[Editorial] Top 5 Short Horror Films from Grimmfest 2021

Grimmfest, for those of you who are unfamiliar, is probably the biggest genre film festival in the north of England. Founded in 2008, this year’s event will mark the 13th edition of the festival – ooh, how appropriately spooky! As with any good celebration of all things weird and wonderful, multiple programmes of short films were screened at the festival. So, without further ado, allow me to present the five short bites of horror from the fest that entertained, shocked and inspired me the most:

POSTED NO HUNTING (2021), dir. Alisa Stern

Who’d have thought that stop-motion puppetry and found footage would be a match made in heaven? Director Alisa Stern and writer Scott Ampleford (known prior for their critically-acclaimed Doctor Who fan animations) present a short which is just as entertaining as it is creepy, told entirely from the point-of-view of a static nature-trail camera in the woods. Its animation style not only lends it a sense of quirky charm, but also helps to establish a consistent mood of spooky fun. Plus, as a found footage picture, I never once doubted the reality it set up – its atmosphere is just that palpable. Think the night-time forest frights of The Blair Witch Project (1999) crossed with the big game creature-feature antics of Predator (1987).

#MEOWTOO (2021), dir. Ryan Kruger

If you haven’t yet experienced “a Ryan Kruger thing”, do yourself a favour and check out his filmography. In case that name sounds familiar, Kruger was responsible for the utterly insane feature film Fried Barry (2020), which screened at last year’s online Grimmfest event. One of the things that I love the most about Kruger’s work is his ability to keep this constant pulsing energy flowing throughout his pictures; they feel less like traditional films, and more like the experience of taking illicit substances at a grimy South African dive bar. #MEOWTOO is as bizarre and quirky as you would expect from its title, portraying an alternate universe Cape Town where humans live alongside cat-human hybrids – and, as is sadly true for our real world, there are men trying to find new ways to abuse and take advantage of women. Does it particularly say all that much about sexual abuse and misogyny that hasn’t been said so many times before? Well, no – but what does it matter when this is still a bold, creative story about a male abuser underestimating the power of women? It’s catnip for the exhausted, world-weary soul.

SMILES (2019), dir. Javier Chavanel

It’s always an awkward experience meeting your in-laws for the first time, but the family meet-up in Smiles is on another level of discomfort entirely. Spanish director Javier Chavanel’s horror-comedy short packs a similar kind of punch to the “two-sentence horror stories” that became popular several years ago on the internet. Its concept is simple but intriguing, and its punchline is suitably morbid in its hilarity. This is a strange little movie pulled straight from the depths of the uncanny valley, following Borja (played by a brilliantly nervous Luis Miguel Jara) as he meets his girlfriend’s unusual family, a near-silent clan of eccentric figures who seem to permanently wear rubber smiley-face masks. I had seen this short prior at a digital Soho Horror Fest event, and I had absolutely adored it then, but hearing the laughter of an entire audience watching the film’s events play out only made it better.

SALMON PINK (2021), dir. Jamy Steele

Washed over with pastel-pink hues (the titular colour, to be precise), Jamy Steele’s Salmon Pink is a razor-sharp Gen-Z riot-grrl manifesto for the post-#MeToo era. The film is entirely composed of a conversation between four high-school girls – or, more specifically, a group plotting to kill their sex-pest science teacher. All in all, it feels like the polyamorous love-child of Heathers (1988), Mean Girls (2004), and Spring Breakers (2012) – which, if you’re anything like me, is a delight to hear. It’s a deeply witty chamber piece about female friendship and solidarity, and even though we don’t actually see the girls’ sweet, sweet revenge pan out, the film still feels cathartic nonetheless. It also helps that the film is full of natural-sounding dialogue that feels appropriate (or, at least, aptly inappropriate) for our female leads. It’s also a great socio-political piece, and many important and difficult conversations about abuse and sexism are had – all of which somehow never feel rushed even with the film’s 11-minute runtime. If Steele is planning on adapting this into a feature, I will help in any way I can to get it made.

GUTS (2021), dir. Chris McInroy

Sometimes the best thing you can do whilst making a short film is come up with an absolutely bonkers concept and just run with it. Chris McInroy is no stranger to this philosophy, having a filmography almost entirely composed of deranged shorts, with titles like Death Metal (2016), We Summoned a Demon (2017) and Bad Guy #2 (2014) coming to mind. In this case, the concept is simple, yet full of a potential – a man faces discrimination at his office job because his guts are outside of his body. Within a run-time of 8 minutes, this is a film where anything and everything can and will happen, especially during its full ‘splat-stick’ final two minutes of blood and gore – and I am absolutely astounded by its chaotic, joyous, silly spirit. Even though the nature of the film is chaotic, its contents are still immaculately composed and organised, with little details slowly adding up until they build into a wonderful gross-out crescendo. This is a movie so stupid that only a genius could have written it. Without a doubt, my favourite short of the entire fest.

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