Tag Archives: horror short

‘ONE FOR THE ROAD’ (LA Shorts 2024) Based on a Stephen King short story, it is pure fear.

Posted on by — Leave a reply

LA Shorts logoONE FOR THE ROAD

One for the Road Teaser TrailerBased on a Stephen King story, Daniel Carsenty‘s short film ONE FOR THE ROAD is here to terrify LA Shorts International Film Festival audiences with its world premiere.

It’s 3 am, and a mysterious, rather odorous man walks into a truck stop diner, muttering one phrase, “Old Mill Road.” Two drivers with the best intentions get roped into helping solve the mystery, but no good deed goes unpunished.

Writer Corey Slater captures the classic King build-up. In the 9-minute run, the audience knows these characters and feels an emotional connection. Carsenty gathers a cast that is perfection. The production design team nails the aesthetic, placing the viewer in a timeless era. Putting The Red Sox cap on one of our protagonist’s heads is a clever nod to King, as any fan knows where his allegiance lies. I’m begging for an expansion of this world.

one for the road cropped trailer

Teaser Trailer:

ABOUT DIRECTOR: Berlinale Talents alumni Daniel Carsenty wrote and directed the thriller “After Spring Comes Fall” in 2015. It won the award for Best Feature at the Zsigmond Vilmos Festival. His second film, “The Devil’s Drivers,” a documentary about a Bedouin smuggler, premiered at TIFF in 2021, won the Special Jury Award at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, and was nominated by the Cinema for Peace Foundation for Best Documentary. A graduate of AFI, Daniel came to filmmaking after working as a TV journalist for ARTE and BBC in zones of conflict. 

“As a director, what I love most about horror movies is that they are about getting as close as possible to what makes me afraid. In my opinion, a good horror story carries as much hope as it creates fear. If these two emotions play out against each other, we start to care,” says Carsenty. He reached out to King during his time at AFI, hoping to use horror narrative to tell the same stories about the darkness of humanity that he did in his documentaries. 

ABOUT LA SHORTS:  LA Shorts International Film Festival is an Oscar and BAFTA qualifying festival, and is the longest-running short film festival in Los Angeles. 

WORLD PREMIERE: ONE FOR THE ROAD
Sunday, July 21, 2024, 10:00 P.M., Program 26
Regal LA Live – DTLA

For more short film reviews, click here!

SXSW 2021 reviews: ‘Stuffed’, ‘Don’t Peek’, ‘The Moogai’ are all chilling and unique shorts.

Posted on by — Leave a reply

STUFFED

A musical film about a taxidermist who dreams of stuffing a human and a man she meets online so afraid of ageing he volunteers to be her specimen. An unexpected romantic spark between them complicates their plans.

Honestly, you had me at the categories “Musical, Horror”. This is the perfect short for genre fans who are clamoring to get back into theatres of all kinds. The score is wonderfully quirky. It will strike a chord with Sondheim fans. It’s is very Sweeney Todd inspired in sound and darkness. Written by Joss Holden-Rea and Theo Rhys, directed by Rhys, and music and lyrics by Holden-Rea, these two make one hell of a creative team. (I’m begging for a feature-length version of this story) Actors Anthony Young and Alison Fitzjohn have gorgeous voices. Their ability to connect with one another and the audience is a thing of beauty. The cinematography is carefully curated. The practical FX are outstanding. STUFFED is a unique experience you do not want to miss out on. This is the magic that audiences of SXSW salivate over.

DON’T PEAK

A young woman discovers a frightening video game character intent on crossing into the real world.

It’s rare that I jump and feel the need to cover my eyes these days while watching horror. I’ve consumed so much I can usually predict what’s eventually going to happen. In this hair-raising short, a game of Animal Crossing becomes a nightmare when an invited entity crosses from gameplay to real life. I found my heart in my throat. To be that successful in terrifying me in under 7 minutes, I say, “Bravo, writer-director Julian Terry. You got me.”

THE MOOGAI

An Aboriginal psychological horror, THE MOOGAI is the story of a family terrorized by a child-stealing spirit.

Whether a literal interpretation of an actual demon or not, so many theories swirled in my mind as I sweat through my t-shirt watching this short film. This feels like an intense form of gaslighting. Or maybe it’s a product of sleep deprivation. Perhaps it’s Postpartum? The terror is seen and unseen and in this short, the performances take you to the darkest parts of your mind. As a parent, it’s beyond unsettling.