Welcome to the first entry of a new ongoing series, Horror Short of The Week. This week’s entry; “2AM: THE SMILING MAN”
If you’ve got 4 minutes and a clean pair of underwear , “2AM: THE SMILING MAN” is a short film you need to see. Based off an old creepypasta, “SMILING MAN” is one of the most atmospheric, terror inducing shorts I’ve ever seen. Excellent use of sound design, from feet scrapping across the sidewalk to the blaring alarm, adds a sense of horror that’d be sorely missing otherwise.
Paul Foltz, whose only IMDB credit is this film, is perfectly horrifying as the well dressed, skyward looking monster at the cent of the movie. Without a single word or change of expression, he conveys a sense of madness and perfect horror. The simplicity of his character works well here. You don’t know anything about the smiling man, except he’s tall, he’s fast, and he’s completely fucking crazy.
“THE SMILING MAN” is quite simply short, simplistic horror crafted to near perfection. You don’t need complex characters, convoluted mythologies, or amazing special effect to scare the shit out of an audience; just some great sound and a tall son of a bitch with one scary smile.
