ntenia Psyllia was good. When the woman realizes there is something in the dark garage with her this adds some good suspense and thrills. The film is only 3 minutes and 33 seconds long. I thought for the very short running time the film was able to deliver some good suspense and tension. The film was not terrifying, but I liked the dark eerie atmosphere the film had. I liked the music and sound effects too. Not knowing what is in the garage with the woman is what makes the film suspenseful and slightly creepy. The movie was well-filmed and entertaining. The film was a good way to kill some time and I enjoyed it.
Vice Grip (2024)
Fun film.
I liked this a lot. The film is about a girl who has nightmares every night about an evil creature that wants to destroy her. The girl watches online influencers who talk about lucid dreams and how a person can train their minds to be aware that they are dreaming so when they are dreaming they can control their dreams. I enjoyed this concept. The film has Nightmare-on-Elm Street vibes. The concept is similar because when the girl gets attacked in the nightmare she has scratches in real life. The girl has creepy dreams every night, and sometimes she doesn't know she's dreaming and sometimes she does. I liked the idea of the girl training her body to know when she was dreaming. I thought the idea of memorizing certain words to say so she would know when she was dreaming was an interesting idea.
Despite not being 100% original it still had some originality to it because of how the story was told, as well as the execution of the story. I liked the vice grip power the creature had, it was a scary power and the special effects were good. The directing is VERY good. The directing style is very engaging and I liked a lot of the camera shots. The script was good too. I liked the main actress Lana Spring, I thought her acting was pretty good and she was an engaging and interesting lead character. The film may not be terrifying but there were some creepy moments in the nightmare scenes. I liked the music and creepy sound effects. I also liked the atmosphere of the film. The film also had decent suspense and a thrilling and unexpected ending. Overall I thought this was a good film.
Closing Time (2023)
Well made.
I enjoyed this film. Right from the beginning the film has a very dark and moody atmosphere. The sound effects were good and they added to the dark tone the film had. This is more of a thriller film and not a horror, but the dark horror tone made the film engaging. The story was simple but interesting. It's about a woman who goes to a diner to wait for her boyfriend to show up because she wants to talk to him there. The girl notices a man with a black hoodie sitting at one of the nearby tables facing away from her so she can't see his face. He is sat there for a very long time and never moves from his seat and after a while the woman gets suspicious and wonders why he hasn't moved from his seat.
I thought this aspect of the film was well done and kind of creepy because we don't see this person's face. The woman is shaken up because she read about the murder of a woman on her phone that took place in her area and this adds to why she feels uneasy about this hooded man at one of the tables. She talks to the waitress and voices her concerns to her and the waitress agrees that the hooded man is making her nervous too, and she says he has been there for a long time. The film does a great job of building tension and making you wonder what is going on. The directing and writing are surprisingly good. The acting is good too. The whole film takes place at the dinner and despite the film being in one building, it was very entertaining and suspenseful.
The film has two twists. I did not see the first twist coming and I thought it was very clever. However, I did see the ending twist coming. It was a clever twist even if I saw it coming. I suspected something near the end and my suspicion was correct. This by no means destroyed my enjoyment of the film. Both twists linked up well and were clever and original. Overall this was a good film that everyone should watch.
Coffer (2014)
Not bad.
This was a simple to the point story about a woman who is relaxing in her house when she hears banging and creaking noises coming from the room she is in. She gets up to investigate and she finds out the noises are coming from inside a chest. Something inside the chest tries to push the lid open and get out, and the woman sits on the chest to try and keep the lid closed. The scene was very suspenseful and well done, especially the sound effects and how the lid of the chest kept trying to open. The main actress did an okay job here and she was believable in her reaction of fear. Obviously this film is not on the same level as some of David F. Sandbergs other films, but it was a decent effort and a cool concept. What the woman finds inside the box was a surprise and it was a very original concept and something I didn't see coming. The film could have been a few minutes longer because 3 minutes is too short. However for the short running time, an interesting story was still told well. I thought the directing and writing were okay. I liked how the last shot of the movie was filmed and there was a creepy moment near the end of the film that I thought was well done. Overall I liked this one, the chest concept was interesting.
Not Alone in Here (2020)
This was Decent.
I liked the film. The film is about a woman who follows a routine every night, and one night she gets home and goes to another room and she hears the front door open and when she goes to the room the door is still open but nobody is there. She locks the door and then goes to investigate her house to see if anyone is there. The story is pretty simple, it is nothing super original but I still found it interesting. I liked how the woman was narrating the story by telling the viewers what was happening and what she was thinking. When the woman eventually realizes something is inside her house she locks herself in her room.
I thought it was clever how she narrated horror cliches about not stepping out of your bed because someone or something could grab you from under the bed. I thought that was a funny tongue-in-cheek dark humour moment. The character seemed to be referencing other horror films that have done that. The writing directing and acting were just okay in my opinion. The only downside to this film is that it was not as creepy as some of David F. Sandbergs other films like Shadowed or Lights Out for example. This one had a lighter tone with fewer sound effects and less music and scares. It did have a couple of suspenseful scenes but this film focussed more on the fear of the unknown because the viewers don't see what is in the house. That aspect of the film is what made it a little creepy. Overall the film was okay and it's worth a watch.
Shadowed (2020)
Creepy and interesting.
I enjoyed this film. The concept was interesting. It's about a woman who lives alone, and one night she starts seeing shadows of objects and people in her house. She even picks up an invisible object, and she can see the shadow of the object. She freaks out over what she sees and then starts to see more shadows in her room. I found this concept interesting and kind of eerie. The idea of being able to touch an invisible object and see a shadow of the object without seeing the object itself is creepy. The woman starts seeing humanoid shadows in her room and freaks out and then tries to figure out what's going on so she walks around her house to investigate.
The directing and writing are okay. The acting was just okay. This is a film that would have benefited from being slightly longer. The film is 2 minutes and 58 seconds long if the credits are included. I am a fan of short films but I'm a fan of the short films that are in the 5-20 minutes running time. Shadowed is a film that reminds me of the Sleepy Eyes horror short film. It has such a cool concept but the film is so short that the concept can't be enjoyed much. The story succeeds at being creepy without much sound effects. The sound effects are very minimal here and yet the film still succeeded at being eerie and I found that impressive. If the film had 3 or more extra minutes the shadow concept would have been better. I liked the scene with the twitching shadow creature by the door. It was a creepy and eerie scene and well done. Extending the scene with the shadow creature by the door would have helped the film too. Overall I liked the film okay.
The Lookout (2021)
A hidden gem.
This film was surprisingly good. I did not expect to enjoy this film as much as I did. The film has fantastic cinematography. The directing is good and the writing is good. The film only has one character, a young woman who works at a lookout tower. Despite the film having only one character, the story is surprisingly engaging. The film has a very dark moody atmosphere. The sound effects and music are brilliant. The film feels eerie even though the viewers don't see much. I thought the acting was just okay. The story mostly revolves around the woman in the lookout tower who starts hearing strange noises next to the tower. One night she gets a call on the radio from a woman asking for help. She claims she is lost and there is something in the forest after her. The lead woman goes into the forest to investigate to try and figure out what's going on.
Usually, when characters walk off alone it's not the smartest decision to make but since this woman works at a lookout tower it's her job to investigate if she suspects someone is in trouble. So in this film, it makes sense for her to do what she did. I thought the suspense was handled well and the mystery was intriguing. There is a good twist near the end of the film. Although it's something I suspected briefly, it was not something that I saw coming all together. It was also done cleverly and creepily. My only tiny complaint is I wish the ending after the twist had been something different. But since the film is only 6 minutes long there was not enough time to do anything else so it makes sense that it ended the way it did. Overall I enjoyed this film it was very entertaining.
Sleepy Eyes (2016)
This film had its moments.
This was an okay film. It's not as good as many other horror short films I have seen but it is creepy at times and it has an interesting concept. It's about a girl who gets into bed and tries to go to sleep but she keeps hearing what sounds like her door opening and closing and every time she looks she sees the door is closed. This is definitely a good concept and I like the idea, the problem is the film is too short. I like short films but this concept would have been more effective and entertaining if the film had been longer.
Even at 10 minutes, it would have been more effective than only 4 minutes. Some short films work great at only 4 minutes but this one was just okay. The concept was way too interesting to be only 4 minutes. The directing is good and so is the writing. The main character does not talk but I thought her silent acting was good. The movie does a good job with things like entities hiding under bed sheets. I have always liked that idea and it's pretty creepy in my opinion. The suspense was handled well and the film was creepy. The film has creepy music too. Overall I liked the film but I would have liked it even more if it had been slightly longer.
Close Your Eyes (2022)
I enjoyed this one.
I liked the concept behind this film. It's about a guy who lives with his friend and one night he sees his friend standing by the front door acting strange. The guy tells his buddy that when he knocks on the door and listens, this female tells him stuff. It's a very bizarre concept but it's also kind of intriguing. This movie does a good job of being creepy without showing the viewers much. The main character doesn't think much of what happened until later when he hears noises inside the house. He tries to find out where the noises are coming from. This film is simple but effective. The directing is good. The cinematography is good. The writing was intriguing. Since the film is only 3 minutes long, there is no character development but that didn't bother me much because it's to be expected in short films. The creepy music and suspense kept me interested. The acting was okay. What I liked most about this film is probably its dark eerie atmosphere. I also thought the creature was freaky-looking. It's probably one of the creepiest-looking creature designs I have ever seen in a horror short film. The special effects were very well done and the film was well made. Overall I thought it was a good and creepy film.
The Willows (2020)
Creepy and original.
This was surprisingly good for a short film. I thought it had a good script and the directing was very good. The story is very engaging and quite original. I liked the idea of a group of friends watching a VHS tape of a horror film and then getting literally sucked into the film. I loved that idea. I have not seen a story like this before. I'm also surprised nobody has reviewed this film yet. The acting was decent and I personally liked the characters and I found them relatable. Short films don't have much time to develop characters and I thought for the short running time the characters were okay. I also liked the dark moody atmosphere the film has. The scenes in the forest are surprisingly eerie. I liked the sound effects and the special effects. I also liked the look of the creatures. The design was original and the chase scenes were thrilling. I only have one tiny complaint and that's the ending. I personally would have preferred a different ending but that's just my preference. Overall the film is pretty good and very entertaining and creepy. I thought the film was very well made and I liked it.