Film / News
Bristol horror short is showcased by producers of Get Out
A short film costing just £200 to make in Bristol is being showcased by Hollywood horror studio Blumhouse Productions, whose credits include the Paranormal Activity, Insidious and Sinister series and, most recently, the much-acclaimed ‘social horror’ hit Get Out.
A genuinely creepy four-minute short, I Should Have Run was filmed on the Bristol & Bath Railway Path in February 2016. Director, writer, producer and editor Gabriela Staniszewska also starred in the film. “We had a very small crew of only four people, and shot the film over three nights in rather chilly conditions. But the location was fantastic! The Staple Hill tunnel has always creeped me out and I’m glad I got a chance to use it for a horror.”
The film went on to win six awards on the international festival circuit, including Best International Fiction at the Cardiff Mini Film Festival 2016 and the Final Girls Award for Best Female Director at the Unrestricted View Film Festival in London, as well as the coveted Best Sci-Fi / Horror award at Imagine This Women’s Film Festival in Brooklyn, New York. It has so far appeared at 24 film festivals around the world, and was shown most recently as part of the Bristol Film Festival’s Short Film Showcase back in March.
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On March 31, Blumhouse showcased I Should Have Run on its website, alongside new trailers for Annabelle: Creation and The Mummy with Tom Cruise. “Blumhouse.com is thrilled to premiere the frightening new horror short I Should Have Run,” the studio remarked. “Directed by talented newcomer Gabriela Staniszewska . . .the short looks at a woman who encounters a something strange on her evening walk home, but incorporates larger themes of depression and life’s path.”
Gabriela is currently working on her debut feature and is particularly keen to explore the ways in which the horror medium can be used to tackle psychological issues and emotional hardship. “Horror is a very unsubtle way of talking about very subtle things and is an excellent medium through which to discuss mental health issues: it is ethereal, unmanageable, terrifying and difficult to grasp.”
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