“What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” The most accursed of curse tropes is brought to hilarious proportions in one of our favorite horror shorts from the Portland Horror Film Festival in 2019, now released on Alter… and now The Scariest Things!
Directed by Aaron Pagniano
It’s the classic old chestnut of the adage “Be careful what you wish for.” Your phrasing has to be just right because the monkey’s paw grants you wishes but with unforeseen conditions. The monkey’s paw really needs a user’s manual. And even if you did, it would probably come with a whole mess of disclaimers and conditions.
Zach Ogle and Jaqueline Jandrell play a couple who just happen to have come into possession of this mad artifact, and try as they might, they can’t contain the power of the paw. Chaos ensues, and this was a great short film to see with a big audience, as it got some uproarious response.
Director Aaron Pagniano, a young man with a deft sense of horror-comedy returned back to the Portland Horror Film Festival with his trippy and artistic and trippy, Sunset on the River Styx, his feature debut. Pagniano has made the somewhat unusual leap from an experienced Hollywood gaffer to the director’s chair and Monkey’s Paw is proof positive that great things can come from unexpected sources. Chase those dreams, Aaron!
It has taken a couple of years to get it, but here is the entire short film that has now been made available on Alter, your best source for horror shorts.
