I must admit – despite the cheesy, Poundshop-looking quality of the creepy mask that’s heavily featured in Sloven, it ticks all the right boxes to genuinely freak me out – not least because of its wide, dagger-toothed smile and bulging eyes.
I’m also a fan of shorts with everyday settings where one element is inexplicably out of place, because there’s a chance they could really happen.
I’m not talking about the frustrating mess that our main character Steve (the interestingly named Barker Chase Powell, the film’s only actor), assumes his flatmate keeps repeatedly foisting upon their shared kitchen counter. Though props to director Marc Cartwright to mildly triggering my OCD to create an uncomfortable atmosphere from the get-go (kidding). Nicely shot, with crisp production and good line delivery, the whole short has is a simple yet deliciously nervy exercise in waiting for an axe to fall.
Score: 🎃🎃🎃
An Englishwoman in Salem 