Category Archives: short film

What We Found Out There (Writ & Dir. Karl Kimmel), Short Film Review by Case Wright

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Why would a serial killer use Betamax? This question is very specific, but “What We Found Out There” answers it! I’m leery to give away the twist on this one because it’s … okay- it’s not amazing, but it’s not bad either. I would describe this short that way too: it’s…okay, not great, but aggressively mediocre. “What We Found Out There” is the six hours of sleep, the two dollar win on a five dollar scratch ticket, the soft cooked bacon, the flat soda, or the tie game of films.

Two friends go hiking and find an injured hiker who has a bag of Betamax tapes. They go straight to the police? Nope. Call in emergency services? Nope, that’s for wimps! The two guys go to their creepy friend’s house who has Betamax capabilities and they watch the tapes and discover that they are films of a man’s murders! Yes, the tapes are the recordings of a prolific serial killer! But whodunit?

The film does answer whodunit, but how? If you were expecting an answer on how, tough cookies! You heard me! Should you watch this? Why not? I mean, it’s not the worst thing I’ve seen. You won’t love it, but it is a solid mid.

The Nightwalker, Short Film Review by Case Wright

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Happy Halloween! I’ve really enjoyed this horrorthon. Were some of the films terrible? Oh Yeah!

Some were terrible!

AI has improved by a quantum leap and will likely surpass all normal film in the next 3 years. If “Nightwalker” is the competition for AI films, good riddance to traditional filmmaking. Do a lot of the characters look leathery and similar in AI films? You betcha! However, they’re less pretentious and boring.

In “Nightwalker”, a boring knight wants to get immortal life and seeks out a vampire and finds one. All I kept thinking was- why didn’t they use AI? It would’ve been better and cheaper. Granted, this short film was garbage trash; so, maybe the AI substitution is a bit unfair. What do I say to this critique? Bruh, whaddya a cop?

I will do a few more reviews for Halloween, but I hope the films are better than this. Let the machines rise!!!

The Leshy, Short Film Review by Case Wright

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The Leshy is a “micro horror film”. Is it terrible? No. It’s not. Jon Kent, the creator, has some real brass. I was very skeptical that a short film could deliver a story in a minute, but it did. The characters are clear, there is a story, and a payoff. The Leshy checks all the blocks for an entertaining short and does not try to be more than it is.

A man is dragging a dead body in the woods and he gets hunted by the leshy. I don’t know the physiology of a leshy, but it seems hungry. I would highly recommend that you take a minute out of your day to watch this.

Elevator Man, Short Film Review by Case Wright

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I knew that I had to review an Alex Magana film. Afterall, he makes them … on purpose and I’m sure that I’ve been wrong about things … maybe? But, not these films. This is going to be terrible because you can’t fix this, but we’ll get through this together. Maybe.

A woman is taking the elevator in a parking garage, but all of the buttons are pressed. Every time the door opens, who’s there – yep, Elevator Man. He appears to be Amish. He’s aggressively Amish; for real, check out this Amish vibe. Maybe, Rumspringa took a dark left turn?

I think you can survive Elevator Man, if you just throw a zipper at him; he’ll be confounded for weeks…weeks!

She sees him on every floor. She gets to the 5th floor and he’s waiting for her; so, she goes to the roof and he’s now in the elevator and really slowly grabs her like really slowly. You could’ve just walked to your car and he’d be like “A Car?”. Then, you drive away to safety and he goes back to selling well-made furniture.

Like New, Short Film Review by Case Wright

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Like New is another short film from High Low productions, which specializes in terrible short films. I can only imagine the business plan! They also made The Call … on purpose.

The protagonist is dressing up his mannequin and then taking photos. Out of nowhere, she now has her arms up. Oh No! The mannequin is also now moving on her own or at least sliding. Then, the mannequin puts the Whammy on him; so, he becomes a mannequin! The ending is fair because he did not say, No Whammies!

Uh Oh, she forgot to say, No Whammies!

Like New will hopefully get us to a world without Whammy-related tragedy!

Delivered, Short Film Review by Case Wright

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Why am I supposed to care about this woman? Ok, she lives alone and she ordered food. Maybe, the guy delivered the food to the inside of her house. But how?
She was at the door and there was no way he could’ve gotten past her and she didn’t have headphones on.

Is he a ghost delivery driver? If so, score! No tip! I’m not tipping a dead guy and neither should you. I think that I’m going to review AI again because people are really disappointing me!

The Call, Short Film Review by Case Wright

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If a man wakes up in the woods and no one cares, did a film even happen? Well sadly, this film was made because we don’t have quality control over whom gets to use the iPhone video camera app. We really need some punishment, if you make a film like this. I’m NOT saying beatings…BUT what if we don’t break the skin?

A man wakes up in the woods and a monster who mimics human voices chases him. I understand that some of you are thinking Appalachian horror, but you can’t because you will only encourage him and filmmakers like him. We can’t let this become a trend. Just, NO! We already have Alex Magana; he exists- AMONG US! If we get together, we could devise a plan to hide this man’s phone: PROBLEM SOLVED!

Looking Back, Short Film Review, by Case Wright

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When I watched this short, not only was I entertained, I was uplifted. The short reminded me of the positivity films Lisa reviews.

The short opens with a large husband, beautiful wife, and the husband finding a positive pregnancy test on his counter. I was waiting for the traditional revenge or betrayal story, but I got something totally different.

The wife says that the pregnancy test is her sister’s, but that he said that he was ok with not having kids. He feels disappointed that he won’t ever be dad and goes to his “car” to run errands. The husband goes to his electric car (ughhhh) and sees a “The Ring” like ghost in his rear camera. The man and the ghost take on a father/daughter relationship and it is … really sweet. If you’re looking for a reason to have kids, this hits that spot.

Man on a Train, Short Film Review by Case Wright

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The first thing I noticed when I watched this film was – Wow, this subway is nice! It turns out the film is from seven years ago; so, maybe it’s terrible now. I don’t know. The train could be riddled with plague and people running for office. For this moment in history, the subway was clean, people were bantering, and a man was on the phone; then, everyone disappeared.

We see the film through the eyes of a woman who quietly sits and observes her surroundings. She watches the other passengers until she dozes off. When she wakes up, everyone is gone – except for a psychopath.

The film disturbed me because it really made me wish everyone in England carried guns. She was completely alone, stalked, and her government made her completely vulnerable.

The Guest, Short Film Review by Case Wright

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This short was really well done. It had some scary moments and great comedy. This filmmaker has some real talent.

A woman gets a cursed painting from an old woman and the painting houses an evil spirit who likes to mock the main character. I highly recommend this short. It is so rare to be able to do this genre well that I’m going to see their other work. This is a must see!