Horror

9 MINUTES

Imagine this: You are sleeping in a isolated house in an empty desert in Joshua Tree with only your dog for a companion, when you are suddenly awakened with a loud bang. You try to find the source of the loud, jolting sound when things suddenly move, the house shakes, and everything turns pitch black. You black out and only a nine-minute video on your phone is the key to explain what happened within those lost minutes.

Caterpillar

Carrying psycholigical intrigue and precise emotions, Caterpillar, directed by the fashion photographer David Field, is a promising cerebral drama that’s sensitively realized and dramatically absorbing. Since its release, this 15-minute short has already gained attention from the festival circuit with official selections, nominations, and awards such as Best Short Film in the Eeerie Horror Film Festival 2012.

Barackula

Blow your minds with Barackula directed by Mike Lawson and written by Justin Sherman. As said on its website, this short political horror rock musical is about a young Barack Obama who has to stave off a secret society of vampires at Harvard when he was inducted into presidency at the Harvard Law Review in 1990. Obama finds that he must convince the vampire society that opposing political philosophies can coexist or else the society may transform Obama to the dark side.

Blinky

It's adorable. It's safe. And it just wants to be your friend. Blinky will definitely paint your dreams in bloody red. Written, directed, and edited by Ruairi Robinson and funded by the Irish Film Board, this 12-minuter suspense film tells the story of a young boy who purchases a robot helper to be his playmate. But just like any child, the boy gets bored with Blinky and puts all of his frustrations and childhood pangs on the poor robot. As Blinky's system reboots, things turn out viciously bad.

Rising Tide

For the past decade, horror movies have taken a steep decline in quality but Rising Tide is certainly a game-changer. Premiered last August 2011 at the Tyneside Cinema with a sold out crowd, this full-feature film is a coming of age piece that will make you grab for your seats. It’s directed by Philip Shotton and Dawn Furness under Northern Film & Media production funded through Northern Film & Media’s Film Innovation Fund.

The Killing Joke

Blow your socks off with the suspense fiction The Killing Joke. Directed by Sebastian Lopez, this 15-minute film centers around a mysterious woman who discovers a red balloon in an almost-deserted street, and by a twist of fate finds herself facing her biggest fear. It stars Gustavo Marzo and Clarissa Staracci. The movie pays homage to the seventies horror era by using classic elements of suspense. I liked how the transitions of sequences are flawless; you could really see that the team behind this worked extra hard. Every detail was not missed, from the empty bullets, the pulling trigger to the grand ending.

The Tunnel

In 2007 the New South Wales government suddenly scrapped a plan to utilise the water in the disused underground train tunnels beneath Sydney. In 2008, chasing rumours of a government cover-up and urban legends surrounding the sudden backflip, investigative journalist Natasha Warner led a crew of four into the underground labyrinth. They went down into the tunnels looking for a story Ôø? until the story found them. This is the film of their harrowing ordeal. With unprecedented access to the recently declassified tapes they shot in the claustrophobic subway tunnels, as well as a series of candid interviews with the survivors, we come face to face with the terrifying truth.