Director - Tommy Faircloth (Crinoline Head, Generation Ax)
Starring - Jason Vail (Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies, Gut), Morgan Monnig (Ghost Trek: Goomba Body Snatchers Mortuary Lockdown), and Shelby Washburn
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)
Rating (out of 5):
I recently wrote a review for a short and noticed a lot of people were talking bad about it. They were not talking shit because it was a bad film because it was not a bad film. However, they were talking bad about it because it was a short. In that review I went in to full detail explaining why I think shorts are, in many ways, better than feature length films. Shorts give you all the humor, actions, blood, kills, and anything else you want out of your movie without all the boring dialogue and filler scenes. That is why I tend to jump on a short to review when I get the chance. I usually get what I want out of horror in a fraction of the time and that is what happened when director Tommy Faircloth reached out to me to review his new short The Cabin. He was nice enough to send me a bluray to review and for that I say thank you Tommy!
The film follows Laura (Monnig) who is preparing for a romantic getaway with her new love interest John (Vail). This will mark the couples third date and her friend tries to talk her out of it. Laura does not listen and goes with him to stay in his family's cabin. The trip starts out perfect but soon Laura starts to feel uneasy when she spots John doing random things that makes her feel uncomfortable. She starts to do some snooping around behind his back and uncovers a horrible secret that marks the end of their relationship and possibly her life!
Shorts have be to able to pull you in and keep you there fairly quickly in order for them to work. Some fail to do so while others are able to offer you just enough to keep you watching but not enough to keep your true attention. However, this film was able to pull you in, tie you down, and force you to watch. Once the viewer places his eyes on to the screen they are instantly hooked and cannot wait to see what unfolds. The acting in this film is phenomenal for an indie flick. This is not the first film I have seen Jason Vail in. Some months back I reviewed the flick Gut (read the review here) in which he starred and he also did an amazing job in that one. He could easily be a force among the indie horror scene if he just made himself available to do those films. Also, Morgan Monnig was great in her role and delightful to look at. She is naturally beautiful and that makes the short so much easier to watch. The story is nothing original. In fact, it felt just likem any other horror flicks that has taken place in a cabin. The entire time I watched this short I got the Cabin by the Lake vibe from it. The story is also very predictable to the point I believe it was done intentionally. Many scenes are actually filmed to give the audience hints as to what will happen. Finally, the film does not have any real special effects and on screen kills. Faircloth uses drama and suspense to get a rise out of the audience and I can safely say he succeeded in doing that. Overall, Faircloth has crafted a very chilling and dark film about the horrifying secrets everyone hides from one another. Though it does feel like you have seen it before I highly recommend it.
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