A Man Awakens To A Living Recurring Nightmare In The Disturbing Horror Short 'DARK WAKE'

September 28, 2018 by Rod T. Faulkner in Horror, Special Feature

Certain horror films are so unnerving, their impact leaves an indelible brand on your psyche.

DARK WAKE is just such a horror film..

The short tells the story of an unnamed amnesiac (John Marcucci) who awakens in the middle of the night. A small, strange portal opens along his bedroom wall revealing the lower jaw of a demonic guide (Anne Shepherd).

The guide warns the man he is about to die.

The portal vanishes and the hallway leading to the man’s bedroom is suddenly enveloped in inky darkness.

The man notices something moving in the darkness. Suddenly, a creature straight out of Dante’s Inferno emerges.

Then creature attacks the man and begins devouring him.

The man awakens only to endure the experience of being consumed by hideous monsters over and over.

Despite the man questioning if he is in hell, the demonic guide insists the nightmare he is trapped in is not hell, because, as it chillingly states, “innocents have been held here.”

The guide tells him that in order to escape his fate, he must overcome his terror with a memory from his former life.

The man succeeds in reclaiming a memory and defeats the next attack, but then an even greater infernal mystery is revealed to him.

I’ll just be blunt here - DARK WAKE freaked me the hell out, and I enjoyed it.

Written and directed by Abdul Ali, the short boasts horrifying, award-worthy creature designs that seem heavily influenced by the work of director Guillermo del Toro.

The short’s visuals are dark, claustrophobic, and bizarre. However, what really sells its nightmare world is the sense of disorientation and visceral terror viewers share with the protagonist.

Adding to the surreal atmosphere of the short is the fact the protagonist’s reliability as a narrator is left in question.

Is he dreaming the entire experience, or is he having some sort of psychotic break? Is he actually trapped in some sort of hellish alternate dimension?

DARK WAKE doesn’t provide any clear answers - and that is what makes it such a chilling, disturbing, and compelling watch.

Watch DARK WAKE here…

Make sure to check out our podcast Eye On Sci-Fi. Join host and The 7th Matrix founder Rod T. Faulkner as he spotlights terrific indie SFF short films and web series.

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Dread Engulfs A Young Mother In The Unnerving Horror Short 'BEHIND'

June 17, 2018 by Rod T. Faulkner in Horror, Short Film

All of us have experienced it. The times we are certain we are alone, but then a nagging, unsettling feeling tells us we are being watched.

The Spanish short film BEHIND, written and directed by Ángel Gómez Hernández, exploits that feeling to create a story of intense psychological horror.

The short opens during a children's birthday party. There we meet recently divorced young mother Arianne (Macarena Gómez).

While rambunctious children swarm around her, Arianne is having an altercation over the telephone with her ex-husband regarding custody of their infant daughter.

The tone and tenor of the conversation immediately reveal the custody battle is taking its toll on her.

As she prepares to leave the party with her daughter in tow, a mysterious stranger approaches and delivers a cryptic, blood-chilling warning: at home, a "man" has been standing behind Arianne and watching her. This man will not leave her alone until he gets what he wants, and she will not be able to see him - until it is too late.

Understandably rattled, Arianne rushes home.

At first, she dismisses the warning. But when strange phenomena begin to occur, Arianne realizes the warning may have terrifying merit.

From the tense opening moments of its 15-minute runtime to the final disturbing scene, BEHIND is a showcase of edge-of-your-seat, psychological horror.

Much credit for this must be given to the extraordinary performances of the actors, as well as the director's masterful exploitation of one of humanity's most visceral fears - being watched and hunted.

Experience the unnerving horror of BEHIND for yourself...

(Please note the film is in Spanish with English subtitles)

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An IT Professional Battles A Demonic Computer Virus In The Horror Short 'Eldritch Code'

June 05, 2018 by Rod T. Faulkner in Horror, Short Film

Adapted by Swedish director Ivan Radovic from an original story written by Glen Cadigan, Eldritch Code is the official short film adaptation of the story "One Of Those Days," which appeared in the horror anthology Cthulu Tales #6 published by comic book publisher BOOM! Studios.

Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, Eldritch Code is the story of Gus (Martin Hendrikse), an IT professional dealing with what he believes is a run-of-the-mill computer virus attempting to infect his company's servers.

However, Gus quickly realizes the virus he is fighting is unlike anything he has ever seen. The infected files actually contain a demonic presence that threatens far more than his company's computer network.

Soon Gus is pulled down into a hellish rabbit hole leading to a deranged world of cults and dark gods from beyond the stars.

Eldrich Code is a fascinating watch because it successfully marries the mundane horrors of 9 to 5 American corporate culture with the fevered and metaphysical horror author H. P. Lovecraft is responsible for popularizing.

Watch this very stylish and wonderfully bizarre horror short film here ...

To discover more about the making of Eldritch Code and the original story that inspired it, visit the short's official Facebook page.

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Horror Short Film Spotlight: 'The Best Of Intentions' - A Father's Vengeful Plan Has Dreadful Consequences

October 20, 2016 by Rod T. Faulkner in Horror, Short Film

For me, the best horror tales do not involve gratuitous amounts of blood, guts, and gore. Instead, I prefer horror stories that delve into the darkest crevices of the human psyche.

While ghosts, zombies, vampires, and other ghouls that go bump in the night can make for a creepy yarn, nothing compares to the terror inspired by the dark impulses of human beings.

A prime example of this more psychological brand of horror is the Swedish short The Best of Intentions.

This unsettling film is reminiscent of classic psycho-thrillers by the iconic "master of suspense," Alfred Hitchcock.

The short tells the story of Kjell (starring famed Swedish actor Per Ragnar), a man who believes his disabled daughter is being sexually abused in her assisted care facility by her attendant Jocke (portrayed by Emil T. Jonsson, who also directed).

Furious, Kjell has a dire confrontation with Jocke about his daughter.

From the first moment Ragnar appears onscreen as Kjell, you sense something is very amiss. He radiates cold rage and menace that is boiling just beneath the surface of his dignified demeanor.

Jocke notices Kjell's hostility towards him immediately, which causes the tension between the two men to gradually thicken until it engulfs them like a shroud.

Like a coiled cobra about to strike, you know something terrible and violent will happen.

To reveal more specifics would spoil the plot, but Jonsson manages to masterfully build nail-biting suspense by means of body language and dialogue alone.

When Kjell enacts a chilling plan of revenge, its tragic consequence will haunt him - and you the viewer.

Watch The Best Of Intentions in its entirety below ...

Enjoy over 30 hours of outstanding sci-fi, horror, and fantasy short films by downloading our film guide, 200 Best Online Sci-Fi Short Films.

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Horror Short Film Spotlight - "LILITU"

January 12, 2016 by Rod T. Faulkner in Horror, Special Feature

For me, the best horror films aren't the kind filled with exploding heads, tons of viscera, and bloody dispatches of oversexed teens.

My favorite is the kind that slowly crawls under your skin, up your spine, and wraps around your brain.

Maybe this is why horror films from the sixties and seventies, like Rosemary's Baby and The Birds, affect me the most.

The short horror film LILITU is a throwback to those classics.

It tells the story of a woman who uses her power of astral projection to help a Catholic priest solve a dark mystery.

This 9-minute atmospheric short is creepy with a huge order of dread on the side.

Its eerie tone is achieved not by showering the screen with blood and guts, but with compelling performances by the actors, and masterful cinematography used to malevolent effect.

Watch LILITU in full below ...

Enjoy over 30 hours of outstanding horror, sci-fi and genre short films by downloading a copy of our ebook 200 Best Online Sci-Fi Short Films.

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