A Few Short Films from Nightmares Fest 2024 [Nightmares Fest 2024] [Halloween Horror Month]

As usual, Nightmares Fest brought it with one of the best short films (and features) selection. The films played this year were excellent overall, so let’s take a look at a few of the shorts present, in no particular order: 

The Harvester (2024)
This post-apocalyptic science-fiction short follows a harvester as he works and meets with unexpected elements in his harvesting of a rare substance. Written by Andrew Zane Allen, Gavin Bradley, and with the first two co-directing, this short film feels like a world-building towards something bigger, larger, more epic. As it stands, the film is very well-written and directed with some absolutely solid cinematography by Andrew Zane Allen. The cast is led by Joel Austin in the titular role with Escalante Lundy as The Shepherd, Kaleigh Macchio as The Fiend, and Mikyla Bordner as The Soviet. Their work here is basically wordless but communicates quite well. The film has a puppet and the work by Ryosuke Sekoguchi, credited as The Puppeteer, is fantastic. That puppet looks fantastic as well with a touch of dark whimsy. The film here shows how teamwork is necessary and how to make the most of everyone’s skills. This a dark and moody dream of a short film with solid visuals and effect physical acting. 

Nocturna (2024)
Three late night passenger on public transport meet. One of them is fascinating the other two, one of which decides to take advantage of the situation which puts him in a bad spot. Written and directed by Pablo Olmos Arrayales, this short will appeal to those who have taken the last metro/subway/tube after a night out. It’s a story that makes sense pretty much only in that setting, something that works quite well here. The story is interesting and entertaining, the characters have some interest to them (positive or negative, depending) and the cast brings them to life just right. Helena Puig is particularly fascinating to watch. This short takes on a very real situation, one that is actually scary for most women, and turns in on its head, making it just the right film. Here, the short format works particularly well for the story at hand. 

Mirthless (2024)
A man losing his will to live finds himself responsible for a baby and his joie de vivre comes back little by little, but how far will he go to keep the baby happy? This short film by Tina Karden is one that works great as it is, short and somewhat sweet, giving just a glimpse into the life of this man and doing so while making his living space clearly gloomy and desperate. The story here has a nice, yet kind of creepy, arc and it really pulls the viewer in. The pace of it all works great here with a solid performance from the lead actor. It also looks fantastic with great sound design.  

Sundowning (2024)
A man living in an elder care facility prepares for meeting someone or something in his room once darkness takes over. Playing with themes of dementia and age-decline mixed with the supernatural, Sundowning is a fantastically well written and directed short film by Faith Liu with a strong and believable performance by Ken Takemoto who is superb to watch here. This short is touching and genuinely creepy in parts. It has great cinematography and makes fantastic use of light and darkness, playing with shadows at times and what might lurk in them. This short is effective and does feel that with a little bit of finessing could easily become a truly scary feature film. 

La Petite Mort (2024)
Following an assault, a ballerina sees her life changing and how to survive may not be ideal. Written and directed by Federica Avagliano, this is a film that comes with a trigger warning of course, but does try to make the assault less, well, assaulting for the viewer but it is very much present and a bit unavoidable. That being said, the film well-written and directed and the cast does superb work bringing their characters to life just right with natural and calculated nuance as well as a great care for the content of the film. The look of the film here is interesting in that it is old school full screen with sometimes odd choices for lighting. There are a few issues here and there, but it is a solid effort from filmmaker Avagliano. (also, this one needs a strobe warning for those may be affected.)