Happenstance (2016 Short Film) – Movie Review

Horror shorts are becoming some of my favorite things to watch. To tell a story, one that will grab the audience’s attention in only a brief amount a time, shows true talent. Ones that surprise me are even better, which can most definitely be said about the 2016 short film, Happenstance.

Directed, produced and written by George James Fraser, Happenstance is a fun horror short presented by Stained Glass and Blood Bath Pictures. The cast starring Kevin Whittier, Charmaine Jossick, and Christina Kostoulakas was fun and entertaining along with an original musical score composed by The Inside World, helped set the tone of the film.

The story begins with a man following a young girl in the woods and the girl running hopelessly for her life. Once captured, he takes her back to his place, which appears to be in a secluded area, or so one would think since he has a collection of women all caged and tied up. In the next scene, an interesting twist happens in the story after he picks up a hitchhiker…

I thought the filming of Happenstance was brilliant. Although not very long, Fraser excelled at capturing the details of the scene, which helped tell the story and reel the viewer in. There were two specific details throughout the film that I loved:

1. In the beginning, he slowly picks up the large stick in the woods. The slow movement makes you cringe as you have more time to think and anticipate the incident that’s about to happen.
2. When arriving back at his place with the girl draped over his shoulders, the camera takes us through the house, showing the detail of each room and the horrid setting we are about to walk into. This is when we realize that this is not his first act of violence and it won’t be his last. It was beautifully shot and ultimately my favorite part.

The twist in the story was delightfully unexpected. You think the film is going to go one way after seeing the previous scene and then it goes in a completely different direction. I felt myself grinning and thinking, “What the fuck?” as each shot continued to surprise me. Not many films can do this, even more so short ones.

Overall, Happenstance is totally worth a watch which can easily be done in under 12 minutes. You could almost watch it during a commercial break! It’s one of the short films that I would love to see become a full featured story that we can really sink our teeth into. Check it out when you can!