BaphometDreams

An old friend returns out of the blue to give Ben and Rachel a gift. A seemingly empty box with no bottom. Inside is something that wants to get out. Something that could very well have sinister intentions.

Directed by Caleb J. Phillips and running at a little over fifteen minutes, The Other Side of the Box is one of the best short films that I've seen thus far on the ALTER YouTube channel. A sense of dread is built up constantly though the majority of the film as the strange "thing" looms over the young couple. What is it? What does it want? Why was is passed on to them? Those questions may or may not get answered by the excellent conclusion but it's definitely worth the fifteen minutes to find out.

Other Side of the Box is an awesome little horror short that doesn't try to do too much and succeeds at delivering a sense of impending doom. It's proof of how you don't always need much of a budget to hit a home run.

Every review I read about this short says stuff about how it's depicting depression and hopelessness but I couldn't disagree more... I think it depicts the exact opposite honestly.

Its a dramatized example of the animalistic instinct humans have of survival and everlasting hope even in moments of complete weakness and vulnerability... even when humans are placed in positions where there's "no way out", like the character in this short film, we still have the slightest ounce of hope left in us because that's just human nature. She does everything she can to survive until the bitter end...

So, no, this short wasn't about falling into the pits of sadness and depression, it's about how how even in the darkest/most helpless of moments, there is an inherent instinct in all of us to do everything possible for survival. All humans have hope.

There is of course the ever-present fear of something horrifying lurking in the shadows.

Beyond that, there is the confrontation of beliefs and reality, and the mixing of the two. Is this an epiphany ? Or perhaps the beginning of a renewed belief. Or its end ?

I really like the multiple layers of themes here and there which give you thoughts, way more than most of the horror movies nowadays.

Moreover, there are no jumpscares, which are overused in modern horror movies.

The director is a very young and talented film maker. I really hope he will continue to offer us this kind of horror, more dreadful than startling.