Soothe Your Tattered Nerves With (Throwback) Scariest Horror Short of The Week – “Playtime” (Grand Prize Winner of “Who’s There” Challenge)

Yep, this has been published before. Let’s face it, the election clock ticking down has pretty much everyone on edge (at best).  We can tell you that, through life experience, sometimes the way to get your mind off something scary in real life is to watch something fictional, like oh, a horror movie, that at least diverts the terror into a manageable area. So, we are (re)presenting a pretty goddamned scary short horror film to distract you! Enjoy, and just hit the category tag for ‘Scariest Short Horror Film of the Week’ (or month) if you want more.  Hey, things could be worse… you could be the main character in this terrifying little gem.

 

screen-shot-2016-11-08-at-3-07-27-am

 

You remember the scariest short horror film of the entire month of May, “Lights Out,” right? Uh, yeah, we remember it pretty vividly, too. We thought it won First Prize, and “Lights Out” did win Best Director. Screen shot 2014-06-04 at 11.58.37 PM

We were surprised to find there was a Grand Prize Winner of the Bloody Cuts “Who’s There?” short film challenge that was a different film. How could anything be scarier than Lights Out? We were scared to watch “Play Time”, honestly, but it WAS still light out. It’s light out right now, which is why we are brave enough to post it. However, nice summer evening out or not, this one is fucking scary. I personally would be screaming as loud as the actress in the movie if I saw it in a movie theater, and probably more than once.  If I was the actual character, I would have soiled myself (and well before the ending).

So if you want a good old-fashioned scare, turn out the lights, turn up the volume, and switch to full-screen. Then check this out:

So… not as much of a slow burn (if you can describe any three-minute short that way) as “Lights Out”, but…yeah. Doesn’t waste much time, and we loved it.

We do recommend the below “making of” short. It’s interesting… and it might help you sleep a little better.

 

Do Clowns Scare You? Then You Might Want to Skip “Stitches,” Our Scariest Short Horror Film of the Week

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?

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.

Pleasant dreams!

Screen shot 2014-07-12 at 8.43.35 AM

 

Scariest Short Horror Film Of The Week – “Playtime” (Grand Prize Winner of “Who’s There” Challenge)

You remember the scariest short horror film of the entire month of May, “Lights Out,” right? Uh, yeah, we remember it pretty vividly, too. We thought it won First Prize, and “Lights Out” did win Best Director. Screen shot 2014-06-04 at 11.58.37 PM

We were surprised to find there was a Grand Prize Winner of the Bloody Cuts “Who’s There?” short film challenge that was a different film. How could anything be scarier than Lights Out? We were scared to watch “Play Time”, honestly, but it WAS still light out. It’s light out right now, which is why we are brave enough to post it. However, nice summer evening out or not, this one is fucking scary. I personally would be screaming as loud as the actress in the movie if I saw it in a movie theater, and probably more than once.  If I was the actual character, I would have soiled myself (and well before the ending).

So if you want a good old-fashioned scare, turn out the lights, turn up the volume, and switch to full-screen. Then check this out:

So… not as much of a slow burn (if you can describe any three-minute short that way) as “Lights Out”, but…yeah. Doesn’t waste much time, and we loved it.

We do recommend the below “making of” short. It’s interesting… and it might help you sleep a little better.

 

Scariest Short Horror Film of The Month – We Dare You To Watch “Lights Out” (2013) In The Dark!

Screen shot 2014-05-31 at 7.46.37 AM

Just squeaking by to make Scariest Horror Short for the month of May 2014, “Lights Out” is short, but not too sweet.  (Thanks to Halloween Girl’s kick-ass blog post that listed five scariest horror shorts and caused us to discover it–she pretty much nailed it!) The short is less than three minutes and has no gore… then again, neither does the Mama short film, which still packs a wallop every time I re-watch.

OK, so yeah, we dare you to wait until after sunset, turn off all the lights in the house  crank up the volume and/or wear headphones, and watch this terrifying short   (I needed a good scare –the controlled kind from horror movies, not from real life– scary enough week around here already*, and did all but watch it full screen). Guess what? I sure as hell got THAT scare. Halloween Girl said she watched it on an iPhone and held it as far away from her face as she could, and still thought it was scary as hell.

Now that you’ve seen it, we DOUBLE-dare you to sleep with the lights off! This gem won a contest:

Winner of ‘Best Short’ at FANT Bilbao 2014: http://fantbilbao.net/Fant2014/
Winner of ‘Best Director’ in the ‘Who’s There Film Challenge’ http://www.bchorrorchallenge.com

We watched quite a few from the challenge that are posted on YouTube, and they had some heavy competition. Both the wins are well-deserved.

Screen shot 2014-05-31 at 7.46.12 AM
*One of several scary things this week we did NOT ask for: having one of the guys who are putting a new roof on our house accidentally put his foot through right outside your front door. One of us had to stay home in case the power went out or went wrong, and it sounded like every MUTO in Godzilla was jumping up and down on the roof trying to destroy it. ALL DAY. Pictures fell off the walls, things rolled off the kitchen counter, we knew it’d be loud but didn’t sign up for a goddamned earthquake.

Hellions Horror Video Contest!

Couldn’t let this post from Ryan at Rhino’s Horror for a new contest pass without spreading the word! Can a horror short two minutes or less be scary as hell? Well, the short film “Mama” clocks in at two minutes, forty-five seconds (minus the end credits) and still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I’ve watched it dozens of times (hey, it’s a work of art) and still find it actively frightening. Horror Boom has posted plenty of Drew Daywalt’s “Fear Factory” shorts such as “Bedfellows” and “Mockingbird” that are LESS than two minutes. So yeah, I have faith that this contest will result in plenty untapped talent applying themselves, and ending up with contest entries that are the stuff of nightmares. Check out the piece for the rules and the deadline (click on “View Original” link at the bottom). What’s extra great is that the piece will actually be included (not just an extra on DVD) in the upcoming horror film Hellions (from Bruce McDonald, director of Pontypool). How cool is that?

Hellions

As all of you guys know, Bruce McDonald—director of Pontypool—is currently hard at work on his latest horror feature Hellions, which is currently in the editing stage. In their way of giving back to the indie community, the cool cats behind Hellions are hosting an awesome short film contest to help spread the work of indie filmmakers. How cool is that? All you have to do is create the scariest short film up to 2 minutes long, and if they pick you as a winner you’ll have your work not only seen by horror fans from all over, but it will actually be seen in the film itself! Below are all the details!

View original post 283 more words