What Happened to Dorothy Bell?
An interesting investigation of familial trauma and mental illness through a horror lens, What Happened to Dorothy Bell? uses a combination of vintage-style footage (not found footage, to clarify, although the approach is similar) and present-day proceedings. Protagonist Ozzie (Asya Meadows) was attacked when she was a child by her titular grandmother (Arlene Arnone Bibbs). Now a young adult, Ozzie searches for answers to why that happened and also about her grandmother’s disappearance. As might be expected with a family as the focus in a horror film, skeletons lurk in the closet and the supernatural may well be at play. What Happened to Dorothy Bell? has the feel of a gateway horror film, with its surprises and shocks not approaching very scary levels nor reveling in gory effects work. Lingering shots of rooms in which something may or may not happen in the background and noises from other rooms make for most of the suspenseful buildups. Where writer/director Danny Villanueva Jr.’s film feels the strongest is in its drama, as Ozzie navigates her quest for answers regarding her grandmother. There’s a lot of emotion behind the writing, and Meadows does a solid job of conveying their character’s frustrations and fear. The supporting cast features two actors familiar to fear-fare fans, who both give shorter but fine performances here: Lisa Wilcox, who portrays an online therapist, and Michael Hargrove as Ozzie’s caring father Darren.
Faces
Official synopsis: Following the disappearance of a local girl on a dark October evening, Judy, a college student visiting for the weekend, is invited to a fraternity party. For Judy, what could have been a night of fun and drinking spirals out of control when she encounters a mysterious, deadly entity. As the night unfolds, the entity’s uncanny quest brings violent consequences to those who cross its path.
Humans aren’t the only beings on an often confusing search for identity, according to writer/director Blake Simon’s compelling horror short Faces. Judy (Cailyn Rice) is invited by Brad (Ethan Daniel Corbett) — who instantly sends up red flags with his behavior — to his fraternity’s party. Unfortunately for both of them, Judy encounters a supernatural entity that will change both of their lives forever. I don’t want to give away any more of the plot, as going in as cold as possible to the short is strongly advised. Rice and Corbett are terrific in their lead roles, and Simon has crafted a superb chiller that addresses a quest for self with which many people will seemingly never be satisfied. The highly recommended Faces delivers the goods in the fear fare department while giving viewers plenty to mull over long after the ending credits roll. The short works wonderfully as a self-contained story, but exploration of the entity and its further journeys would make for an intriguing feature-length film, as well.
What Happened to Dorothy Bell? and Faces screen as part of Fantastic Fest, which runs September 19–26, 2024 in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit https://www.fantasticfest.com/.
Faces also screens as part of Beyond Fest, which runs September 25–October 9, 2024 in Los Angeles.
