During this year’s Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, I was lucky enough to be a screener for the short film program! After watching over 200 shorts, I’ve narrowed down my favourite entries in each category of the festival’s short program.
Head Trip: ‘Calf‘
A bleak look into a family’s life on a remote Irish farm. The young daughter of the family, Cáit, is forced to make a horrible decision that would protect her family. I love the realism of this short—there’s nothing supernatural about the horror used in Calf, and instead focuses on the terrors of what we can do to each other in the real world. The effects are also a bonus in this one!
Home Invasion: ‘Don’t F*ck With Ba‘
The Home Invasion category at BHFF is huge, so it was hard to choose a favorite. Don’t Fuck With Ba stood out because of it’s stylistic choices. After a break-in and murder in New York’s Chinatown, a group of diverse Asian femmes fight back to protect their community. It is a revenge action thriller that tackles ‘girl power’ in a sincere way. The film seeks to showcase the diversity of New York’s Asian community. One unique way Don’t Fuck With Ba does this is by color coding the English subtitles by which language is being spoken. Don’t Fuck With Ba also proudly platforms queer actors!
Laugh Now Die Later: ‘Make Me a Pizza‘
Make Me a Pizza stood out because I’ve truly never seen anything like it. It draws on pornographic imagery for its intro—a lonely woman orders a pizza, only to find she has no money to pay the delivery person. The two obviously figure out an arrangement for the pizza, but the film goes off the rails soon afterward, and dives headfirst into surreal body horror, while maintaining its comedic tone.
Nightmare Fuel: ‘Transvylvanie‘
Transvylvanie is a tense piece about a 10 year old girl, Eva, who thinks she is, or might be a vampire. She is obviously an outsider in her community, and is bullied by the older kids. Eva develops a crush on a young teenager, Hugo, which leads to her being even more ridiculed. This short film’s power is in its ambiguity.
Slayed: ‘Rat!‘
Inspired by stan culture, this film is so poignant in the current celebrity landscape. Those who follow Chappell Roan or Taylor Swift will see similarities in how feral fans can be. One of the characters makes a Tik Tok video calling out pop star Wally Max for his poor musicianship and suspected queer baiting and is then harassed by Max’s fans. The short is creepy, funny and all too real.
Spain: ‘Voyager‘
Voyager is a beautifully shot and solemn sci-fi piece. The film opens on the scene of a mysterious death where police are unable to piece together what happened. Then, we cut to Camilla, a night janitor, who has just discovered a discarded pill. Curious, Camilla takes the pill and it allows her to leave her body and explore while being unseen, she seeks connection where she had been too scared to before. The style of this film truly stands out. The tone is somber and moody, and the environments created by the set realistically show a world that is messy but beautiful.
Honorable Mention: ‘Les Bêtes‘
Les Bêtes is the film I would have most liked to make it into the festival’s programming, but unfortunately was unable to make it in. It is a masterfully done stop-motion claymation short that brings the viewer through a whirlwind of a surreal world filled with an assortment of astonishing creatures. I was struck by how much time had to go into making a film in this style with so many characters and details.
