Six Scary Short Horror Films to Give You Nightmares!

Master of Horror Stephen King as soon as mentioned {that a} good quick story is sort of a fast kiss at midnight from a stranger. He could have been referring to literature, however I believe the identical comparability will be made when discussing short-form filmmaking as nicely. After all, style shorts are usually at their finest when merely hinting at a bigger and extra sinister world earlier than ending on a single, satisfying scare.

Unfortunately, only a few horror followers are within the behavior of consuming short-form horror exterior of anthology compilations and TV reveals. This signifies that there’s plenty of nice scary media on the market that’s but to be appreciated by mainstream audiences. With that in thoughts, we’ve determined to provide you with a listing recommending six horror shorts to provide you nightmares.

From viral scares on YouTube to shot-on-video classics, the next checklist will spotlight a wide selection of quick movies in your viewing pleasure, although needless to say we received’t be together with anthology flicks or movies inside movies just like the cursed videotape from The Ring.

As standard, don’t overlook to remark under with your individual favourite quick horror movies when you assume we missed a very freaky one.

Now, onto the checklist…

6. Other Side of the Box (2018)

All the flowery sensible results and spooky monster designs on this planet can’t save your movie from failure if no effort was put into good, old school storytelling, and that’s why Caleb J. Phillips’ 2018 viral hit Other Side of the Box is such a enjoyable little journey regardless of its antagonist mainly being a foolish little cardboard field and the bizarre bare man inhabiting it.

And but, all through the course of this fifteen-minute supernatural thriller, audiences can be on the sting of their seats in an try to know precisely what’s going on and the way the field really works. The ending may not work for everybody, however when you ask me, it’s the actually the eerie journey that counts – not the horrific vacation spot.

5. Katasumi/4444444444 (1998)

It could look like a cop-out to incorporate each of those three-minute shorts on the checklist as a single entry, however I really feel like Takashi Shimizu’s first steps into what would later develop into often called the Ju-On franchise complement each-other completely as an introduction to the brand new wave of J-Horror that was about to take the world by storm within the late ’90s.

While these zero-budget shorts (which characteristic the primary on-screen appearances of each Kayako and Toshio) have been initially produced as a part of a made-for-TV anthology program, they’ve far outgrown their origins and are actually higher often called viral web movies and DVD extras hinting at how the Grudge movies initially started.

And one of the best half is that they’re nonetheless canonical, making them a must-watch double-feature for followers!

4. Dining Room / There is Nothing (2006)

By far the shortest movie on this checklist, David B. Earle’s iconic video loop can be probably the most efficient regardless of its size. In truth, There Is Nothing was often called one of many scariest movies on the web – not less than till it was found that this freaky mixture of uncanny valley make-up and audio backmasking was merely an infinitely repeating artwork mission and never a legitimately cursed video.

Your scare-mileage could range when revisiting this quick relying on how outdated you have been again through the early days of YouTube and the way severely you took the web legends relating to its alleged curse. That being mentioned, I nonetheless discover Earle’s bizarre little artwork mission to be an interesting piece of viral horror historical past worthy of being rediscovered by a brand new era.

3. Fake Documentary Q: Basement (2023)

A Found-Footage-obsessed YouTube Channel, Fake Documentary Q has produced tons of high quality content material over time. That’s why it’s troublesome to single out a very efficient quick that’s higher than the entire others, however my private favourite amongst these eerily real looking productions additionally occurs to be one of many easiest.

Appropriately titled Basement, this 8-minute horror yarn is shot from the attitude of a single safety digital camera within an elevator and depicts unexplainable phenomena that may seemingly hang-out your nightmares for a very long time after the credit roll – particularly when you stay in an condo constructing.

While I received’t provide you with any spoilers, I’ve had this quick on my thoughts each single time I’ve entered an elevator for the previous couple of years – so delicate viewers beware.

2. The 10 Steps (2004)

There’s a sure sort of digital grunge distinctive to early 2000s horror that I have a tendency to understand even in unhealthy motion pictures from that point, nevertheless it’s all the time enjoyable to see these deep shadows and saturated colours present up in a legitimately chilling story. Brendan Muldowney’s underrated Irish quick The 10 Steps is a good instance of this, as this memorable little horror yarn boasts Hollywood-level pictures and nuanced worldbuilding regardless of its easy premise and quick size.

In truth, one might argue that the movie’s 10-minute runtime is already cinematic overkill, since the true meat of the story occurs through the remaining moments. However, it’s exactly the expertly crafted build-up that makes such an easy premise proceed to terrify viewers so a few years later.

1. The Cat with Hands (2001)

Visually, I’d argue that Robert Morgan’s The Cat with Hands is essentially the most spectacular movie on this checklist, nevertheless it’s additionally remarkably efficient in its try and seize the unsettling logic and environment of each historical fairy tales and surreal nightmares. The quick isn’t even notably graphic, utilizing retro pictures and lovely but spooky stop-motion to inform an odd story concerning the titular cat, however each element right here feels off in exactly the best means.

And whereas Morgan would flex his stop-motion horror abilities once more in shorts like Bobby Yeah and even a section in ABCs Of Death 2, you’re seemingly extra aware of his phenomenal work within the underrated 2023 characteristic, Stopmotion!