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[Review] ‘Abracitos’ – A Hair-Raising Short Film!

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Abracitos is a hair-raising and chilling short film by Director Tony Morales.  You may remember Morales’s short films released over the past couple of years, Hada and Black Eyed Child.  Abracitos “Hugs” focuses on a phone call in the middle of the night that shakes Laura’s world. Meanwhile, little Ainara plays in her room. The appearance of an unknown being will test the mental and emotional stability of the two sisters.

With a run time of only eleven minutes, Morales delivers a chilling story fueled by character emotion and pure terror. Morales has developed a signature when creating his films. With the eerie lighting, swift camera movements, and emotionally driven characters, I would have known I was watching a Tony Morales film even if no one had told me. With a compelling ending, Abracitos is a film that you will want to watch a few times over, I know I did, and I still jumped and felt the emotion in the all the same spots even though my first viewing experience had vanished.

I did have the chance to ask Morales a few questions regarding his newest horror venture.

Director Tony Morales

ihorror: Where did the idea of Abracitos come from? Did you also write the screenplay?

Tony Morales: The project was born at the 2018 Sitges Festival when I proposed to my friend Fer Zaragoza to write a script together. We began to explore numerous ideas for months until we found the clue and knew where we wanted to go. It is a classic horror story but also influenced by modern horror cinema. We are currently developing the Abracitos movie idea.

iH: What location did you use for filming?

TM: We shot at Loasur studios, it is located in the municipality of Coín (Málaga, Spain). We built a set-in record time and managed to shoot the short film in just one weekend in February, before all the global commotion caused by COVID-19.

iH: What was the most challenging part of filming this short film? How does this film compare to your other short films?

TM: The most difficult part was the one that takes place outside the fabric castle. I think that ‘Abracitos’ is a considerable improvement compared to my other shorts, although they all share the same style, which is there and whoever sees it will know that it is Tony Morales.

iH: I do agree all your films share the same style and this was an improvement, not to say the other shorts were not watchable, both most definitely were. Keep us updated on the development of Abracitos feature idea, you have a lot of material to explore that would make a superb feature film. Thank you so much, Tony!
The short film Abracitos will premiere at the following festivals:

– World Premiere: Fantasia International Film Festival
– American Premiere: Screamfest Horror Film Festival

 

Tony Morales Short Film Reviews

Black Eyed Child

Hada

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

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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