CELL ADORE FILM FESTIVAL - Bill
CELL ADORE FILM FESTIVALDan Gitsham and Sophie Mair’s short Bill is an effective, atmospheric horror short.
Roxanna Vilk plays a grieving widow. At the beginning of the short, she drinks from a glass in the hopes of seeing her husband Bill again – who is displayed in a cheerful photograph in front of her. The expression of positions of Bill begin to change as strange occurrences take place. A glass is pushed from the table, the door mysteriously creeks open before the cracking of glass photograph frame reveals a large man standing in the corner – leading the widow to scream as the short ends quickly.
At only three minutes, Gitsham and Mair are highly effective at their use of time. Viewers are immediately shown, with little context clues through the widow's dialogue, what is happening. Once her glass is pushed, the film's sound design is put to great use, as the ambient tone mixed with the noise of the scene makes for an unsettling combination.
Bill is an effective horror that manages to get under your skin. All the hallmarks of the genre are on full display but it's the imagery of the large man at the end that shows Gitsham and Mair have a promising future at crafting good horror.
