By BRYAN CHRISTOPHER
Welcome back to Short Cuts, as we look to firmly step into spooky season with a new batch of short films. This month we’ve got a woman who’s body frays along with her psyche, a Japanese demon with a mean appetite, and the wildest train ride you’re likely to see. Enjoy this month’s shorts, and 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!
Posies (2021)
Length: 16 minutes Director: R.H. Stavis & Katherine Fisher Starring: Anna Diop & Andy Favreau
Our collective anxieties about the downfall of the human race become manifest in this short film that follows a woman whose body has started to decay, compelling her to stuff flower petals into ever-increasing wounds on her body. Set against stories about social unrest, the movie takes those anxieties and focuses them at the personal level as Anna Diop’s protagonist argues with her boyfriend about whether the destructive impulses she’s indulged over the years are simply part of being human or a sign that she (and by extension us) is becoming increasingly destructive. Diop radiates physical and spiritual anguish in a film that finds an odd beauty in despair.
Where you can find it: Check the film’s website for updates
Bakemono (2021)
Length: 9 minutes Director: Sumire Takamatsu & Jorge Lucas Starring: Claudia Fabella, Shio Muramatsu, Daisuke Suzuki, Sherry Q, Erin Yuqi Yang
When a young girl refuses to eat her dinner, her mother tries to scare her straight by threatening to keep her from taking part in the ritual to ward off the Bakemono, a demon marked by an insatiable hunger. The plan backfires, however, as the girl takes pity on the creature, getting up late at night to try and offer it food. Of course, when the fridge’s meager offerings run dry, the demon takes drastic measures leaving the parents to discover a very hungry child the next morning. The most impressive part of this short is how directors Takamatsu and Lucas inject moments of quirky humor without taking away from the film’s creepy tone. It may star a kid, but I recommend keeping the young’uns away from this one…unless of course you’re trying to find a way to convince them to finish that last bite of dinner.
Where you can find it: Streaming on YouTube
Animals (2019)
Length: 6 minutes Director: Tue Sanggaard Starring: Anne Flarup Thomsen, Kathrine Amine Andersen, Kristina Silkjaer, Lamberto Anderloni, Lasse Braendgaard, William Fullagar, Maya Mckibbin, Charly K. Maartensson
This animated short from Denmark gets out of hand really quickly, and that’s kind of the point. Tue Sanggaard reminds us how close we are to the brink of devolving to our basic instincts as a group of commuters get stuck on a train. In the brief moments we get of their normal routine, we get the sense that people are barely able to commit to minimal civility with one another. So when the train malfunctions and the passengers realize they can’t get off or stop it, it seems to take all of a few seconds before they go full feral in a rumpus of violence and sex. Things get flat out surreal in the film’s closing moments, reminding us that at any given moment the barrier between us an chaos is often paper thin.
Where you can find it: Streaming on YouTube
