31 Nights of Halloween: Open Casket

Open Casket (2023)

Starring: Jonathan Stephens
Director: Vincent Dormani
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A man unknowingly hangs a cursed painting in his home... and lives to regret it.

 

"Open Casket" is another excellent chiller from Vincent Domani. I could mention a few nitpicks about the film, but the good outweighs the bad so heavily that it would be unfair. The only real complaint I can make against this film is that it manages to maintain a creepy atmosphere and then turns outright horrorific at the climax... but then crashes and burns during the last few seconds. It's almost like Dormani was at a loss for how to end the film, so he went with the easiest no matter how nonsensical.

That aside, I still have to give this film the highest possible praise I can -- I want to know more. I want the backstory of the painting, why it is the way it is, and what happens with Stephens' character. Like I said above, despire my disappointment with tbhe ending, the good far outweighs the bad here.

31 Nights of Halloween: Wax

Wax (2023)
Starring: Tommi Aleman and Cielo Gomez

Director: Vincent Dormani

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A woman finds a walled-up, hidden room in her house that's full of life-like wax figures.

"Wax" is a brand-new release from family-run short film production company Buried Hatchet, and we're certain that you'll find the three or so minutes it'll take to watch it is time well spent. The only quibble I have with it is that I would have liked a wide shot of the secret room, and I would liked to see some profile two-shots of Aleman's character discovering and interacting with the main wax figure.

But my issues with the cinematography are minor when compared to the fact that this film has earned the greatest praise I can give to any short film or short story: I want to know the backstory of the secret room, the wax figures within it. (My desire to know more was made even stronger by the coffee cup Aleman's character examines in the room. Look closely at it and I'm sure you'll understand why.)