Select Page

Short Cuts: The Short Horror Review Roundup for February 2022

Monday, February 28, 2022 | Short Cuts

By BRYAN CHRISTOPHER

Welcome back to Short Cuts, where this month’s horror shorts include some payback via dentistry, a sweetly romantic love story with cannibals, and a sentient pile of ground beef (yes, really). As always if you or anyone you know have a short film you’d like me to consider or if you’ve got some news you’d like to share in the short horror world, please contact me via Twitter or email me at remedialhorror@gmail.com!

Emptied (2014)
Length:
6:21 minutes Director: David Ferino Starring: Mackenzie Davis, Beck Bennett
Any horror film that involves dentistry is going to get gnarly, and David Ferino’s short is no exception. When a dentist gets a late-night visit from her boyfriend looking for help with an aching tooth, as well as a chance to discuss his philandering, she takes the opportunity to take some vengeance along with the pesky molar. Beck Bennett always has a knack for wringing every ounce of smugness out a simple expression or a few words, and he puts that talent to great use here so that we’re almost immediately hoping for his inevitable comeuppance. For her part, Davis plays the proceeding sequence with surreal, musical glee as she dances around the office while she…let’s just say cleans house. It’s an oddball little slice of demented fun.
Where you can find it: Streaming on YouTube

Boustifaille (2019)
Length:
17:03 minutes Director: Pierre Mazingarbe Starring: Geraldine Martineau, Moustafa Benaibout, Anne Benoit, Olivier Broche, Johann Cuny
My main takeaway after watching Boustifaille is that we really need more cannibalistic rom-coms. I never thought a movie about a man realizing his girlfriend spends her weekends luring men to her flesh-eating parents could be so sweet and heartfelt, but that’s exactly what director Pierre Mazingarbe brings to the story. He’s also not afraid to get silly with it as the film features sushi made with fingers, half naked men scrambling across an estate while trying to avoid shotgun blasts, and a decapitation that seems more of an inconvenience than a death sentence. Cannibal stories can be so grim (with good reason) so it’s refreshing to see one where you’re rooting for a happy ending.
Where you can find it: Streaming on YouTube 

Meat Friend (2022)
Length:
08:25 minutes Director: Izzy Lee Starring: Marnie McKendry, Steve Johanson, Megan Duffy
While Izzy Lee’s latest may not be horror in the strictest sense of the word, it does start with a little girl attempting to microwave ground beef, which is automatically off-putting enough for its inclusion here. Naturally, things only get funkier from there, as the beef becomes possessed by an ex-con who proceeds to teach the little girl a variety of important life lessons, such as making a shiv, that would surely make Mr. Rogers proud. The creature design for Meat Friend is a unique combination of grotesque and endearing, which is also an apt description for the short itself. Just, get ready to get weird. Really, really weird.
Where you can find it: Making the festival rounds, including the Renegade Film Festival on March 5th and the Boston Underground Film Festival on March 26th . Check out the trailer here

Bryan Christopher