In The DARK (2008)
Directed by Enrique Garcia
Sarah, a typical snotty babysitter, arrives at the Emerson home to watch over teen Alex, a medication-dependent blind mute. Being a typical snotty teen, she immediately phones her boyfriend Roger to come over and is less than cordial to Alex – verbally insensitive and intentionally spreads her germs onto his dinner. Moments later, the kitchen cabinets start flapping and a severed hand appears in the utensil drawer. Convinced she hallucinated, Sarah tries to wash some sense back into her face, only to find her reflection sporting an oozing, gauged eye! Hoohah! An asthmatic assault on her lungs ensues. She calms down by watching some tv with Roger, both unaware the channel has changed itself to reveal a ghostly man looking out at them, telling Sarah she’s been a bad girl. Ah, some light is shed that the house is in fact haunted and Sarah hasn’t been hallucinating after all. Alex takes a chilling turn in personality and then the fun begins.
Originally, this short film came off as incredibly vague and left me with many unanswered questions. A few viewings help catch the important little nuances. It’s easy to toss aside an 18-minute film, but kudos must be given for making the viewer think a little harder. Decent acting but the jittery camera work during motion sequences is distracting. If the technical problems could be worked on, a little more clarity and a more interesting soundtrack, this intriguing story could shine a little better. Sure, the idea of a ghost going to all this trouble for someone else’s benefit is borderline ridiculous, but hey. I would like to see a background on the ghost – who is he? What is his connection to Alex and why is death the punishment for trivial crimes? “in the DARK” is a decent short but could be conceptualized better.
Official Selection 2009 Dam Short Film Festival
Winner “Best Editing” 2009 Late Night Horror Film Festival
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