Close Your Eyes

Okay, I've got a couple of things to say about Close Your Eyes, a short horror film with a runtime of just three minutes.

First, I think those few minutes were used very efficiently. The problem with micro-short horror films is that there's often not enough time to build tension and suspense. However, this one succeeds-it actually feels scary despite its brevity.

Second, this film is a prime example of how little money is needed to deliver a compelling story in the horror genre. There's absolutely nothing here that required more than a few coins. Good horror doesn't need fancy sets or elaborate effects-it's built around people.

Third... oh no, not the guitar! (You'll understand once you watch the film.)

Here's a small yet good surprise of the year (so far) in terms of short films with limited budget and limited crew. With just a dozen of people, directed Andy Chen made an effective horror short film that cause some goosebumps along the way despite the use of known cliches of the genre.

In "Close Your Eyes", musician Vincent (Vinny Balbo) suddenly finds his roomate (David Illy Bennett) standing on the front door, apparently asleep as if being a sleepwalker to later find out he's actually awake and claiming he can hear a female voice telling things on the outside. When he tries to do the same, Vincent doesn't hear a thing. Later on, he opens the door and sees no one on the outside...but wait. He might be wrong all the way and will only find out at the final minutes of the film.

I've seen echoes of "The Ring" and some of Shyamalan's works in here but despite those references or similarities, there's still a slightly original voice here and it keeps us in suspense for the whole picture. Kudos to the makers for creating this, and I guess we can only hope for more and who knows maybe a feature film out of this. They have talent and a hard working crew who provides an entertaining film. 7/10.