As we get to the end of the first 100 films, I am using #98-100 for some unusual picks that are my hills to die on.
I’ve seen a fair number of Horror/Thrillers that are less than Feature Length, and I am being very selective or else I would have to consider single episodes of TV Series like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” or specials like “Toy Story of Terror” and “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi.” The Telephone Box (La cabina) is 35-minutes, and not even the shortest film in the Top 1000. (Tim Burton’s student film of Frankenweenie is about a year away.) I also can’t justify leaving out Disney’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow or the series of BBC shorts known as “A Ghost Story for Christmas.”
The highest-ranked Horror/Thriller short film is The Telephone Box because it slowly snuck onto the radar of Horror fans, and once seen it’s rarely forgotten because the story is as mysterious as the box itself. A man makes a phone call in a newly installed red booth in the town square. The phone doesn’t work, and he finds he is unable to leave. A crowd gathers to help and to spectate, and then…
The short walks a fine line between humor and dread. The attempts to get the man out play like a circus attraction or a magic trick gone wrong, and the failed attempts to free the man increases his anxiety. You’re never sure where the story is headed, but the breadcrumb clues are intriguing, and the conclusion is very satisfying.
Leave A Comment