Faceless

“Considering the story of how the film was made, that should give audiences reason enough to watch it.…”

With her mother away for the weekend, a home-alone teenage girl receives a disturbing anonymous text message that sets a series of ominous events into motion.

This intriguing short horror from writer/director Brad Gilbertson get’s off to a great start with a captivating opening scene that sets the tone for the rest of the film, making the viewer curious from the beginning.

Actress Paige Gilbertson whom is Gilbertson daughter, delivers a wonderful performance considering she only has herself to play off for most of the film. She handles the character with confidence and seems to understand the genre well. The moments with Sophie played by Ebony Anthony were genuine (as they are cousins in real life) and added some much needed depth to the story to avoid becoming another derivative horror.

What’s totally unique about this film is that it was shot entirely by Gilbertson and featured only his family. Not only that, but the story evolved as they filmed it over three separate weekends. Making this a well deserved nomination as it demonstrates the talents of this experienced filmmaker. The story works exceedingly well which is impressive considering the countless short horror’ we’ve seen that all lack substance.

The film doesn’t come across as something that was pieced together as it has a solid structure with a fitting run time. The editing is well paced and full of high quality cinematography. The use of natural light was used to great effect thanks to the genre but was elevated with a tasteful colour grade.

We expect there were some fun bloopers from this family of filmmakers. The camera work is incredibly effective and leans into the horror genre but without adding those overused camera tricks. Moments with the films Faceless spectre worked well and didn’t spoil the sense of danger by showing too much.

Considering the story of how the film was made, that should give audiences reason enough to watch it. But they’ll be left impressed by the execution of the story which works as a great entry into the horror genre. We recommend giving it a watch…

— APEX Film Awards