Film Review: THE PALE FACED LADY (2019) (Short Film)

THE PALE FACED LADY **** USA 2019 Dir: Jeff Payne 10 mins

The pale faced lady is a malevolent spirit that resides in an old house and waits in the dark for her next victim. Jeff Payne has created a moody, emotive and incredibly creepy short using this spirit from a recurring nightmare he used to have which captures the essence of horror that a lot of feature films lose.
It is narrative driven with few actors and only showing snippets of story whilst the main part is told. It has a strong score composed by Aimy Miller that builds anticipation and oozes dread. The slow moving camera work, washed out colours and ghouls seemingly appearing  in almost every crevice (or do they???) creates a tense atmosphere. The narrator’s voice though it appears innocent throughout has something kind of sinister about it too. It feeds on your insecurities and plays a lot of tricks on you the viewer. The ending uses sound and movement to great effect. The main tagline on this is “look closer and you’ll find what you are looking for” so bare that in mind and maybe watch it a few times. It is a great short reminiscent of The Ring or The Grudge and will appeal to fans of the creepy and paranormal. Definitely one to check out.

Review by Sarah Budd