Written by Andreas Babiolakis

This is a review of a film from The Great Canadian Horror Film Festival that just concluded. Click here to find information surrounding the upcoming The Great Canadian Sci-Fi Film Festival.

This is the final piece on this year’s The Great Canadian Horror Film Festival: The Boo Block. You will find quick summaries of how each short film performed. I thank you for checking out all of these works by upcoming filmmakers trying to share their work with the world. Stay tuned for our coverage on The Great Canadian Sci-Fi Film Festival next month!

Doorcam_01: A quick experiment using only what appears to be the titular door cam to tell an entire story of nightmarish proportions. The kind of horror short that I love for trying to be creative with its execution (more in the way the film is shot than the murder in this case).

The Blackriver Mystery: Far too short. I was just getting settled in this neo-noir horror film when it was already morbidly finished. I guess it’s a good sign that I was intrigued enough in the span of three minutes.

Powerless: A powerful depiction of what it feels like to live with multiple sclerosis, as told through a horror film about body possession. Quite an emotional punch to watch.

CLAWS (爪): A magnificent throwback to the cutout animations of the 1920’s, told quite authentically. With an ambient score to make the film feel contemporary in a horror sense, this short is for sure a highlight of the festival.

The Radiation Generation: More of a sequence than a full on story, but at least an interesting sequence at that.

Suspense: More like a series of camera and editing techniques than a straight up story. Still, Suspense is entertaining til the end.

Monster Proofing: A series of events all rooting to the compulsions caused during the battle against fear. Dark and mysterious with some slight warmth to boot.

Ballerina: Starts off like an episode of The Twilight Zone or an homage to Black Swan (and, thus, Perfect Blue), but Ballerina then goes the extra mile with some impressive effects towards its conclusion.

The Chrysalis: A touching look at dementia that is full of the anguish of knowing a loved one with that condition; The Chrysalis is wrapped up with a terrifying finale that really drives home the concern of watching a relative wither away.

Familiar: Also more of a series of interesting shots than a concrete story. Familiar still is a fun display of techniques by a team that are finding their footing.

Homesick: Beautifully shot and full of eerie moments in its details. The ending radio clip says it all: it’s up for the viewer to determine what they have just experienced. There is enough going on in Homesick to legitimize this ambiguity.

A Death Story Called Girl: Honestly one of my favourite films of the entire festival. From the use of Bobby Vinton’s “Sealed With A Kiss” to the use of long, revolving shots, this dialogue-less, gruesome tale of cannibalism in a suburbian neighbourhood utilizes dissonance so well, and its scares — while they can only go so far for an indie film — feel quite genuine. A definite highlight for me.

The Wraith of Rustico Vale: Told in a neo folk kind of way, this brooding ghost story is aesthetically sharp and effective enough considering its few elements; it feels like images being conjured up in one’s head whilst hearing a tale.

Tales of a Scorpio’s Stinger: The final film of the block is perhaps the silliest, if I am reading it correctly. Definitely more about the people on set having fun making this film than anything else.

Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.