[NIGHTSTREAM] BHFF - NIGHTMARE FUEL • DIS/MEMBER

Read Time:5 Minute, 15 Second

4X6
Directed & Written by Jamie Gyngell
Story by Octavia Welby & Jamie Gyngell
Starring: Esme Allen, Malcolm Davies, Blade M. Stephens, Paul Gorostidi

A girl looks through some recently developed photos, and a picture that she doesn’t recognize, and has never taken, is in the set.

I had to watch this short a couple of times to get the full impact of it. It’s so fucking intense and well done, and it leaves me with a shitload of questions. I honestly wish this was a full movie cause I’d watch it in a heartbeat. A murder coming out of a picture? Then making it seem like they killed themselves? And it keeps happening?! Yes, please! Who is this mysterious photo guy? Why is he doing this? Then she’s now in the photo?! What?!?! Make a full film, I beg of you.

Killing Small Animals
Director: Marcus Svanberg
Written by: Marcus Svanberg & Matilda Skold
Starring: Louise Peterhoff, Janos Nerbe, Alva Ademank

A woman starts to kill small animals, but gradually that isn’t enough to satisfy her.

It’s almost proven that a lot of serial killers, before they murder humans, kill small animals. The small animals are helpless, and at times trusting, so it’s easier prey. However, after those small animals aren’t enough to satisfy their lust for killing, they graduate to hunting either children or adults.

This was the perfect depiction of that, and because it was a woman hunting and hurting animals, it’s so much more chilling than you could imagine. This woman even looked to have a privileged life, but the attention wasn’t there, and that wasn’t enough. It was a knock-out narrative, even though it was hard to watch. The camera work is stunning, and the Louise Peterhoff was so fucking great.

SCORE 10/10

Woodland Cemetery
Directed & Written by Niels Bourgonje
Starring: Josefina Asplund, Karin Bertling

A photographer takes pictures in a cemetery and stumbles upon an old woman with a lantern who really doesn’t like her picture taken.

This film was BEAUTIFUL. Every shot is a photograph in itself. I was at the edge of my seat to see what happens next. It’s a haunting in the simplest of terms, but it still feels like it would be something more to the story, especially between these two women. I don’t move towards jump scares, but I even jumped twice. Overall, it makes you wonder why this woman decided to hunt her, but it’s almost great that you don’t know why because the trust might be scarier.

SCORE: 8/10

The Girl in the Woods
Directed & Written by Laura Kulik
Starring: Nicole Outman

A girl drives in the middle of the woods, along a lonely road. When she hits something, she investigates and doesn’t expect what she finds.

The Girl in the Woods was super effective in the spooky factor with an engrossing concept. The one thing that seriously got me was the twist. It was TOTALLY unexpected, and it’s something that I should have thought of, but I was shocked! One of the scariest things about this film is the thought that she will have to live this entire scenario over and over and over again. After you watch the film, you’ll say out loud, “Fuck, that sucks.”

SCORE: 8/10

Separation
Director: Rebeckah McKendry
Written by: Rebeckah McKendry & David Ian McKendry
Starring: Austin Highsmith & Justin Benson

As a couple goes through a divorce, the tension of the impending separation is starting to grow some physical illness for them.

This was heartbreaking. I’ve never been through a divorce before, nor a separation, but I’ve been through breakups, and this is a great look at what it feels like. It feels like a physical illness and can manifest itself as so, but the fact that they almost looked like they were good with each other and then to have to physically pull themselves apart? That got me. In the end, they reach for each other to help because that’s all they know. It’s a bloody mess, but the short tells a lot about the couple in under 7 minutes. A wonderful character piece that I watched twice because it’s just that great.

SCORE: 10/10

MrThisforThat
Director: Thomas Mendolia
Written by: Michael J. Karr
Starring: Ivy George, Lynn Downey. Brian Patalucci, Bowie Bundle, Chad Steers, Caleb Madison

A little girl from a broken home makes three wishes to a mysterious figure in her closet, but those wishes come with a price.

I’m not gonna lie. This whole block of shorts have been riddled with bangers, and MrThisforThat hits it out of the part. This one was nightmare fuel indeed, and a combination of “be careful what you wish for” and “everything comes at a price.

As straightforward as it may be, the young girl’s choices made me think a little bit about what I would do in that situation. It’s understandable why the girl wishes what she does, but you’d think the second payment (of losing her brother) would be enough for her to stop and think for a second. However, it makes me almost sad to know what she was the “root” of the problem of why her parents’ relationship went wrong.

SCORE: 9/10

Selfie
Director: John Poliquin
Written by: Colin Minihan & John Poliquin
Starring: Payton Kennedy, Dillon Duchere

A girl deletes her social media app ‘Selfie’ to get herself back, but she’s not aware of the monster that she’s already created.

Social media takes out as much as we put into it, and we create the monsters that we put into it. This was probably my second favorite short of the lot because it hits home. I don’t use my social media (or even the website’s social media even) as much I used to. It’s usually because: 1) I don’t want to lose myself in the mindless doom scrolling, and 2) I don’t want to put myself against others.

This was a short that a lot of people should watch. It’s absolutely unfortunate that she basically had to come to an end because the monster was already created and out of the screen. We can choose to calm down the social media presence every once in a while, so we don’t create the monster she has.

SCORE: 10/10