Don't Look Away

When you watch short films, particularly horror short films, I do think it's important to acknowledge that you're not comparing against commercial releases, you're more likely watching friends and family, making something with almost no budget, so you need to be looking for moments in the story, or the performances, that could be built on. With that in mind, "Don't Look Now" is a middling effort from writer, director Christopher Cox.

Whilst arguing with her brother about whether to mow the lawn or not, Savannah (Sabrina Twyla) looks out of the window and sees a man, in a dishevelled suit, with a burlap sack chained to his head. On the phone with her father (Jim Marshall), she tells him what she can see and he explains that he's on his way over immediately, but that she needs to be looking at the figure at all times. Her brother Jim (Danny Roy) comes in, and he can see the creature too. With him watching, Savannah goes to lock all the doors, but when she returns the creature has gone.

So, there's a little bit of Doctor Who's Weeping Angels in this story, with a villain that can't move whilst being looked at, he also resembles Scarecrow in Nolan's Batman films. It's not particularly terrifying, but it's unsettling, particularly when it stands perfectly still. It's a fairly straightforward short though, with one reasonable jump scare and a neat way of half resolving the story.

The acting is not great, from any of the three actors that don't spend the whole 8 minutes with a bag on their head and that hurts the piece because they don't 'sell' what's going on particularly well.

There's enough in this that I'm going to try Cox's latest short and see what that's like, but I don't think that you particularly need to hunt this one down.

A very nice and surprisingly complete horror story for a short film that runs only eight minutes, Don't Look Away follows siblings who notice a strange hooded man standing in their yard, silently staring at them. When they call their father, his advice is simple but chilling: don't look away until he gets home.

I appreciated that, for once, we actually learn something about the horrific figure-it isn't just left unexplained. I also liked that the film didn't end with a cheap jumpscare. Instead, it closed on a cliffhanger, practically begging for a sequel that will likely never happen.

The theme of film is not original. but it works and this is the most important thing. because, using old memories about gothic stories, you know the line and the result and the end. each- defining a well craftsmanship of director. a girl. his brother. a bizarre character. and the warning of father. and, sure, the mistake of girl. all predictable. but used in right way. the roots of event. and the shadow of it. a smart horror. more than source of fear.