The Horror

My favourite thing about this film is the performances - they have the vibe of someone who's being forced to act in someone else's short film, but that lack of enthusiasm plays really well into the character hahaah.

Loved the banter about the documentary.

I think the story is ultimately a little lacking, and the message at the end feels a little tacked on. But otherwise a pretty fun film!

Things you got right: Really funny characters and dialogue

Things to work on for next time: Telling a more satisfying story, and also upping your technical side.

Cool to see such a family orientated effort with this little horror flick. Some effective tension created in parts and what I appreciated the most was you resisting the temptation to have the character unnaturally talk to her herself or have dreaded pop-up texting on screen. On the flip-side of this the dialogue at the end was not that great and the message delivered probably the most horrific thing in the film.

SIX MILLION MURDERED? What the hell is she watching on TV to start this film? But the fact that the lead actress immediately jokes about the content with her friend before we bang into dramatic music just sets the strange tone for the whole thing.

Only said dramatic music immediately works as a red herring for a news broadcast as our protagonist continues to be a slave to the tube even when a shadowy figure flashes past her window outside.

For me the idea of a possible intruder is pretty tense, and I got moments where it felt like we were watching the girl through the eyes of the potential attacker ala CACHE only for things to take a turn when she summizes that she thinks her house is haunted, via text. Comedic ending was a bit ho hum in my book.

Technically this had quite a bit of fuzz on the soundtrack, and whilst the team nailed the lighting at times, there were also instances of white balance being overblown, or angles not being lit enough leaving footage as grainy.

I did enjoy the naturalistic presentation and attempt at a message at the very end, though maybe some imagery or visual could have been included to really nail the point? We do allow stock footage in this comp, after all. Just an idea.

Story: 1.5/5
Technical: 1.5/5
Elements: 2.5/5
Overall: 1.5/5