Glass Eye Pix CREEPY CHRISTMAS FEST Roundup: Shorts 21-25
We’ve reached the end of the Creepy Christmas Film Festival! All this month, Beck Underwood and the folks at Glass Eye Pix have teamed up with an impressive crop of filmmakers to bring us a short film to get under our skin each day of the holiday season. We’ve covered the “digital advent calendar” with weekly roundups, all building up to this final installment. Read on to see what CCF saved for the final week!
21. Don’t Come Back Without Presents – Dir. JT Petty
JT Petty’s most well-known work in the horror realm is 2008’s The Burrowers, a brutal, relentless western creature feature. Petty keeps the tone rolling with his unforgiving short Don’t Come Back Without Presents, a Plan B of sorts after his original plan went awry: “My prompt was ‘Snowman’, but I live in a desert that offers neither cold nor moisture…the snowman we built melted in the sun before we could roll cameras, its moisture lost in cracked sand in moments. All that was left was my children, and Santa, and the gifts we would take back home. Look on my Snowman, ye Mighty, and despair!”
22. The Stocking Stuffer – Dir. Phantom Limb Company
Filmed on an iPhone, The Stocking Stuffer shows the world the one thing that could terrify the Devil himself, and to be fair, it is pretty terrifying. The short’s puppet animation is de rigueur for Phantom Limb Company, a production wheelhouse that emphasizes collaboration. PLC boasts Danny Elfman and Jim Jarmusch among its many collaborative artists, and is based in New York City.
23. Two Late Elves – Dir. Joy + Noelle
Some of the best films have art imitating life or vice versa, and Two Late Elves is a textbook example of such. The work of creative NY power duo Joy + Noelle, the short film is, in their words, “…our own experience with procrastination in making this short. We are two late elves in danger of missing our deadline, animating two late elves in danger of missing their deadline, and nothing is more frightening than that.”
24. Cookies For Candy Claws – Dir. Aurelio Voltaire
Aurelio Voltaire is…busy. In addition to the YouTube show and animation and composition work he’s done, Voltaire wrote, directed, starred in, and composed original music for Cookies For Candy Claws. The short itself is pretty straightforward, an attempt by Voltaire to read a nice little holiday story for the kiddies despite constant creepy interruptions. The self-proclaimed “horror host” serves up fine bit of Christmas Eve fare with Candy Claws.
25. Happy Horror Days! – Dir. Sydney Clara Brafman
CCF’s closing film had the fitting prompt, “Ornament,” and Brooklyn-based filmmaker Sydney Clara Brafman took the prompt to a short and sweet conclusion. Ornaments on a tree commemorate Glass Eye Pix highlights from years past, building up to the disembodied head of Larry Fessenden atop the tree, wishing us all a happy holiday. What more can you ask for?
That’s a wrap on Creepy Christmas Fest! Hopefully, a few more filmmakers are on your radar, and a few more storytelling styles have piqued your interest. Though we horror fans love the likes of Gremlins and Krampus and Silent Night, Deadly Night, the holidays themselves are, among other things, about inclusion and acceptance. Short films are a fantastic way to expand your horizons whether you write them, shoot them, or simply absorb them. Make it your New Year’s resolution to watch more shorts in 2019, yeah? The horror community will be all the better for it.
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