Givertaker

A teenage girl summons a wishing well controlled by the demon Givertake in order to get truth from, and revenge on, those that humiliated her in front of her peers.

This time of year is filled with horror shorts – zombies, ghosts, gore, whatever; as a result it is nice to get some that work their particular cliché well. In this case we have a small group of girls mixed with high school drama and the summoning of a demon. It is nicely driven by the characters and what they did to one another, and it develops this pretty well so you understand more as you go. The film doesn't have gore (which is good), but instead it does have a meanness to it, in particular in the lead character. This meanness helps inform the narrative, and it builds to an ending which is perhaps a little obvious, but is still strong. The design of the creature is equally simple but effective.

A solid little horror short that focuses on the characters more than anything else, and draws the viewer in as a result.