The Confined

Director - Christopher Picone

Starring - Tim O'Brien, Sabrina Ahmed, and Josh Diolosa

Release Date - 2017

Genre - Horror

Format - Streaming (Online Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

       We are living in a time where anyone can turn their dreams of becoming a filmmaker into reality.  We now have smartphones that shoot video in higher quality than most movie cameras.  Digital cameras are now inexpensive and most standard laptops are capable of editing movies with no problems.  I'm not saying filmmaking is easy, because it isn't, I'm just saying that anyone with the drive and knowledge can cut a film.  It is because of this that there is so many indie horror productions getting kicked off the ground.  Horror Society gets several emails a day from young filmmakers, actors, producers, and so forth trying to get their film promoted.  Recently, actor Tim O'Brien contacted us to review a short he recently starred in.  The Confined is a 5 minute short that shows a lot of promise but didn't leave a lot of meat on the bone.  Thanks Tim for reaching out to us!

     The film follows three twenty-somethings who visit an apartment complex that was once the home to a cult that committed suicide together.  The three decide to explore the property but find themselves separated and one by one they fall prey to the evil forces still on the property. 


     I've seen so many effective shorts in my short period of time reviewing.  Some have solid stories that use their short running time to shove as much as possible at the viewer.  However, for most shorts they are short because their story is lacking.  They don't have enough content to make a feature length film.  The Confined is one of those shorts where I can't tell which side it falls into.  The short is only 5 minutes long and has the set up to be pretty fucking epic but fails to capture any of it.  The acting in this one is decent but the film doesn't give the viewer enough time to actually see the cast interact.  They immediately separate and what acting we do see is very underwhelming.  The story for this one has so much potential but this short is not able to pull it all together.  An apartment complex where a cult killed itself has so many possibilities but what we get is three people dying off screen by an unknown presence.  This could have worked but the deaths happen in rapid succession off camera.  Then we have the talking head in a box gag that was laughable.  It took the seriousness out o the short and made it feel very cheesy.  I love cheese with my horror but it didn't fit the short.  Honestly, I feel like this is an investment video to raise funds for a feature length film.  Finally, the film looks great and I really liked the projector on the dilapidated wall but the one "death" scene we see with the head in the box was not that entertaining.  The effects are limited but solid for what we do get.  Overall, The Confined had a lot going for it but just didn't give the viewer's enough time.  The short runs a little over 5 minutes and lacks character development and real tension.  With some more time and a little more substance for the story this one would have been a knock out but as is it misses its mark.