The Best In Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Films, Web Series, and Othe Closely-Related Media
In this post sponsored by the Ohio Basement Authority, films and television series containing a dynamic blend of both horror and science fiction elements are explored.
Read MoreWandering Soul is a disturbing ghost story short set during the Vietnam conflict and told from the unique perspective of the Viet Cong. Beneath the pitch-black tunnels of Cu Chi, a Viet Cong soldier experiences chilling phenomena while surrounded by the buried remains of fallen comrades.
Read MoreIn the horror-comedy mashup film CAMP WEDDING, Mia has rented the grounds of a neglected summer camp in hopes of transforming it into a picturesque venue for her wedding. However, when the camp’s dark past returns to haunt it, Mia’s friends start disappearing. Still, Mia’s hell-bent on having the wedding of her dreams - even if it kills her!
Read More
The horror short BLACKWOOD opens, ironically, on the outdoor set of a horror film shoot.
After the film’s shooting wraps for the day, the production’s sound recordist Nikki (Danielle Butlin) decides to linger to record birdsong, wind, and other ambient forest sounds.
After traveling deep inside the forest, Nikki captures the sound of something… strange. Drawn to the eerie sound, she soon finds herself caught in a terrifying encounter.
Written and directed by Australian filmmaker Andrew Montague, an atmosphere of unrelenting tension is created by making the short film’s brilliant sound design and captivating cinematography the driving force of the narrative.
The Eden-like woodland Nikki explores instantly transforms into a foreboding glade by the introduction of the unearthly sound.
Danielle Butlin completes this horror mini-masterpiece with her outstanding performance as Nikki.
There is not much spoken dialogue in the short. Its formidable chill factor is compounded as a result of Butlin’s convincing verbal and non-verbal reactions to the dread and horror of her circumstance.
After watching BLACKWOOD, you will think twice before your next excursion into the woods.
Watch BLACKWOOD in its entirety below (Wearing headphones is strongly recommended!)…
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When it comes to horror, my philosophy is less is more.
That is why in lieu of most graphic gorefests, I gravitate toward more subtle narratives that mine horror from the deepest, darkest recesses of the human psyche.
The short film IT HAPPENED ON ORCHARD STREET is an outstanding example of how affecting psychological horror can be.
Written and directed by Scott Jeschke, the short opens on a very ominous note.
A man named Walter (Luke Persiani) arrives back at his apartment with his hands covered in blood. This unsettling visual cue immediately sets the tone for the film.
Visibly upset, Walter washes the blood from his hands, but it is quite evident he has either been the victim or perpetrator of recent violence.
Walter attempts to settle in for the evening, but he soon has the disturbing realization he is not alone in his tiny apartment.
Jeschke masterfully uses color, light, and shadow to create ever-mounting dread and tension - without a word of dialogue ever spoken.
One memorable scene is when Walter is washing the blood from his hands in his kitchen sink.
The juxtaposition of the sunshine-yellow colored backsplash with the crimson hue of the blood is a striking visual composition straight from Alfred Hitchcock’s playbook. It perfectly symbolizes the jarring intrusion of chaos into Walter’s usually neat and ordered world.
In Jeschke’s hands even the usually mundane sound of a teakettle is transformed into an unnerving aural assault.
However, the cinematography is the biggest hallmark of this short.
Walter’s apartment is shrouded in shadow, which is used to incite tension and anxiety in both the protagonist and the viewer.
I would be very remiss if I did not call out the terrific performance Persiani gives as Walter. Without speaking a word, he conveys the protagonist’s fear and angst solely by using his body language and facial expressions - signs of a skilled actor.
IT HAPPENED ON ORCHARD STREET is stylish psychological horror evocative of the genre’s best.
Watch the complete short film here…
Experience our official podcast Eye On Sci-Fi. Join host and The 7th Matrix founder Rod T. Faulkner as he spotlights terrific indie SFF short films and web series.
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Few times of the year are more festive than Halloween.
The signs are everywhere: autumnal colors, carved pumpkins, macabre decorations, costume parties, and trick-or-treaters preparing to overdose on sugar.
Halloween is also the time when horror movies and scary films take center stage.
From blood-and-gore spectacles to unnerving tales of the supernatural, watching horror movies has become a quintessential, modern Halloween tradition.
The following 12 short films represent chilling narratives of dread and horror perfect for the holiday.
So get some popcorn, grab your favorite treats, turn down the lights (if you dare!) and enjoy these engaging tales of terror.
A man suffering from amnesia awakens from slumber to find himself trapped in a shadowy realm populated by hellish creatures.
A collector obsessed with death receives a mysterious antique photo that completes his collection. But something has attached itself to the picture, and it soon makes its presence known.
A young urbanite is intrigued by his secretive new neighbors. Overcome by curiosity, he attempts to discover more about them. He soon realizes some secrets - and people - are better left undisturbed.
At a birthday party, a recently divorced young mother receives a dire warning from a mysterious stranger: someone is watching her and her baby. Upset, the woman returns home. There she begins to experience eerie phenomena which indicates someone or something is in her home.
When a mysterious audio tone is broadcast across the planet, everyone who hears it dies. Only the deaf remain alive. However, the survivors soon realize their nightmare has only just begun.
Nikki is a movie sound recordist working on a remote set for a horror film. After filming a pivotal scene for the movie, she stays behind in the wooded area to record background noise. Soon, Nikki hears an eerie, unearthly sound that will lead her to a chilling supernatural encounter (Make sure to hear headphones/earbuds while watching).
In feudal Japan, an exiled samurai returns home only to discover his birthplace has been cursed, and is now overrun by the walking dead.
An IT professional battling a computer virus attacking his firm soon realizes its origins stem from dark occult rites and an infernal conspiracy.
During the Vietnam War, two Viet Cong soldiers sequestered deep within the tunnels of Cu Chi are desperately attempting to evade American troops. When a traditional burial ceremony meant to put a fallen comrade’s soul to rest is interrupted, the two soldiers begin experiencing bizarre phenomena deep in the darkness below the earth.
In 1943 during the height of World War II, a British soldier is captured by the Nazis and imprisoned in a covert underground bunker. Along with his fellow prisoner, a mysterious woman, the soldier is forced to participate in sadistic psychological experiments that have a sinister and unearthly purpose.
An inventor perfects a machine that allows him to see into the spirit world. He then embarks on an odyssey across the veil, encountering spirits both personal and dangerous.
This eerie and atmospheric short films follows in the tradition of iconic horror classics such as Rosemary’s Baby and The Haunting Of Hill House. A psychic woman reluctantly agrees to use her special gifts to help a priest confront and battle a malevolent supernatural being.
Make sure to check out our podcast Eye On Sci-Fi. Join host and The 7th Matrix founder Rod T. Faulkner as he spotlights terrific indie SFF short films and web series.
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To say the short film Mr. Memento is a horror story would be too simplistic.
The short’s narrative combines the dark sensibilities of a gothic tale mixed with an intriguing rumination on death to create a ghost story of ethereal beauty.
The film is the story of an elderly collector (Richard Lippert) who is obsessed with acquiring death portraits which were in vogue shortly after the invention of photography.
When the collector receives an antique photograph of a young woman serene in her death pose, he soon realizes he has inherited a restless spirit (Gabrielle Stone) as well.
Mr. Memento was written and directed by Chris Heck as a way to process a very personal loss.
The filmmaker set out to make a short film unlike the jump scare screamfests popular in horror.
He has succeeded with remarkable results.
Mr. Memento draws you in with its with lush production and cinematography, gothic stylings, fascinating characters, and meditative rumination on mortality.
Watch Mr. Memento here …
If you want a change of pace from the typical blood-and-gore spectacles found in horror, Mr. Memento is a compelling, beautiful, and affecting choice.
Make sure to check out our podcast Eye On Sci-Fi. Join host and The 7th Matrix founder Rod T. Faulkner as he spotlights terrific indie SFF short films and web series.
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Certain horror films are so unnerving, their impact leaves an indelible brand on your psyche.
DARK WAKE is just such a horror film..
The short tells the story of an unnamed amnesiac (John Marcucci) who awakens in the middle of the night. A small, strange portal opens along his bedroom wall revealing the lower jaw of a demonic guide (Anne Shepherd).
The guide warns the man he is about to die.
The portal vanishes and the hallway leading to the man’s bedroom is suddenly enveloped in inky darkness.
The man notices something moving in the darkness. Suddenly, a creature straight out of Dante’s Inferno emerges.
Then creature attacks the man and begins devouring him.
The man awakens only to endure the experience of being consumed by hideous monsters over and over.
Despite the man questioning if he is in hell, the demonic guide insists the nightmare he is trapped in is not hell, because, as it chillingly states, “innocents have been held here.”
The guide tells him that in order to escape his fate, he must overcome his terror with a memory from his former life.
The man succeeds in reclaiming a memory and defeats the next attack, but then an even greater infernal mystery is revealed to him.
I’ll just be blunt here - DARK WAKE freaked me the hell out, and I enjoyed it.
Written and directed by Abdul Ali, the short boasts horrifying, award-worthy creature designs that seem heavily influenced by the work of director Guillermo del Toro.
The short’s visuals are dark, claustrophobic, and bizarre. However, what really sells its nightmare world is the sense of disorientation and visceral terror viewers share with the protagonist.
Adding to the surreal atmosphere of the short is the fact the protagonist’s reliability as a narrator is left in question.
Is he dreaming the entire experience, or is he having some sort of psychotic break? Is he actually trapped in some sort of hellish alternate dimension?
DARK WAKE doesn’t provide any clear answers - and that is what makes it such a chilling, disturbing, and compelling watch.
Watch DARK WAKE here…
Make sure to check out our podcast Eye On Sci-Fi. Join host and The 7th Matrix founder Rod T. Faulkner as he spotlights terrific indie SFF short films and web series.
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The horror short NEIGHBORS has a very innocuous beginning; in a posh condominium high-rise, young urbanite Brad (Steven Conroy) meets a mysterious new neighbor in the elevator.
Brad attempts to make friendly conversation, but it quickly becomes obvious his aloof neighbor, Carl (Pascal Yen-Pfister), is not interested.
Driven by curiosity, Brad and his girlfriend Melanie (Caitlin Johnston) soon become enmeshed in a mystery involving Carl which will teach them a costly lesson: some people - and secrets - are better left undisturbed.
Written and directed by Brandon Boudreaux, NEIGHBORS generates blood-chilling horror from the unsettling possibility that unspeakable evil may reside right next door to us.
Watch the unnerving NEIGHBORS here...
Make sure to check out our podcast Eye On Sci-Fi. Join host and The 7th Matrix founder Rod T. Faulkner as he spotlights terrific indie SFF short films and web series.
We are proud of the fact The 7th Matrix has been operating AD-FREE since its inception in 2013. Please help us continue. Thank you!
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In the short film SWORD OF THE DEAD (SOTD), an exiled ronin ( Masami Kosaka) returns home to discover his birthplace overrun with zombies due to an evil curse.
This latest short by filmmaker Stephen Vitale - whose other short film HOSHINO is an outstanding Star Wars homage - takes worn-out zombie tropes and reinvigorates them by excising the living dead out of Western cultural accouterments and transplanting them into feudal Japan.
The result is a haunting, beautiful short film that is a homage to both the classic George A. Romero zombie film Night Of The Living Dead and the movies of renowned Japanese directors Masaki Kobayashi and Akira Kurosawa.
A tip of the hat to Vitale for including Japanese artisans on the SOTD production team. His directorial vision and their expertise merge together to replicate the look and feel of a film from Japan's cinematic golden age in the 1950s.
Other inspired artistic choices include the decision to film SOTD in pristine black and white, as well as having all dialogue spoken in Japanese with English subtitles.
I would be remiss if I didn't call out the riveting performances of Masami Kosaka as the exiled ronin and Rome Kanda as the old man who warns our hero of the evil that has infested his home.
SOTD is gorgeous, atmospheric and mesmerizing; it is a zombie-action film unlike any you have ever seen.
But don't take my word for it, watch SWORD OF THE DEAD in its entirety here...
Also, check out this fascinating behind-the-scenes video of the making of SOTD...
Make sure to check out our podcast Eye On Sci-Fi. Join host and The 7th Matrix founder Rod T. Faulkner as he spotlights terrific indie SFF short films and web series.
We are proud of the fact The 7th Matrix has been operating AD-FREE since its inception in 2013. Please help us continue. Thank you!
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All of us have experienced it. The times we are certain we are alone, but then a nagging, unsettling feeling tells us we are being watched.
The Spanish short film BEHIND, written and directed by Ángel Gómez Hernández, exploits that feeling to create a story of intense psychological horror.
The short opens during a children's birthday party. There we meet recently divorced young mother Arianne (Macarena Gómez).
While rambunctious children swarm around her, Arianne is having an altercation over the telephone with her ex-husband regarding custody of their infant daughter.
The tone and tenor of the conversation immediately reveal the custody battle is taking its toll on her.
As she prepares to leave the party with her daughter in tow, a mysterious stranger approaches and delivers a cryptic, blood-chilling warning: at home, a "man" has been standing behind Arianne and watching her. This man will not leave her alone until he gets what he wants, and she will not be able to see him - until it is too late.
Understandably rattled, Arianne rushes home.
At first, she dismisses the warning. But when strange phenomena begin to occur, Arianne realizes the warning may have terrifying merit.
From the tense opening moments of its 15-minute runtime to the final disturbing scene, BEHIND is a showcase of edge-of-your-seat, psychological horror.
Much credit for this must be given to the extraordinary performances of the actors, as well as the director's masterful exploitation of one of humanity's most visceral fears - being watched and hunted.
Experience the unnerving horror of BEHIND for yourself...
(Please note the film is in Spanish with English subtitles)
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Adapted by Swedish director Ivan Radovic from an original story written by Glen Cadigan, Eldritch Code is the official short film adaptation of the story "One Of Those Days," which appeared in the horror anthology Cthulu Tales #6 published by comic book publisher BOOM! Studios.
Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, Eldritch Code is the story of Gus (Martin Hendrikse), an IT professional dealing with what he believes is a run-of-the-mill computer virus attempting to infect his company's servers.
However, Gus quickly realizes the virus he is fighting is unlike anything he has ever seen. The infected files actually contain a demonic presence that threatens far more than his company's computer network.
Soon Gus is pulled down into a hellish rabbit hole leading to a deranged world of cults and dark gods from beyond the stars.
Eldrich Code is a fascinating watch because it successfully marries the mundane horrors of 9 to 5 American corporate culture with the fevered and metaphysical horror author H. P. Lovecraft is responsible for popularizing.
Watch this very stylish and wonderfully bizarre horror short film here ...
To discover more about the making of Eldritch Code and the original story that inspired it, visit the short's official Facebook page.
We are proud of the fact The 7th Matrix has been operating AD-FREE since its inception in 2013. Please help us continue. Thank you!
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1EdGZQu1hcpzTYiTzoBD66bFC6ubH1pVL1