You have to know your biases, and here’s one of mine. When it comes to horror movies, I have become one pretentious bitch. Oh yeah--I love the whole indie horror schtick.
Read MoreThe Box from XX (2017) #WiHM
Jovanka Vuckovic’s “The Box” operates on horror’s oldest premise: what you don’t see is the worst thing of all. That’s not to say that this sinister short feels dated or old fashioned--on the contrary, its assault on the viewer’s sense of the uncanny feels fiendishly new. Rather than rely on gore, “The Box” maintains a clinically cold detachment, allowing the dread to mount until the haunting ending leaves the viewer hoping for that oh-so-comforting sense of closure we’ve been trained to need from horror films.
Read MoreMemory Box (2015)
Attendees at this year’s Fantastic Fest who checked out the delightfully surprising dramedy Aloys were in for a treat of a different sort before the film proper began—a tragic, beautiful little short called “Memory Box.” The simplicity of its’ title betrays the complex framework of the story. In a not-very-distant future, people can pay to participate in “boxes”—elaborate role playing scenarios that let individuals relive past experiences, allowing them to literally relive their happiest memories, with companies and their employees painstakingly recreating places, events—and people.
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