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