THE LOOMING
So often in horror films the elderly are portrayed as scary or creepy subjects, something to fear, run from, or even kill. Occasionally, they are treated with more reverence and respect than usual in fright-fare cinema, such as in director Natalie Erika James’s Relic (2020). Writer/director Masha Ko’s new short The Looming is another such film that examines the plight of the aged and lonely, delivering heartbreak along with horror. Seventy-year-old Chester (Joseph Lopez in an absolutely amazing performance) begins to hear terrifying noises in his home, where he lives alone, and his fears are dismissed both at his job and by his adult daughter, who refuses to come to his home to discuss the matter. Something is indeed, as the title says, looming around Chester, though. Ko has crafted a superb-looking, emotionally charged work that draws attention to the importance of the fears of the elderly, and to how they deserve our attention. I give The Looming my highest recommendation.
DREAM CREEP
Writer/director Carlos A.F. Lopez’s short Dream Creep is a stunner. David (Ian Edlund) is sleeping next to his partner Suzy (Sidney Jayne Hunt) when he awakens, thinking that he hears her crying for help — from within her ear hole. Many of us have had dreams from which we wake up and wonder if it is or was reality and it takes some time to get our bearings. David doesn’t have that time, Suzy’s voice insists as Suzy’s body lies still, seemingly deep asleep, because something is after her. To wake her up is to kill her, her voice insists, but her instructions for helping her sound equally dangerous to David. The predicament he finds himself in is a corker, and Lopez does a masterful job of escalating tension and infusing it with some dark humor. To avoid going into spoiler territory, suffice it to say that the proceedings get absolutely bonkers. Boasting fine production values, pitch-perfect story and characterization, and terrific performances, Dream Creep is an excellent stand-alone short but a work that also cries out to be expanded to a feature-length film.
The Looming and Dream Creep screen as part of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, which runs in Salt Lake City and Park City Utah, from January 18–28 with a virtual option from January 25–28. For more information, visit https://festival.sundance.org/.
