Sinister Shorts: Girls Night 2, Blind Ben Says, and Jingle!

Hey creeps, let’s focus our eerie eyeballs on a few new sinister shorts comin’ our way!
 

 
Girls Night 2
Writer/Director David Teixeira returns with the sequel to his original short (this is all assumption…I have no idea if there actually is a Girls Night Part Uno, and I’m far too busy microwaving pizza rolls to check Google)!
Anyway, the long and the short of Girls Night 2 is as follows: Jess (Marina de Sousa) hangs out with her pal Pierre (Vincent Conty) spending a night screening films and having terrible nightmares about being accosted by a sinister slasher from her past. Before long the paradigm is flipped and the maniac appears in the really real world bringing with it secrets and murder!
Having not seen the first part of the story, Girls Night 2 is easy enough to follow with it’s standard stalk n’ slay scenario. Where the short shines is in it’s fever dream, giallo-esque qualities, where strange dreams become reality…not to mention the stunning design of the killer itself (think a glam rocker from hell itself). I honestly want to see more of this character!!
Worth it for it’s surrealist bent and unique antagonist alone, Girls Night 2 is a sweet lil’ bite sized slasher cum giallo!
 

 
 

 
Blind Ben Says
Two girls play a ‘Simon Says’ style game titled Blind Ben Says deep in the woods. As the game progresses an unexpected player joins the merriment…a sinister being that may very well be the game’s namesake.
Running a scant two minutes and ten seconds, Blind Ben Says nevertheless manages to be stylish and completely eerie. The mysterious figure that comes to play is full of menace, and the tension escalates as the game ensues. Adding to the superb aesthetic is a surreal fairy tale element due to the period costumes worn by the girls, the forest setting, and the intrusion of a supernatural being into simple childhood play.
Director Jonnie Stapleton really delivers a short but oh so sweet slice of preternatural menace that should be experienced by any horror hound lookin’ for a quick fright fix!
 

 
 

 
Jingle
In Jingle (directed once again by Jonnie Stapleton) a woman trims the ol’ tannenbaum before heading off to sleep (doubtless with visions of sugar plum fairies roasting their chestnuts or some such holiday horseshit). Before long she is awakened by the tinkling of lil’ bells (like those she put on the tree previous), but could the ringing be caused by her cat messing with the ornament, or something more sinister…
Like Blind Ben Says, Jingle also runs a brief two minutes and ten seconds in length, but unlike Ben this is more a straightforward tale with a brief, though thoroughly creepy, surprise. The film is incredibly well shot, possesses a nice sense of tension, and definitely worth a look…but for my money I prefer the more fantastic (and pervasive) aesthetic of Blind Ben Says.