HollyShorts Film Festival 2023: Horror

With the start of the annual HollyShorts Film Festival, it seemed only appropriate that my first stop be their horror showcase. And what a selection they have curated this year. From demonic possessions to haunted polaroids, from motherhood to neocolonialism, the HollyShorts horror section has a taste of it all.

La Nueva (The Newcomer) (Ivan Villamil)

Ivan Villamil‘s La Nueva (The Newcomer) was my first film of this year’s HollyShorts Festival – and what a way to kick it off. From the very beginning, the short feels coy and ready to play with its audience, all while aware of the tight pacing it is committed to maintaining. At a solid 15 minutes, La Nueva (The Newcomer) delivers a demonic possession I could not get enough of.

The short opens with Maria (Amaia Sagasti) arriving at a local school. We do not see her face, the camera following from behind. As she makes her way to the classroom to proctor detention, the film quickly establishes that something within the school is not right, with cult-like symbols and statues weaving in and out of the storyline. While many times front and center so as not to miss them, it helps the short maintain its pace and focus.

As Maria leaves the classroom momentarily due to anxiety caused by the depravity uttered by some of the students, she cuts herself on a relic, the blood disappearing into the statue itself. The transformation is instantaneous, audiences are alerted to the sudden change in Maria as her body begins twitching and contorting. The camera follows Maria from behind once more as she enters the classroom, fully capturing the change in her demeanor  – both inside and out.

While many of the clichés of demonic possession are touched upon (ie. the turning of the cross upside-down), this possession works to “teach a lesson”. One by one, Maria begins to quiz the students on the effects of various diseases on the body. As each student fails, they meet the gruesome fate of the ailment they were questioned about. With each pupil comes another wrong answer and the gore grows in a spectacular fashion of body horror and gore. As the lighting intensifies to an amber glow of fire, the students are literally plunged into hell and ultimately suffering for the sins they have committed.

La Nueva (The Newcomer) is a solid horror short that alludes to the possibility of more. Audiences will find themselves both satisfied and craving more. Following in the footsteps of the Spanish horror  Verónica, La Nueva (The Newcomer) is instantly a must-see.

No Overnight Parking (Megan Swertlow)

Megan Swertlow‘s No Overnight Parking did not immediately have my attention – but it does now. No Overnight Parking opens basked in a green tint, a woman (Alyssa Milano) making her way to her car in a seemingly abandoned parking garage. Speaking to a friend, viewers ascertain long before they see the bruise on her eye, that Nicole has left her husband following a disastrous and violent fight. As she speaks about the inevitability of going back, she slowly becomes aware of a danger lurking in the shadows.

As she tries to reconnect her call, viewers watch as a man walks into her, making his way to the stairwell and closing the door. Her only way out now is the garage exit – and she has only 5 minutes left until the door closes. As the lights go out and come back on, Nicole races to her car for safety, the film leaning into the horror clichés we know all too well. Yet, they work here, the predictability of the potential killer in the car taking nothing away from the effectiveness of the short.

And in Urban Legend fashion, the killer does rise from the back, his red glowing mask promising his own personal purge. Yet, No Overnight Parking is a slasher with a twist. Merging brilliantly executed quips of humor, this claustrophobic-induced thriller turns our expectations on their head. Where the film begins with the abused posed to return to the abuser, it ends both with a sense of revenge and promise.

The Queue (Michael Rich)

Out of all the shorts in this segment, Michael Rich‘s The Queue is the short that left me truly unsettled. Even thinking back to it brings the uneasiness of my stomach rushing back. It is not what is shown but rather what is not. It’s films like The Queue that remind viewers of the power of horror through the absence of sight. It is not the blood or the gore but rather the implication.

Starting his new job, Cole (Burt Bulos) is shown to his office. As his boss goes over the job, there is a sense of an underlying warning, as well as an understanding he will be doing this same introduction again soon. There is a heavy tone that drips from the words uttered by Cole’s boss, their weight felt no matter how upbeat and casual he seems. As he tells Cole “There is your life before and after you log on the computer”, the short begins to feel like a point of no return.

As he settles into the computer to begin moderating the content reported by viewers, we are instantly thrown into a world of human abuse and violence. Yet, we barely see what is on screen, going only by the audio and the expressions on Cole’s face as he works through the queue. He doesn’t last long before pulling himself away, at first to report one of the videos, eventually idly avoiding the content waiting to be moderated. Yet, idle minds will wander, Cole stumbling on a webcam file on the computer’s desktop.

As he watches his predecessor welcome him to the “after”, Cole descends into the consuming void of human soullessness and abuse, the videos coming to life before him. He is overwhelmed by the horrors on screen even when the videos have stopped, the darkness of mankind too much to handle. The Queue works hard to quickly build his descent into madness, capturing the inevitability of Cole’s fate from the moment he crosses the point of no return.

Picture (Sadé Sellers)

While not my favorite of the horror shorts, Sadé Sellers‘ Picture works well to present both its terror and pace, effectively unleashing a nostalgic creature of horror. Emulating a strong influence from It Follows, Picture utilizes the power of a Polaroid camera to capture a danger closing in on the film’s primary subject. It’s brilliant in the patience required to see the creature moving closer with each picture taken, the film taking its time to develop.

Picture opens in a thrift store, the lighting giving each item the sense of being in a cabinet of curiosities. It feels old and mysterious, the haunting of time past clinging to each trinket. Other than the items crammed into the shop, Picture lacks an initial connection with its audience, the distraction of trying to understand where the film takes place and what is happening disconnects from the individuals on screen. The setting is far from horrific, losing the ominous feel that instantly draws audiences in. As the Mark Snow inspired score begins to take effect, you start to feel the potential for terror, a man in the background taking pictures of random customers in his store.

While initially feeling creeping, there is the sense of something ominous and desperate in his intentions as he gifts the Polaroid camera to Brit (Danielle Jalade). That is, after he has taken her picture. While generous at first, the Polaroid slowly begins the curse it has captured, each new exposure showing a creature unseen closing in. The only way to survive is to give it to someone else – to take someone else’s picture. While an intriguing idea that plays on audience nostalgia, Picture lacks the urgency and the depth to fully carry it to the end, the narrative too formulaically in tune with It Follows.

The Voice in the Hollow (Miguel Ortega)

I want, no need, this to be nominated for an Oscar ensuring that everyone has a chance to see this film. It is terrifying yet beautiful. Haunting yet ever-present. It sees you as much as you see it.

I have watched this short both with and without subtitles and one of the most beautiful aspects of Miguel Ortega‘s The Voice in the Hollow is its ability to transverse language. You understand the competitiveness between the sisters and the weight of success from within the tribe. You also feel the gravity of the tragedy in Coa’s actions. The animation is flawless and hypnotic, each moment packed with emotion. The Voice in the Hollow is a short made with a love of a craft and a need for a story.

From the very beginning, The Voice in the Hollow showcases the competitiveness between sister Coa and Ala as they engage in the hunt. Ala being successful, there is the sense that this isn’t the first time she has bested her sister. Yet, where Ala emulates pride, Coa encompasses envy. Not immediately felt, the desire for her father’s attention more pronounced, a voice from the hollow calls to her claiming to know her deepest desires, even if she does not know them herself. Coa almost gives herself to the voice. Broken free by the call of the leopards, she returns to the tribe to watch her sister rewarded for her prowess as a hunter.

The Voice in the Hollow takes a moment to look at each of the sisters separately. We come to understand the depth of Coa’s envy as she is unable to stay the entirety of the ceremony to watch her sister rise above in the tribe. Ala too has a moment to fully showcase her pride, her accuracy with the target missing the mark of empathy towards her sister. Sent to find her sister to join in the upcoming hunt, Ala and Coa come face to face one last time. As each embrace the entirety of pride and envy, they discover that neither will help them survive. By doing whatever it takes to get what we desire, we may lose everything in the end.

Sleep Study (Natalie Metzger)

Motherhood is often a central focus in horror. With Natalie Metzger‘s Sleep Study, terror hones in once more into the devastating effects of motherhood following childbirth, taking postpartum to depths you might never return from. Like many of the films in this segment, Sleep Study is tightly woven in its narrative, confident in its direction and pacing. It may give Malignant vibes at times, Sleep Study is a horror all its own.

Opening within the brightness of morning, husband and wife begin their day, the wife newly returned to work and the father seemingly staying home to care for their child. There is nothing much out of the ordinary, their conversation the only hint to the horror to come. As we learn, the wife has been struggling with sleep for some time, its symptoms only getting worse. As she leaves the home, she remarks on the time, noting that it is almost time for their meticulously timed baby to wake for the day.

The film falls into darkness shortly after, the wife falling asleep and finding herself attacked by a shadowy, hooded figure. As we quickly learn, it is only in her dreams, her husband wakes her up from the terror riddling her body. The film works to get under your skin as there is little explanation, and the pace prevents you from lingering too long on the moment. As soon as the first witnessed attack has finished, it’s night again and it appears the wife isn’t the only one afflicted. In an attempt to save her family from the evil that lurks in the shadows, she gives into her paranoia and fights back with devastatingly brutal effects.

The end of Sleep Study is predictable the moment the film turns to dawn, using both gore and audio to capture the true gravity of the film’s final moments. Effective and chilling, Sleep Study is unforgettable.

Foreigners Only (Nuhash Humayun)

If you don’t have a ticket to this year’s HollyShorts, it’s okay because this is a film you can see now – and should. Out of all the films presented, this was the horror short that had the most solid proof of concept to expand on. Nuhash Humayun‘s Foreigners Only is tight, concise, and brilliant. Terrifying with a deep social commentary on neocolonialism that strikes at the heart and even the humor. And thankfully, as part of season 3’s Bite Size Halloween on Hulu, you can!

“The perfect skin can be yours” – words early on in the film whose weight and meaning grows with each cell of film that passes. The film follows a tannery worker desperately in need of a place to live. As he walks around the streets of Bangladesh, he has turned away from one establishment after another, his native roots proving a detriment to obtaining a roof over his head. Each place turns him away, claiming they will only rent to foreigners. The frustration builds as the tannery worker searches throughout the evening, fighting the elements, each time having to sleep with the dead that give him his business.

As he stands in line waiting to purchase items for a skin rash, he is literally pushed to the side to allow a white foreigner to move right up to the counter for his needs. In this horrific depiction of neocolonialism, the tannery is overlooked and disregarded – and everyone has their breaking point. Unable to break through, Foreigners Only embraces the influence of Western cinema, absorbing the influence of Texas Chainsaw Massacre mixed with Silence of the Lambs vibes as the tannery murders and skins the foreigner, taking his face and attempting to pass as an American.

Ending on a brilliantly high note, Foreigners Only plays with the uncertainty of assimilation into another culture all while tackling the reclamation of one’s own self and environment. The imagery of the tannery emerging from the shadows with his new face has stuck with me since the credits began to roll and is one I am not soon to shake off.

Legs (Celine Cotran)

Celine Cotran‘s Legs almost instantly has a David Cronenberg feel. While wildly tamer, Legs follows a young couple attempting to conceive, the woman (Downton Abby‘s Laura Carmichael) swallowing a spider in her sleep one night. As she makes her way to work on the train the next morning, a fly captures her attention. I had almost expected her to lunge out and capture the fly immediately, the quickened pace of the short alluding to a hastening of the narrative. But Cotran is careful to not give too much away too quickly. This is not a story about a woman who turns into a spider, but rather a woman whose desire for a connection to a life inside her drives her to an understandable madness.

Finding out she has swallowed a spider that is now residing just above her uterus, she announces to her friends and husband that she is pregnant. As the women around her grow bigger, she stays the same, living peacefully in the idea that there is a life inside her, and as time passes, she begins doing all she can to keep the spider alive. One night she finds that she can produce webbing, As she creates a beautiful canopy of web in the moonlight, she feels the spider die within her. As he husband walks in and holds her, they stand in what remains of the hope they had so eagerly embraced.

In the horror of her swallowing a spider and leading everyone on that she is pregnant, there is a beautiful representation of the devastation of wanting to become a mother – and being unable to do so. Especially as those around you are able to achieve what you currently are not. You hold on to any moment of hope and moments of fulfilling that deeply ingrained desire  – even if it is only a spider that temporarily satisfies.

For more information on the festival click here.