Fuse (U.K., 2024)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Directed by Will Dennies
Writer/director Will Dennies proves that you can still make effective fright-fare cinema by following a character through a dark house in Fuse. Johnny Vivash — who is turning in excellent genre-film work as the star of Isaac and with roles in Book of Monsters , Freeze, and Walking Against the Rain — stars as an electrician called at night to the home of an elderly woman (Meryl Griffiths). The lights are all out, the electrician has a small flashlight, and the basement is eerily dark. The electrician is soon to find out that he is not alone down there, but there is more to this superb short than that. Vivash turns in a fine performance, and Dennies invests Fuse with a creepy atmosphere, a solid story, and an effective payoff.
Bisected (U.S., 2024)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Directed by Danny Pineros
Mia (Natalie Polisson) and Ben (Robin Zamora) are driving on a remote stretch of highway when a paranormal event occurs, and they suddenly find themselves separated in two different dimensions. Writer/director/editor Danny Pineros wrings the maximum tension out of his lean, mean 8-minute science fiction short Bisected, which boasts fine cinematography from Marshall Douglis and terrific performances from Polisson and Zamora as a couple desperate to solve the mystery of what has happened to them.
Spiral to the Center (U.K./U.S., 2023)
★★★★ out of ★★★★★
Directed by Scott Ampleford and Alisa Stern
Rick Downes (cowriter/codirector — with Alisa Stern — Scott Ampleford) is a record collector with a YouTube channel. When he plays an unmarked, white-label promotional record at random, the backmasking on it opens up a mystery that becomes an obsession. Ampleford tries to get to the bottom of a defunct record label named Henge, with startling consequences. Shot in the manner of a documentary, Spiral to the Center is a solid short with a likable protagonist with whom it is easy to go along with for the enigmatic ride. Ampleford plays the lead role wonderfully, and he and Stern have crafted a unique take on someone going down a rabbit hole that they never should have entered. The payoff leaves me wanting to learn more, and the short is ripe for a sequel or, better yet, a full-length feature treatment.
Reviews by Joseph Perry
Fuse, Bisected, and Spiral to the Center screen as part of the Romford Horror Film Festival, which runs February 29–March 3, 2024 in Romford, U.K. For more information, visit https://www.romfordhorrorfestival.com/.