Although I haven’t seen “The Witch” yet, which everyone says is quite the potential game-changer, I am starting to believe the future of horror lies not with features, but with shorts. Case in point in Marc Cartwright‘s ‘Sloven”. Now, before I talk about what “Sloven” does right, I have to admit I am a bit biased. Having a long history of shared domiciles, I can vouch for the weirdness of sharing the most intimate of spaces wit h someone that was not sired by the same blood. Not only is it frustrating at times, but sometimes it is just downright WEIRD, hearing noises from another room but not remembering seeing their car in the driveway. There’s a moment when you realize that although you know you are not alone, you might not know exactly who or WHAT is in the house with you. “Sloven” takes this concept and runs with it, establishing a rather ordinary scenario and injecting with just enough creep factor to get under your skin. With one actor (Baker Chase Powell) leading the entire 7 min production, the character development really is a shining example of a short script done right and you feel that you know the character Steve and can immediately identify with his “struggle”. “Sloven” in that aspect relies on situational horror and although it implies the supernatural, the end result is lefty largely up to the reviewer to postulate. A good solid entry to short horror, I’m definitely interested to see what Cartwright can conjure up nest. RECOMMENDED.
