We were holding this back, but for some reason, multiple versions of this same tale/concept have been popping up. Two of them appear to be by the same team (same guy playing the dad), only the gender of the kid is different. We found this one to be the most effective, by far. No gore, no violence at all (the artistic team lets your imagination do all the freaky work), but still the stuff of nightmares, and clocking in at two minutes. That is not an easy task. Watch it below… lights off, of course!
The reason that more than one film-maker has used this theme, we discovered a couple of days ago, is that it was based on a very creepy and raved-about Reddit post. If you’re in even a little bit of an unstable mood, and are having trouble sleeping, we recommend that you save the creepy sub-reddits for the daytime. The disturbing, creepy threads are clearly indicated by the name of the category (such as “letsnotmeet), so there’s no danger of you suddenly getting the shit scared out of you if you’re paying attention to the topics. When it comes to reading some of them alone at night, you have been warned…
“The Little Witch” was produced, directed, and filmed by Alasdair McBroom – check out his official site right here. The story was adapted from a version by Reddit user who goes by the name of “justanothermuffledvo”.
Don’t forget: if you know of a really good short horror film we haven’t featured yet, please share it with us so we can give it a gander and (if it’s creepy enough) post it! You can put a link, or the title, in the comments section.
This is going to have to be split up into three posts, since we already needed to take a month to watch the movies and don’t want to take another month writing this.
Even with the number of horror movies ole Mrs. Horror Boom sees being more in a month that the average movie-goer sees in a year, you’d think finding 31 I hadn’t seen yet would be a cinch, right? Wrong! Fortunately, there was a huge number of new releases for the month of October 2014. I actually saw more than 31, but some were so shitty I don’t even want to add them to the list. A couple of them literally put me to sleep, and there were a couple of others that were so bad I blew a mental fuse just sitting through and trying to tolerate the goddamned things, and either picked up my iPad for some task/game that required most of my attention, or just said the hell with it and turned it off, then re-watched something I knew was a sure thing and would not disappoint me (thus, the few re-watches on the list).
However, let’s just start with the list. I could put them in the order I saw them, but then I would have to look at a detail of our Amazon Instant Video and the VOD cable bill, which I am too nervous to look at and see how fast the charges added up (I’ve seen enough scary movies, I don’t need scary real-life). Let’s try alphabetical order. An asterisk means that the movie was a fairly new release, say available on VOD less than six weeks.
Oh, and if there is an R-Rated and an Unrated version available for a flick, assume I watched the Unrated (such as the very torture porn-y Carver. Also if they ever tried to make an R-Rated version of The ABCs of Death 2,* it would probably cut the running time by a good 10 minutes, depending how much of a prude the ratings board members were for that project. For PG-13, there would be about 200 words that you cannot say in a PG-13 movie cut out, and some of the shorts (they usually average 3-4 minutes) would last maybe 30 seconds and you would not definitely know what the fuck was going on with most of them. So thank you, Magnet Releasing!
I also added links to the IMDB pages (or pieces Horror Boom did on the fright flick in question previously), and stuck in a few of the better trailers to keep things interesting. Turns out roughly a third of the horror movies on the list are found footage, and while at least a couple will end up on the “worst” list, there were some nice surprises (including the “mockumentary” The Gerber Syndrome).
Up next? The ten worst films on the list; after that we’ll get to the ten best.
* We will have a review of ABCs of Death 2 coming up where we name the top ten entries. This will actually take some work, because the shorts were so much better it’d be faster just to name the few stupid or lazy ones. In the first ABCs of Death, I couldn’t even get a list of the top ten together; after “X is for XXL”, “L is for Libido”, “T is For Toilet”, “Young Buck”, and “Dog Fight”, picking five more would be a stretch. A list of the ten worst for the same movie, however, would pretty much write itself. I was happy to discover after the sequel roared to a finish that I could barely list the five worst. But I digress…
OK, so it’s Monday and we’re feeling a little low on energy here, but hey, you don’t have to be at the top of your game either before you take our newest poll! We inserted a few of our favorites here in this piece in case you hadn’t seen them yet, or wanted to confirm they still scared the living shit out of you before you voted (and yep, you can pick two runners-up for a total of three picks). Scroll down if you want to skip the preamble and go directly to vote.
See, we post a lot of scary short movies online. Sometimes–like this past weekend– we sit through literally dozens of ’em on the laptop looking for a gem worth posting. We do have a few sure things we’re still saving for a rainy day, but these days, we’ve already posted most of the scariest made (so far). It seems like whenever we’re combing the net and watching ten or more at a time, it’s always after midnight, which may be why we stopped having “Scariest Short Horror Film of the Week” be a regular feature for a while back there, but that’s beside the point.
What do we look for before deciding to post? A good jump scare–or two–is usually a sure thing, as long as it’s earned and not a cheap, lazy one. “Lights Out” sure has that:
A fridge scare (AKA a chilling and/or horrifying reveal), done well is also a sure bet. Here’s an example of the latter, in the very short, simple, but hair-raisingly effective “Mockingbird” (from Drew Daywalt):
Of course, some really disturbing make-up effects and gore aren’t required (none of the films listed so far really have much blood), and gore for the sake of gore isn’t scary, but here’s an example of it working well in the exorcism shocker “Deus Irae”.
Then you get a film that has all of the above (except the gore) but you don’t really break down intellectually what aspects scare you until after you’ve calmed down from watching it (whenever the hell THAT is), because you’re too busy for anything besides being fucking terrified. If we had to pick just one “Scariest Short Film We’ve Ever Seen,” it’d be the absolute nightmare that is Mama, below.
We know you’ve seen others, so we listed the ones here that got the most positive feedback and left a space for a write-in. Tell us, we’re seriously curious! Here we go.
If you feel like watching a bunch more, go to the “category cloud” on the sidebar and pick “Scariest Short Horror Film of the Week”. “Horror Short Films” will work too. Here’s a few links to ones we highly recommend if you missed them the first time around: Bloody Cut’s gothic folktale of the “Suckablood,” and their gory masterpiece “Don’t Move” that gives you another reason who you should never even be in the same house as a Ouija Board, let alone play with one. There’s also two other Drew Daywalt films that we watched in the middle of the night and instantly regretted our decision; “Spoon”, starring Christa Campbell showing some acting chops, and “Cleansed,” which we regretted watching after dark less than a minute in. Actually, anything we’ve posted associated with Bloody Cuts UK or The Daywalt Fear Factory could give you nightmares…
Well surprise surprise, it’s another heart-pounder of a short horror film by Bloody Cuts UK! We posted another short horror film a couple of years ago with the same basic plot, but this one was different–and frightening enough–that we didn’t let that stop us from picking this creeper for scariest of the week.
Check out “Stitches,” the second (out of thirteen) short Bloody Cuts released, right here… and don’t forget to stick around until after the credits have finished rolling. Oh, unless clowns creep you the hell out, in which case consider yourself warned:
In case you’re interested in being terrified some more, here’s a link to the similar film I was talking about. It’s longer and does a different take, but is still “12 Minutes of Must-See Terror!” as we titled the post when we first published it a little over two years ago. We’re leaving out the title so as not to spoil you, just in case you haven’t watched the above short yet. Again, be warned: you WILL jump!
OK, what is the LAST kind of “urgent newsbreak” you want to see while you’re babysitting?
Also, as usual, Bloody Cuts put up a “Making-Of” video for the short. I don’t know about you, but usually I watch these to remind me the short that just actively frightened me was only make-believe. Though they are also very informative, and it’s so cool to see what a team of creative, talented people can create with a low-budget when they really throw their hearts into making the best short they can. Interested (or need to be reminded what you just saw was fiction)? Watch the behind-the-scenes featurette below.
Hope y’all had a safe and sane Independence Day, and are planning on seeing some insane, unsafe movies over the holiday weekend! We just want the goddamned illegal fireworks to STOP ALREADY. They started two days early on July 2nd, and we’ll probably be hearing them tonight as well. Our two cat’s nerves are all shot to hell.
So, anyway, this last film from Bloody Cuts, “Dare,” wasn’t a huge production.The reason it was made? To give an example (and illustrate the guidelines) of the “Who’s There?” short film contest. You know, the one that gave us the Grand Prize Winner “Play Time,” and awarded “Lights Out” with Best Director.* So even though this film was just made as an example of what can be done in around three minutes, it really shines. If they didn’t put their usual amount of care and concern and craftsmanship into it –all hallmarks of any Bloody Cuts short– we’d be pretty surprised. Sometimes they shoot them fast, but there’s a ton of prep time. This one has a pretty simple concept… but that doesn’t mean it won’t creep you the hell out!
There’s a really impressive, creative back-story on the official Bloody Cuts page for “Dare,” and this time, you’ll get just as enjoyable–and maybe scarier–experience if you read it first. Here’s that back-story, straight from the Bloody Cuts site:
On the outskirts of Lynnsmouth, three teenage girls break into the grounds of an old crumbling property overlooking Dodman’s lake** and dare each other to enter the rotten house, it’s rumored to be haunted by the ghost of Lord Tarquin Wyrmwood IV and his mistress whom hung themselves together in the attic a hundred years past.
The two older girls bully Amy into going first… she must climb to the attic and count to a hundred, a second for each year that’s passed since the deaths of the owners, the legend promises that if you make it to a hundred you’ll see a ghost.
Amy enters the house, she didn’t believe in ghosts…
96… 97… 98… 99…
Here’s what they have to say about the making of “Dare” (do NOT read until you’ve seen the film-SPOILER ALERT otherwise):
‘Dare’ was created specifically for the first ever “Who’s There” Bloody Cuts Film Challenge. This was served up as an example of a sub three-minute short, created to the theme of “Who’s There?” and made for under a $1000 budget. A benchmark, a jumping-off point, a bar set for other filmmakers to jump over.
Which they did. Spectacularly.
Filmed over two days in a dilapidated, terrifying old farmhouse, some of the building was sealed off because the ceiling had fallen down. Nature had reclaimed half of it, and the other half was a bird graveyard. It was the least glamorous shoot Bloody Cuts ever had to endure…
Nope, not looking too glam.
Thankfully Bloody Cuts have a lot of skilled friends and family members willing to spend their weekend in a broken-down, soot-filled ruin for free. Featuring some of the more complicated practical effects Bloody Cuts have ever had to deal with, ‘Dare’ required the use of floor-drilling, wire-work, rota-spinning and hiding in cupboards! We even used one of the many bird-skeletons for set decoration.
Due to the isolated location and lack of anywhere remotely clean, Millennium FX’s make-up work had to be applied on the side of a dirt-road, which certainly surprised the locals! Thankfully it didn’t rain, otherwise this would’ve been a very different story. ‘Dare’ delivers a tight, fast, furious and horrifying twist on the haunted house genre. Not bad considering it was created as an ‘example’ of what could be achieved with a limited budget and specific theme.
Trivia: the painting which changes from being ‘normal’ into a twisted nightmare is not actually Lord Tarquin Wyrmwood IV, but Bloody Cuts writer Joel Morgan. And yes, that is his hat. And no, you can’t have it.
Going back for a repeat viewing? We sure did, and noticed a few creepy details we missed the first time. If you’d like to see the “Making Of” video (sometimes that helps us with our nightmares, for one thing), check it out!
‘Dare’ was created specifically for the first ever “Who’s There” Bloody Cuts Film Challenge. This was served up as an example of a sub three minute short, created to the theme of “Who’s There?” and made for under a $1000 budget. A benchmark, a jumping-off point, a bar set for other filmmakers to jump over. Which they did. Spectacularly.
Filmed over two days in a dilapidated, terrifying old farmhouse, some of the building was sealed off because the ceiling had fallen down. Nature had reclaimed half of it, and the other half was a bird graveyard. It was the least glamorous shoot Bloody Cuts ever had to endure…
Thankfully Bloody Cuts have a lot of skilled friends and family members willing to spend their weekend in a broken-down, soot-filled ruin for free. Featuring some of the more complicated practical effects Bloody Cuts have ever had to deal with, ‘Dare’ required the use of floor-drilling, wire-work, rota-spinning and hiding in cupboards! We even used one of the many bird-skeletons for set decoration.
Due to the isolated location and lack of anywhere remotely clean, Millennium FX’s make-up work had to be applied on the side of a dirt-road, which certainly surprised the locals! Thankfully it didn’t rain, otherwise this would’ve been a very different story. ‘Dare’ delivers a tight, fast, furious and horrifying twist on the haunted house genre. Not bad considering it was created as an ‘example’ of what could be achieved with a limited budget and specific theme.
Trivia: the painting which changes from being ‘normal’ into a twisted nightmare is not actually Lord Tarquin Wyrmwood IV, but Bloody Cuts writer Joel Morgan. And yes, that is his hat. And no, you can’t have it.
We honestly don’t think Bloody Cuts UK could have ever made a boring short horror film–even if they tried.
*Speaking of dares, we dare you to watch either of the above contest-winning short films (note that we included helpful links) in the dark, alone, with headphones on. That is, if you weren’t planning on getting much sleep anyway…
**Sound familiar? It’s the lake from “Dead Man’s Lake,” possibly our personal favorite BC film. Or one of our favorites, it’s hard to pick… top three? Maybe.
Dare – is a 3 minute short film created as a benchmark film for the Bloody Cuts Horror Challenge of 2013.
“On the outskirts of Lynnsmouth three teenage girls break into the grounds of an old crumbling property overlooking Dodman’s lake and dare each other to enter the rotten house, it’s rumored to be haunted by the ghost of Lord Tarquin Wyrmwood IV and his mistress whom hung themselves together in the attic a hundred years past.
The two older girls bully Amy into going first… she must climb to the attic and count to a hundred, a second for each year that’s passed since the deaths of the owners, the legend promises that if you make it to a hundred you’ll see a ghost.
Amy enters the house, she didn’t believe in ghosts…
96…97…98…99…”
‘Dare’ was created specifically for the first ever “Who’s There” Bloody Cuts Film Challenge. This was served up as an example of a sub three minute short, created to the theme of “Who’s There?” and made for under a $1000 budget. A benchmark, a jumping-off point, a bar set for other filmmakers to jump over. Which they did. Spectacularly.
Filmed over two days in a dilapidated, terrifying old farmhouse, some of the building was sealed off because the ceiling had fallen down. Nature had reclaimed half of it, and the other half was a bird graveyard. It was the least glamorous shoot Bloody Cuts ever had to endure…
Thankfully Bloody Cuts have a lot of skilled friends and family members willing to spend their weekend in a broken-down, soot-filled ruin for free. Featuring some of the more complicated practical effects Bloody Cuts have ever had to deal with, ‘Dare’ required the use of floor-drilling, wire-work, rota-spinning and hiding in cupboards! We even used one of the many bird-skeletons for set decoration.
Due to the isolated location and lack of anywhere remotely clean, Millennium FX’s make-up work had to be applied on the side of a dirt-road, which certainly surprised the locals! Thankfully it didn’t rain, otherwise this would’ve been a very different story. ‘Dare’ delivers a tight, fast, furious and horrifying twist on the haunted house genre. Not bad considering it was created as an ‘example’ of what could be achieved with a limited budget and specific theme.
Trivia: the painting which changes from being ‘normal’ into a twisted nightmare is not actually Lord Tarquin Wyrmwood IV, but Bloody Cuts writer Joel Morgan. And yes, that is his hat. And no, you can’t have it.
Dare – is a 3 minute short film created as a benchmark film for the Bloody Cuts Horror Challenge of 2013.
“On the outskirts of Lynnsmouth three teenage girls break into the grounds of an old crumbling property overlooking Dodman’s lake and dare each other to enter the rotten house, it’s rumored to be haunted by the ghost of Lord Tarquin Wyrmwood IV and his mistress whom hung themselves together in the attic a hundred years past.
The two older girls bully Amy into going first… she must climb to the attic and count to a hundred, a second for each year that’s passed since the deaths of the owners, the legend promises that if you make it to a hundred you’ll see a ghost.
Amy enters the house, she didn’t believe in ghosts…
96…97…98…99…”
‘Dare’ was created specifically for the first ever “Who’s There” Bloody Cuts Film Challenge. This was served up as an example of a sub three minute short, created to the theme of “Who’s There?” and made for under a $1000 budget. A benchmark, a jumping-off point, a bar set for other filmmakers to jump over. Which they did. Spectacularly.
Filmed over two days in a dilapidated, terrifying old farmhouse, some of the building was sealed off because the ceiling had fallen down. Nature had reclaimed half of it, and the other half was a bird graveyard. It was the least glamorous shoot Bloody Cuts ever had to endure…
Thankfully Bloody Cuts have a lot of skilled friends and family members willing to spend their weekend in a broken-down, soot-filled ruin for free. Featuring some of the more complicated practical effects Bloody Cuts have ever had to deal with, ‘Dare’ required the use of floor-drilling, wire-work, rota-spinning and hiding in cupboards! We even used one of the many bird-skeletons for set decoration.
Due to the isolated location and lack of anywhere remotely clean, Millennium FX’s make-up work had to be applied on the side of a dirt-road, which certainly surprised the locals! Thankfully it didn’t rain, otherwise this would’ve been a very different story. ‘Dare’ delivers a tight, fast, furious and horrifying twist on the haunted house genre. Not bad considering it was created as an ‘example’ of what could be achieved with a limited budget and specific theme.
Trivia: the painting which changes from being ‘normal’ into a twisted nightmare is not actually Lord Tarquin Wyrmwood IV, but Bloody Cuts writer Joel Morgan. And yes, that is his hat. And no, you can’t have it.
Dare – is a 3 minute short film created as a benchmark film for the Bloody Cuts Horror Challenge of 2013.
“On the outskirts of Lynnsmouth three teenage girls break into the grounds of an old crumbling property overlooking Dodman’s lake and dare each other to enter the rotten house, it’s rumored to be haunted by the ghost of Lord Tarquin Wyrmwood IV and his mistress whom hung themselves together in the attic a hundred years past.
The two older girls bully Amy into going first… she must climb to the attic and count to a hundred, a second for each year that’s passed since the deaths of the owners, the legend promises that if you make it to a hundred you’ll see a ghost.
Amy enters the house, she didn’t believe in ghosts…
96…97…98…99…”
‘Dare’ was created specifically for the first ever “Who’s There” Bloody Cuts Film Challenge. This was served up as an example of a sub three minute short, created to the theme of “Who’s There?” and made for under a $1000 budget. A benchmark, a jumping-off point, a bar set for other filmmakers to jump over. Which they did. Spectacularly.
Filmed over two days in a dilapidated, terrifying old farmhouse, some of the building was sealed off because the ceiling had fallen down. Nature had reclaimed half of it, and the other half was a bird graveyard. It was the least glamorous shoot Bloody Cuts ever had to endure…
Thankfully Bloody Cuts have a lot of skilled friends and family members willing to spend their weekend in a broken-down, soot-filled ruin for free. Featuring some of the more complicated practical effects Bloody Cuts have ever had to deal with, ‘Dare’ required the use of floor-drilling, wire-work, rota-spinning and hiding in cupboards! We even used one of the many bird-skeletons for set decoration.
Due to the isolated location and lack of anywhere remotely clean, Millennium FX’s make-up work had to be applied on the side of a dirt-road, which certainly surprised the locals! Thankfully it didn’t rain, otherwise this would’ve been a very different story. ‘Dare’ delivers a tight, fast, furious and horrifying twist on the haunted house genre. Not bad considering it was created as an ‘example’ of what could be achieved with a limited budget and specific theme.
Trivia: the painting which changes from being ‘normal’ into a twisted nightmare is not actually Lord Tarquin Wyrmwood IV, but Bloody Cuts writer Joel Morgan. And yes, that is his hat. And no, you can’t have it.
This is the eighth and final short film in the series from Bloody Cuts (unless you count the example short they made for the “Who’s There” contest, which we’ll also be posting), and while it’s too bad it’s the last, it’s certainly an excellent one to finish out the series with. This is more fun the less you know going in, but I should note it is definitely gory enough to not be suitable for kids. Crank the sound on this one, and not just because it’s scarier that way, but because of the amazing sound/foley art (worth an award right there). The same goes for the visuals- anything less than HD and you’ll be missing out on some amazing effects.
Just to give you an idea of how much work (and blood) was put into Don’t Move, it features the biggest cast, the most deaths, the heaviest visual FX and the largest crew to date; over thirty people came together to make the bloodiest & tensest cut yet. Oh, and the Don’t Move shoot was so messy that fake carpet had to be laid down… and director Anthony Melton was forced to spend Monday morning cleaning blood off the walls. (Source: Bloody Cuts UK)
So what are you waiting for (other than daylight)?
Now THAT is how you fucking end a gory short horror film. BOOM! We’re not surprised that the director’s favorite horror film is Hellraiser (I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that visual will be leaving my head for weeks months). If you want to know about Don’t Move, we’ve got plenty of goodies for you. Read on!
Here is what Bloody Cuts UK officially has to say about “Don’t Move” (on their website):
‘Don’t Move’ represents the directorial début of Bloody Cuts producer Anthony Melton, and his love of horror classics such as Hellraiser ensured ‘Don’t Move’ has become a tense, disturbing and brutally bloody short.
Developed as a challenge to create a horror script with little movement and hardly any dialogue, ‘Don’t Move’ crawled out of writer David Scullion’s twisted brain in 2010, where he promptly left it on a shelf to gather dust. When producer Ben Franklin discovered it in a basement two years later, Bloody Cuts quickly realized they had found their Episode 8.
Funded by the fantastic generosity of Horror-lovers all over the globe, the month-long Kickstarter campaign for ‘Don’t Move’ raised over £3000 and ensured Anthony’s ambitious vision was able to be realized… in spectacular fashion.
‘Don’t Move’ once again uses the special effects make-up talents of Neill Gorton’s Millennium FX (Doctor Who), who continue to bring their fresh and terrifying creations to life, and stars an excellent cast that includes Rachel Bright, Ian Whyte (Game of Thrones, Prometheus) and Jake Hendricks (Hollyoaks).
Incidentally, director / producer Anthony Melton’s favourite horror film is Hellraiser and the demonic entity in ‘Don’t Move’ was designed & created by industry-legend Cliff Wallace… who actually worked on the original Hellraiser! An absolute honour.
Trivia: the voice of ‘Paul’ at the beginning of ‘Don’t Move’ isn’t actually voiced by actor Martin Skipper. This was added later by Ben Tillett, who is also the director, writer and ‘Narrator’ of https://horrorboom.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post-new.phpSuckablood… did you spot the Phantom in the opening Steadicam Shot? [Ed. note: we still haven’t. Did you any of you guys?]
Here we have is the “making of” video; highly recommended watching… they worked their ASSES off on this one (and there’s less CGI than I thought).
I’m surprised they managed to shoot it over one weekend, I mean got-damn, it’s pretty elaborate.
Here’s something we thought was really cool. There’s a WordPress blog called Write-Shoot-Cut, and this page features an introduction by Neil Rolland (who got to see Don’t Move on the big screen as part of a special showcase event at the Bootleg Film Festival, Edinburgh) and a piece by the screenwriter of Don’t Move, David Scullion. He rightly points out that the script is ridiculously tame compared to the final product (but don’t let that stop you from reading it). Our personal favorite extra goodie we found is the actual script, a 12-page .PDF file that you can download on the page; here’s the link again.
Here’s the Kickstarter campaign page for Don’t Move, which also makes for interesting reading …and watching. There’s a cool video “pitch” which I can’t embed, so check it out on Kickstarter. I’m suddenly VERY bummed all over again that Bloody Cuts will not be continuing in its current form.
Here’s some notable and recent additions to Fantastic Fest 2013. We weren’t sure we could describe A Field In England (by the director of Kill ListandSightseers,Ben Wheatley) as horror (or even what sub-category under our ‘Cross-Genre’ category to put it under, we settled for a few); watch the trailer and you’ll see what we mean. The poster art is pretty damn cool though, we’ll give it that. Of all three, the David Cronenberg -narrated documentary Tales From the Organ Trade should be the most horrifying and disturbing …and we’re pretty sure we’re not alone in our opinion. Alex de la Iglesia‘s Witching and Bitching sounds like the most entertaining of these (and that title helps it hit the ground running); check the Related Articles below for the trailer.
Oh, it is freakin’ ON! Check out the big red link below to get all excited about The ABCs Of Death 2. Also, looks like we’ll be able to get our review up before the sequel hits theaters (we’re on the review for the original ABCs of Death, promise).
Here’s to hoping they will bring back Xavier Gens (X is for XXL segment), Lee Hardcastle (T is for Toilet) for another awesome, fun, jaw-dropping claymation short, Jason Eisener (‘Y is for Youngbuck’), Timo Tjahjanto (who did the standout short L is for Libido), Jake West* (‘Speed’), Adam Wingard (‘Quack’)and Marcel Sarmiento (“Dogfight”). We could, however, definitely pass on a return engagement for a few, such as Yoshihiro Nishimura and Noboru Iguchi …what a mess those were (and this coming from a Tokyo Gore Police fan.
Awesome additional poster art for the first film.
*and Ti West wore out his welcome completely with one of the laziest entries, “M is for Miscarraige”. In fact, anything that involved a toilet, other than Lee Hardcastle’s short, really, well… stunk. Bathroom (X is for XXL, E is for Exterminate)? Not a problem.
Most of the staff either grew up in the 80s like us, or are younger but very well-informed and huge 80s horror fans. You just need to look at their’ favorites’ list under bios.
Popcornhorror.com is based out of Scotland, started in 2011, and is a website and an app (we do still recommend, when you’re watching the short films, that you watch them on a laptop rather than a tiny screen the size of an index card, though).
Popcornhorror was made –does this sound familiar?– BY horror fans, FOR horror fans. And we know us horror fans always have the coolest shit, right?
They want to help out and encourage all short horror filmmakers, or aspiring ones, to send in their work and get it out there (but they don’t own the rights if they decide to post your submitted film). There’s more of that on the FAQ Page.
From the nail-biting horror short finalist “Click”
We didn’t feel at all like we were wasting out time after watching any of them. One of the finalists is well-made but didn’t stand out, another contender reminded me of a different, better short I saw on BloodyCuts.uk last year that blew me out of the water, another only has one word of dialogue yet definitely gets the message across, but all six of the finalists are better than most horror shorts you’ll watch. One has a twist ending that I’ll bet… hell, I’ll bet our Park Chan-WookVengeance Trilogy Boxed Set on that you will NEVER see coming. I pride myself (and get on my own nerves) by almost never being surprised by a twist, it’s pretty rare when I see something I absolutely couldn’t even begin to second-guess. No, I’m not going to tell you which ones are which, go in clean–and not trying to figure out the twist–and find out yourself. It’s much more fun that way!
If you’re short on time and can watch only two, I’d recommend “Click” (for successfully using a simple, very chilling element to scare the hell out of you, while staying understated; I don’t think there’s one drop of blood spilled) and the recently released “Don’t Move” from our horror pals across the pond at Bloody Cuts. Now THAT one is full of gore and sleep-with-the-lights-on scary. Though the budget was very low, you would never, ever guess it from watching. Crank the sound– not so much for the jumps but the amazing stunning, crisp, and terrifying audio. You won’t see (nor have you seen) anything like it. “Don’t Move” is also currently the top vote-getter.
From the show-stopping NSFW horror short “Don’t Move” (Bloodycuts.uk)
Those are the two that stick in my mind–the chills and suspense in the simple (but very clever) terror of “Click” (that title is in no way internet-related), and the in-your-face horror show that is “Don’t Move,” with the kind of quality you’d expect from Bloody Cuts at the top of their game. Voting closes April 30th (I assume at midnight) so get in those votes for your favorite and most deserving of the prize package now!
The release date for the sick, twisted, entertaining anthology filmThe ABCs of Death has been bumped again! AGAIN! We’re putting together our list of Ten Most Anticipated Horror Projects in 2013, went to check WHEN in January it was set for, and found the new release date is March 8th of 2013. Well, shit.
We discovered the existence of this film in June of 2012, started writing about it, and remember thinking how the fuck are we going to wait till October to see this one? Every once in a while, even though we knew chances were slim to none, we’d search On Demand’s “Indie” sub-section for Magnet Releasing because hey, you never know. Personally, they had me at “26 Directors – 26 Ways To Die” and everything else I heard was icing on the cake. A veritable extravaganza of icing (several flavors made by some of our favorite, trusted chefs) that had no nutritional value, would cause a crash after the 90-minute sugar rush, and could very well cause tooth decay …but fuck dental hygiene, it’s gonna be so yummy and that sugar rush is going to make us high as a kite, we want it to eat it now. GIMME!
What’s that? You’re not open for business in four months, instead you’re opening next year? Well, that’s a real bummer, nothing we can do about that. Oh, you have samples now? Hot damn, that tasted as good as we thought! See you in January! Well, it’s gonna be January in a week, let’s go down and double-check the opening da– HEY! What’s this “Closed Till March” bullshit? WE’VE BEEN HUNGRY SINCE LAST SUMMER! Well, this time we’re doing something about it! This time we’re just gonna …have to …uh …wait some more.*
Well, we’ve written a lot about it, and here’s the new VERY red band trailer (again, we also wrote about it here). As always, we’ll keep our eyes peeled for any new footage, promo stills, or info. Plus, we’ve still got the last five top picks from the “26th Director Contest” to post, which should help keep you going until March.
*what’s that? We’re taking the metaphor way too far? You can’t believe we kept going as long as we did? We’re sorry.
HORROR BOOM 