Tell

Personally, i have been a fan of Film Riot and Ryan Connolly for years now. So when i heard that this movie was to be released online - free of charge - i was mega excited. The simplicity of this film with the combination of perfection really makes it stand out from other horror films. At a tight budget and a small crew, they have managed to pull off Hollywood standard material through Ryan's many skills from directing to editing.

He is "The Man" and with great co-operative actors, this piece has really out-shined a lot of other horror films that have had millions spent on them.

Full kudos to Ryan Connolly and the team, massive fan of your work, and i look forward to seeing your films on the big screen. It will take you no less than an hour to watch, so i suggest that everyone goes over to the website and watches it now. You will not regret it. Just make sure you have a pillow to hide behind!

Taylor is having another big fight with his girlfriend Jenny; storming out, he remembers the drunken advice of a friend, collects a hammer from his truck and goes back inside to brutally murder her. The moment is easy, however covering up the crime is another thing – only made more difficult by Taylor struggling to keep a hold on reality.

Tell manages to be both obvious but yet very effective at the same time. I see that the reception to the film is very mixed because people generally see it one way or the other but for me it manages to do both pretty well. As a horror of sorts it is all about the tension and build, although there are scenes of violence, really the whole film is about the tension. It does this very well and often I was on the edge of my seat, but at the same time my brain did not let go to the point where I was blind to what the film was doing. See the problem with it is that it is really using every trick in the book – and yes it is using them to get good results, but they still feel like tricks.

So the half-seen figures, the blurring or reality/imagined, the camera staring in one direction waiting for something that may or may not come and, of course, that building noise of a score. This latter one is the key thing and it really does help raise the tension. Credit to Ryan Connolly, he knows the genre and he knows what works, using everything to build a simple but very effective film. The cast support him well in this, particularly Bruno, who is a physical manifestation of the tension in the film – he balls it up and sells it. Likewise Eva, although dispatched early on, she remains a creepy presence throughout.

The film is very much about genre clichés and familiar old tricks, so I do understand the reservations about it, but at the same time it uses them all together very well to make an effective, gripping and tense 30 minutes. Well worth a look for what it does well.

I've been watching Film Riot for a couple years now, and only recently did I stumble upon this short directed by Ryan Connolly.

This was his first short apparently and I have to say, I've seen a lot of first time shorts... this one is pretty good among the others I've seen. Very rarely will you see a GREAT short film done by a first timer; that's rare if even possible. To be clear, this short film is good, not great.

Some people might have issues with the picture quality, but that's because the camera they used is a very old model/simple type of camera. Nothing too fancy at all. Basically on the same level as a Canon T2i. To me, that's not a problem. If anything that's inspiring to other indie filmmakers to still go out and make movies and not let the lack of stellar equipment stop you from doing so.

The acting was okay... passable.

The story is pretty good, and I'm 99% sure based on Edgar Allen Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. I say that because it has similar elements and it's title is "TELL". I actually find that pretty cool that someone adapted Poe literature into a short film, set in modern times.

And as I recall, I have no issues with the editing or sound design. The lighting and color grading seemed to fit the short well.

Overall, a pretty good diamond in the ruff and highly recommended; especially if you're into indie filmmaking, it might inspire you.

Having known Ryan Connolly from Film Riot, I had high expectations from him to create a high-quality, professionally-done short film. And although it wasn't necessarily "short" (at least, not in the sense that most people would consider short), he did meet my expectations and then some.

Let me say right now that I am not a fan of horror or thriller (however, I am a huge Michael Jackson fan. But that's another story). However, this short film made me enjoy the thrill of being scared and feeling a lot of suspense. From a technical stand point, some could argue that some moments were long, boring, tedious, and beat around the bush. However, I feel as though these are the moments that inflict suspense in the audiences minds and allows their imagination to go crazy. And, in my opinion, he executes these moments perfectly.

Speaking of technicality, from an avid film-maker's point of view, I absolutely enjoyed everything. From the lighting, to the color grading/correction to the cinematography. It was beautifully done and such a pleasure for a fellow film-maker's eyes to view.

Overall, I gave this short film an 8/10. The only problem I had was that it was not fully original. For those of you who are reading this who are up on your English Literature, you may see some parallels between this short film and a famous short story. But again, I suggest you watch this no matter what kind of genre you are into because you never know what you may or may not enjoy. Hats off to you, Ryan!

I have to say I am a big fan of Ryans You Tube channel "Film Riot" and I thought his film "Losses" was very well shot even though it lacked a good story line.

However, I waited nearly 3 years for this film and I expected something amazing, but instead got something that was OK.

I purchased the Blue Ray with the signed script (Which took for ever to come), just so I could see the behind the scenes and see how Ryan did his scripts. But even the Blue Ray was OK and nothing amazing and I was slightly disappointed.

The acting was above average, but for a short film it was alright but not a 10 out of 10..... More of a 6 out of 10