Deathly, the horror short from director Mike Williamson, is a well-done little terror tale that features plenty of terrific twists and turns and more than a few scares.
“I wanted to make a haunted house film—it’s probably my favorite subgenre in horror,” says Williamson of Deathly, which played at last year’s Fantastic Fest. “It really came from me thinking about when there are couples who have been together a long time, and one of them dies. There’s this phenomenon where the other spouse dies within a year after that of a broken heart—they say,” adds Williamson. “I started thinking, We assume it’s a broken heart. What happens if we didn’t know the whole story? That’s where Deathly came from.”
Williamson has a little bit of cred as far as horror directors go, having worked as editorial coordinator on Showtime’s Masters Of Horror series.
Starring Alan Ruck—Cameron Frye himself—Deathly couldn’t feel anymore like a Tales From The Crypt story if Jack Davis drew it or Robert Zemeckis produced it. The short film plays on the familiar EC Comics trope of a deceased lover exacting revenge from beyond the grave. The short packs a lot in in its runtime, allowing the characters to develop just enough through dialogue and a minimalist shooting style that builds and builds until its gruesome climax, featuring some wonderful practical makeup effects.
The film also features horror filmmaker Mickey Keating (Carnage Park, Darling) in a small role as well as a creepy synth score from Clint Mansell, who did the music for Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain and Duncan Jones’ Moon.
“I fed him whiskey back in 2007,” recalls Williamson of recruiting Mansell. “[Then] he agreed to do my short film.”
[via Entertainment Weekly]