Bedfellows

3 minutes and a cast of 3 is truly all you need to be freaked out. It was by accident that I came across this short through my Tumblr feed (thanks to undeadcritic for the gif) and I immediately wanted to know more. I had to go searching for Bedfellows as I didn't realize that it wasn't a full length feature film, but Drew Daywalt and Fewdio do horror right with this one.

I found it on Youtube and trust me when I say that I was checking locks and windows. I'm not easily scared, but this is for the horror fans, the vets of the genre who want to be on the edge of their seats. I was almost disappointed that it wasn't an actual movie, but it gets the job of scaring the crap out of you done!

This little thing, less than three minutes, is pretty startling. I've seen so many of these things and am always tentative about recommending them. I have to say there is something about the overall atmosphere that works quite well. Not just any jumpout movie.

A few thoughts came to mind while watching this horror short. First, it only runs for a minute and a half-which is a very short time to build suspense. Usually, horror shorts that brief rely heavily on jump scares. But that's not entirely the case here, which is impressive, especially since it still manages to deliver some chills.

Second, it might have actually worked better if it had gone all-in on the jump scare. What we see on screen for an extended period isn't particularly terrifying-in fact, it borders on comical. Personally, I wouldn't have shown the creature for that long.

Third, the story itself isn't exactly original, but it's effective in this context. All in all, a decent short with both strengths and missed opportunities.

Better to leave the monster to our imagination as it just becomes completely goofball at the end. Was that the intention? It becomes comical.

A woman is awoken from her sleep in the middle of the night by her ringing cellphone. She nudges her partner Danny and asks him to pass the phone to her, but he doesn't budge. She reaches over him to get the phone and answers it. To her horror, it is Danny on the other end: he's locked himself out of the house after having gone for a walk. So who is it curled up under the sheets next to her?

Three minutes of pure horror from low-budget scare-meisters Fewdio, Bedfellows is the stuff of nightmares, with its atmospheric build-up and creepy reveal being the precisely the kind of thing guaranteed to cause sleepless nights for those of a nervous disposition. Flawless direction, a convincing performance from Kerry Finlayson and truly skin-crawling make-up make this a totally unforgettable experience—two million YouTube viewers (thus far) can't be wrong.