When a short has a rating of 8.7 from 13 people and not one written review, you can be assured those people were somehow involved in the making of the film.
I save 1-star reviews for the worst flicks. This crosses that threshold for two reasons: 1) excessive and gratuitous F-bombs that screamed out "I can't write a better script than this" and 2) being just plain lame.
I understand that certain language has embedded itself in our society today and is unfortunately an increasingly common tool among film-makers. But when that language becomes the primary dialog in the script to the point it takes away from the story, that's when it proves the script writer and director likely couldn't think of anything more intelligent to say.
As far as the plot, this is a film in which I could actually tell you the entire story right now (I won't of course) and it wouldn't detract from the film at all. The reason is because if you've read the summary of the film, you've read everything the film presents. There is no lead-up, no climax, no explanation, no ending. It's just a "scary boy with black eyes tries to get in a house" short. The title of the film is misleading. There is no "artifact" that I could see anywhere, no cause or purpose, no resolution. It's just a very lame "Oh, look at the actor kid wearing black contacts and someone blackened out some of his teeth". That's the point that comes across-- a poor makeup job and an absolutely pointless story.
The only saving grace of this entire flick is the acting. All of the actors do a rather good job-- especially with the dialog they're given. Beyond that, this is a loser... only worthy of a review to let others know that yes, you can pre-recover 12 minutes of your life by giving this a skip and doing something interesting. This isn't even a good "preview" into a potential movie. It isn't scary, it isn't interesting; it's just a dive into a dialog cesspool and a belly-flop into a swimming pool with the cover still on it.
One-star, definitely.
