Desolate (2015): Blood Stained Nightmare – Horror Short Review

I’ve recently become a huge fan of Deranged Minds Entertainment. Tristan Clay and Destinie Orndoff know how to deliver a horror story, but not only that, they know what fellow horror fans want to see. Before they knew each other and created their production company, Tristan had made a few of his own horror shorts, and he recently showed me one called Desolate. 

The 2015 horror short, Desolate, begins with a man (Michael Taylor Pritt) who is walking around with blood-stained clothes. He continues to walk through town until he reaches the river. Once there, looking out at the water, he reflects back on what has just happened, but can he handle it?

The question is what actually did just fucking happen? Why are all his clothes blood-stained? Was it all in his head? All these questions run through the viewers head in this 4-minute horror short feature. What a mind fuck in such a short amount of time!

As always, Tristan delivers a horror story that is gritty and raw. The storyline, although we have no clue what the hell is going on, is still very much understood. This man is walking around town with clothes that have blood all over them, he’s distraught, and clearly something horrible has just gone down. Did he kill people? Did someone else kill people? One thing for sure is the town he’s walking around in is a complete “ghost town,” no one to be seen anywhere not even dead bodies.

The ending is a punch to the stomach and leaves you wondering… did he just do that because he can’t live with himself because he committed horrendous atrocities or did a massacre go down and he didn’t want to be the only one alive or yet again… is this all in his fucking head and just too much to handle? Who knows, beyond Tristan Clay that is.

There are 3 main things I loved about Desolate:

• The town. It was eerie yet familiar. We’ve all been in a town that looks like that, therefore making this situation far creepier and relatable.
• The eerie music wasn’t overbearing but played well with the tone of the film. Not once are there any words spoken and because of that Michael Taylor Pritt’s performance speaks louder than some performances ever do. It was confusing, heartbreaking, and powerful.
• The story and overall ending make you question everything and it lingers in your mind, everything a well-made film should do and even more impressive that a horror short was able to capture this in only 4 minutes or so.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, to be honest, I’m not surprised that I loved it. I have yet to be disappointed by something Tristan creates and I look forward to all his upcoming projects including Deranged Minds Entertainment’s first full feature Red Eye, which everyone should be learning more about. Meanwhile, watch Desolate and all of his other shorts and see if you feel the same way as I do. Also be sure to like their Facebook Page and to read our recent interview with Tristian and Destinie – “here“.