Esther (2023) - Short Horror Film Review

Red Tower is a new genre production company/digital network that is all about showing short horror films 'for a new generation'. Their debut short film is Esther, directed by Matt Cunningham (The Spore, 3 Demons), wo also co-wrote this alongside Brian Levin. This may not do anything revolutionary, but at least it looks the part and has good atmosphere.

Katy (Haley Heslip - The Spore, 3 Demons) has recently moved back to her childhood home where she finds herself with a strange puzzle. Every morning at 2AM she is awakened by her smoke alarm going off, something that is all the more odd when it still goes off despite having taken the batteries out. She soon comes to fear that there is something in the house with her, something which may be related to an imaginary friend called Esther that Katy had as a child.

All too often with short films you don't actually get a film. Instead it is more an idea that a plot has been clumsily wrapped around. With Esther however this actually felt like a short film, and I was impressed with the quality of this. I have seen feature films with a similar story that don't manage to bring it together half as well as this ten minute mini-film. It does take a little while to get going, I did like the cold open that had Katy recording a message for her psychiatrist, it provided much needed backstory in a plausible and efficient way. Much of the first half isn't too eventful, Katy constantly being woken up by her smoke alarm and not much else. It's only really the final two minutes when the horror properly begins, and while it was enjoyable, and while abrupt endings can work, I felt this was a little too abrupt, without even a credit sequence appearing.

The plot is generic, but the imaginary friend angle was something slightly different, and I was impressed with how well this was put together. A more natural feeling ramping up of horror may have benefitted this, but as it stands, Esther was still a solid short that is worth a watch. Check out the film below, and to find out more from Red Tower you can go to their website here, follow their Instagram - @redtowerent as well as their TikTok - @redtowerdigital.

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