Writers Lindsay Sainato and Tyler Bruhn, along with director Oscar Velasquez come up with a haunting story that at first may look like the recipe for a low quality or low resources student/amateurish film. This time though we have to admit that the team of three did a pretty good job with their final outcome: ‘Night Terrors’.
The story sounds ultra familiar – a young couple moves into a house about whose history they know nothing about. By the time they settle into their new home the young woman will start having nightmares and experience strange feelings around the house. Even if this sounds a bit like a cliché and the overall look of the film tells a lot about the low resources available for its production, we found the result to be quite satisfactory in terms of acting, sound and cinematography. Overall the film looks good and entertaining and gives you genuine chills down the spine.
The best part about it though is that it really manages to somehow escape the cliché rooted in the common nature of the subject. Having analysed it, we figured out why that is: unlike many other films of its kind, ‘Night Terrors’ manages to balance the focus very well between the relationship between the two main characters and the eerie moments and horror elements of the theme. What we mean by that is that the focus doesn’t go in its majority on enhancing the terror but manages to keep a good balance on the human side as well. This is extremely efficient in awakening the empathy of the public.
Another interesting part of the story is the way the director and the writers manage to twist facts and events in the film, making reality and imaginary coalesce in a surrealist look and mood, conferring ‘Night Terrors’ a real mystic dimension. And guess what? You also get meanings for this one, and you’re not left out to digest the chills only. The young man is being punished by the creators of this terrifying short film for ignoring his wife’s premonitions, not only with the taking-over of her same obsessions but also with her eerie haunting presence during the night.
A scary, entertaining film experience!
TMFF RATING:
