Deep Shock

Following the loss of realtives, a young woman suffers from nightmares.

Sarah (Bird) is constantly experiencing horrifying dreams which involve her older sister and grandfather. These two relatives of hers passed away over the course of the last two years and her psychiatrist (Pages) believes that her nightmares were triggered by her losses. Sarah will rely on help from her psychologist, her remaining sister Caroline (Larkin) and Father McRoberts (Bracebridge) in order to get over her ordeal. However, a series of terrible events will put her and those around her in danger.

This half-an-hour-long short is a mix between psychological horror, ghost story and slasher, with similarities to Poltergeist and Hereditary. The mise-en-scene is quite effective. It begins with a lengthy nightmare sequence (two actually) that involves Sarah being alone in her large house at night, with a door opening by itself, a small ball appearing out of nowhere, plenty of lit candles placed here and there and a dead body inside a bath. After an introduction to the characters, the film then moves on to other bad occurrences, including a strong wind blowing objects all over the place, a crucifix catching fire and a brutal murder. The script is a bit silly at times, however it does a good job in creating suspense and tension, keeping the viewer intrigued until the end.

Bird delivers a convincing performance as the main character, Sarah, a troubled young woman who is plagued by nightmares and seems to be losing her sanity. The same cannot be said for Bracebridge as a well-meaning priest, whose acting is weak sometimes.

Arguably, what stands out the most is the murder scene. It is brutal, with a great deal of blood and nudity, making it hard to watch. As mentioned, the mise-en-scene is a strong aspect of the film and the makeup makes zombie-like figures that look terrifying and gory scenes look savage.

Editor Daniel Salinas does a great job with fast cutting techniques and praise goes to the newspaper montage during the opening credits and the gory animation during the closing credits. The music is another feature that stands out, with composer Giulio De Gaetano providing a dynamic, sinister score that includes loud bangs and enhances the tension of the scenes.

This is a dark, violent, supernatural horror story about nightmares and murder, with plot twists and plenty of darkness, life-threatening situations and gore. If horror fans can see beyond some flawed acting and a narrative that could had been structured better, then they will be rewarded with a viewing experience that effectively follows many traits of the horror genre.