5 SPOOKY CANADIAN SHORTS @TADF2021

It’s so easy to watch a spooky horror film on Netflix. Or spend your hard earned money on the new Halloween Kills in the theatre to get into that Halloween spirit. But maybe these two options are not doing that much justice for you to get into that mood. Good on you if you were able to spend some time watching spooky films to get into that Halloween spirit during this year’s edition of Toronto After Dark Film Festival. Going above and beyond is actually watching the Canadian short films that this festival had to offer. The programme gives you an indication on the hard work and creativity that is coming from the directors north of the border and its something that we should all be proud of.

Maybe You Should Be Careful (dir. by Megan Robinson)

June (Kelly McNamee) and Alistair (Dan Beirne) are trying to spice up their descending relationship. June plans a perfect stay at home night date in order to do this. Although, Alistair is preoccupied with the news as a woman who looks similar to June is being pinned as a the dangerous local attacker. As June starts to get aggressive with her Alistair, he becomes more paranoid and convinced that she is the attacker. Maybe You Should Be Careful directed by Megan Robinson just goes to show that you don’t necessarily need blood or monsters to make a horror film. Nice to see Dan Beirne of Twentieth Century screened at TIFF 2019 back at it once again. He is one of Canada’s best leading actors.

Morbus (dir. Kerim Banka)

You got to love when a young couple goes down an isolated road and don’t mind their business. Charlotte (Nicole Hrgetic) and Rory (Benjamin Lidell) run into an accident on the road and get out of the car to find out if there are any survivors. Once they feel that things are a little too spooky for their own good they try to get back into their car. They realize that an evil entity has started to drip in their faces. They have no idea what to do about but to get out of harm’s way. But how do they do that? Morbus is another clever horror film that is oozing brilliance.

10-33 (dir. Alexander Seltzer)

Ava’s (Alison Louder) date night out at the cinema turns south pretty quick. A gunman (Andrew Chown) enters the cinema and goes trigger happy while Ava becomes stuck in a washroom stall. Things tense up really quick when the gunman enters the women’s washroom and Ava has to figure out how to survive. Sure there have been many times where the washroom has been a hiding spot in cinema but in 10-33 things are quite different especially in this day and age. Do you ever wanted to know what it feels like to be stuck inside a stall while the terrorists outside are doing a number? You should check out Generation Utoya where the terrorist attack in Norway was similar to one of their victim Renate. It’s spooky and traumatic.

Crawl Space (dir. Andrew Elinas)

During lockdown, director Andrew Elinas shot this charming short horror film Crawl Space. Having worked on the special effects on Hollywood blockbusters such as The Dark Knight and Harry Potter kept his creativity intact. In this short and spooky film, a man is working in his shed and has to confront something horrible in the crawl space. Shot with a Blackmagic Pocket Camera 6K and a few aperture LED lights, the practical effects created by Andrew Elinas is stunning. Crawl Space pays homage to the use of practical effects and the cult classic Arachnaphobia.

Kwêskosîw: She Whistles (dir. Thirza Cuthand)

On her way to her girlfriend’s house, a 2-spirit nêhiyaw woman named Stephanie (Sera-Lys McArthur) gets in cab on a night where the Northern Lights are out. She is then gets spooked by her cab driver who assaults her. But a deadly supernatural power helps her fend off the cabbie and helps her unlock the mystery of her mother’s disappearance. Sera-Lys McArthur who is also in the indigenous horror film Don’t Say Its Name is one of those actresses that the world should keep their eye on because she is dynamic in her performances. Director Thirza Cuthand should also be in that mix of someone to look out for.