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Short Film Review: ‘Disconnect’ Needs You to Answer its Call

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Disconnect

You wake up. Your phone is ringing, outside it’s chaos. Something is horribly wrong. 

You’ve got two minutes to tell this story. How do you do it? 

If you’re Jonathan Correia and Lazersaurous Rex, you do it in one damn take. Correia’s Disconnect — created as part of the 1917 One Shot Challenge — has an urgent message to deliver, and it does so with a slick swagger. The single-take short (clocking in at two minutes) is impressively polished with the kind of what’s-that-in-the-corner horror that is sure to tickle the fancy of any genre fan.  

From concept to completion, the short was completed in two weeks — an impressive feat considering the complexity of some of the shots, particularly the smooth transition from the second floor of the house to the ground level. 

To achieve this, DP John O’Connor and his camera team rigged the camera to an Ari Maxima for the shots through the hallway. Once they got to the balcony, O’Connor lifted the camera and (very safely) secured it to a pulley system attached to a Menace Arm to slowly lower it to the ground, where two other cameramen were waiting to grab the camera and run it upstairs for the final shot. 

All this delicate choreography paired with the heavy Ari Maxima rig meant that they could fully run the shot only a few times. Their hard work — well complemented by Ethan Bellows’ editing — paid off with resounding success. Everything we see on screen is framed and emphasized in a way that draws easy focus while teasing just enough to capture interest.  

via Jonathan Correia

The music by John R Nunez builds an anxious beat that carries through the short, driving anticipation as — moment by moment — we uncover more to the story. The interior of the house is washed with pink and purple light, giving the whole apartment an oddly sinister vibe that works in perfect tandem with the pulsing guitar. 

Disconnect has a strong base that allows the world of the film to really build. As the short progresses, each new revelation twists the screws a little tighter, making the climax that much more powerful. 

The story is relatively simple, but highly effective. Though the end credits voiceover gives a bit more (although vague) context, much is left up to the imagination — and it’s perfect. With only two minutes to tell your tale, the key is to be economical and leave your audience wanting more. Which this short certainly does.  

All in all, it’s a cleverly concocted and well executed short film that will stick with you long after the credits. Once you’ve picked this one up, it’ll be hard to disconnect. 

Check it out for yourself!

For more horror shorts, check out our review of Boo by Rakefet Abergel.

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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