This is a short film based on the reddit post “The Smiling Man” by Blue_Tidal. The reason why this short inspired me is in its use of a not-so-in-your-face type of horror. It is very scary in a subtle way. The creepy guy isn’t your typical horror villain, like Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers. Also the setting is pretty damn scary, an empty street in the middle of the night, no humans in sight. Then bam, suddenly some weird acting man appears out of the blue. It’s also scary to me because I like to walk the streets after dark, and I do it quite often. If I had an encounter like our character in this short film had, I would run like the wind and scream to a glass-shattering pitch.

What’s also funny to me was the timing in which I saw this short. I was in need of ideas for a short horror film and I remember wanting to figure out of a way to make it more creepy than full-blown in your face, blood-fest, torture-porn type of horror. Then on the same day my friend calls and recommendeds this short and I loved it instantly because they pulled off what I had been trying to do with my short.

Please watch and enjoy. If you’re a budding filmmaker, who also really likes creepy stuff, hopefully this inspires you like it has me.