Time for some good ol’ creepy horror with The Face At The Window.

Synopsis

Note: This synopsis is taken from the YouTube page.

Fate leads the willing, and drags along the reluctant, twisting destinies to it’s liking, and damning those who dare stand in its path. For one loving couple, a moment of carelessness leads to an inevitable trip into hell, with a visit from a true monster. Make sure you are prepared as you travel to your Halloween parties, dear friends, for fate waits around every curve.

Review

Halloween has come and gone this year but for me it’s every day. Horror is my alma mater, and whenever a big horror film comes out these days I want to choke the studio executive out who thought it might be a good idea to remake something rather than try a little something new. Again, I’m digressing.

SPOILER ALERT!

The opening credits sequence is reminiscent of Lost Highway, with the rolling road and credits popping up. After that we are introduced to a young couple, Amanda and Curtis, trying to get to a Halloween party. Their car blows a flat tire while Curtis searches for their location on his smartphone, but only has one bar.

Unfortunately the spare tire was never fixed thanks to good ol’ Curtis forgetting to take it to the shop. He elects to hike back up the road to a house he saw, a classical horror mistake. Amanda gives him a very friendly goodbye kiss which I thought was going to explode into a full-on makeout session. But like Curtis, we’re left hanging when it ends quickly with a teasing “Hurry back” from Amanda.

With Curtis now hiking his way back, we stay with Amanda in the car and get a nice jump scare when he pops up outside her passenger-side window. He apologizes for the bad joke and takes off down the road once more.

Amanda turns on the radio only to find out that a serial killer escaped from prison earlier in the day. She quickly changes the channel, only to find there’s nothing else in reception range. Oh well, gotta listen to that news reporter or put on a CD or MP3. Well, no. She turns it off and pokes around some more in the car out of boredom.

We get another surprise in the form of a tree limb that lands on the hood of the car. She looks around outside at the fog-filled treeline near the vehicle. Just a hint of sound that something’s moving out there. Something alive. At this point Amanda looks like she’s ready to pee herself. More strange sounds from outside, this time on the other side of the vehicle, make her jump in fright. Someone’s banging on the car, trying get inside.

Amanda honks the horn. Curtis hears it and reverses course. Back inside the car, Amanda jumps again when her phone rings. It’s Curtis. He calls out to her. She asks where he is. The voice on the other end of the phone laughs maniacally and says, “I’m right here!”

Amanda goes back to honking that horn with all her might. Curtis walks up to her side of the car. She opens the door and kisses him, only to pull back in terror. We see it was only Curtis’ head she was kissing, being held up by his killer, a rather crazy-looking dude who we find out was indeed the escaped serial killer mentioned by the radio earlier.

The last thing we see is a close-up of the killer’s face pondering if his lips are as soft as Curtis’. A lunge forward and cut to black with Amanda’s screams fading away.

The lighting in The Face At The Window is used sparingly and only to light faces for the most part. This helps sell the point they’re out on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere at night and also makes greater use of shadows. Remember, that’s where the monsters hide, even the human ones. Dark is also great at covering all manner of mistakes so the audience won’t see them but that’s a secret.

Again, Gene Blalock and company manage to put together a solid little film that’s got some good scares. Keeping the action inside of the vehicle provides a sense of claustrophobia and the remoteness of the location can create dread. By not showing Curtis getting his head cut off, it’s more disconcerting than actually seeing it happen. In horror it’s as much about how much you don’t show than do.

Yes, some of the plot points were a bit cliché, such as the cell phone reception being null and void. Actually, there was one bar of reception left, so he didn’t go all the way and say his phone was dead. Cliché averted, and the story is saved since the phone is integral to one of the plot points.

The music was minimalistic but for The Face At The Window that’s a good thing. It’s almost ethereal and even manages to blend and enhance the background noises at certain points. An overly bombastic, bellicose score would have ruined this film.

Overall it managed to keep the suspense and tension going right up to the end. For me the nice twist with the head at the end is a worthwhile payoff.

What did you think of The Face At The Window? Leave a comment below.

Information

Genre: Horror
Country: United States
Release Year: 2011
Runtime: 9 min 30 sec
Based on a story by and Directed by: Gene Blalock
Screenplay by: Troy Romeo
Cast: Ashley Donigam, Chris Waters, Douglas Tait, James Tumminia
YouTube Channel: TheSeraphFilms
Twitter: @seraphfilms
Production Website: seraphfilms.net