I used to work an overnight job. So “Mannequin,” the sub-ten-minute short written, directed, and produced by Zach McCoy-Davies hit home for me. Its eerie atmosphere of a costume girl working a late night in a theatre’s dressing room sets the scene well. The lack of any other person there, save a phone call from her boss that forces her to stay late, adds to the horror in effective ways. One of the hardest things to do when working overnight is stay awake and alert; so when a mannequin she’s using for clothes-fitting begins whispering to her, we’re unsure if it’s profound tiredness or something else.
McCoy-Davies does several things right with his short, which placed first in the ‘Reel Horror Film Festival’ on the Gold Coast. The first is to set up its horror with lonely shots of this costume girl (Amy Shaw, credited as ‘Robyn’). Shaw is great in the role. She seems every bit the type of hardworking and underpaid talent that often works jobs like this, and her weariness is palpable. She pops a ‘stay awake’ pill after hanging up with her boss, the time reading shortly after 11 PM. She’s also just cut herself on the sewing machine; it’s all the sort of humdrum, coupled with the lack of anyone else in the enormous theatre, that makes “Mannequin” unnerving.
Horror that Relies on Tension, Not Gore
Like good horror movies, “Mannequin” succeeds by suggestion rather than outright horror. Watching this short (and its predecessor, “Polaroid”) which I’ve been plowing through for our first ‘Halfway2Halloween’ event, I was reminded that good horror—horror that doesn’t involved hacked limbs and/or torture—still exists. It’s not that the mannequin in the room with Robyn seems to whisper, or even that it also seems to move, that makes this film scary; that we can’t tell if it’s real or imagined is what seals the deal. Is Robyn dealing with sleep-induced delirium? Or is the mannequin indeed following her? Answers aren’t forthcoming, and the film is the better for it.
Also great here is the film’s score, handled by Composer Rob Newnham and Sound Recordist Klaudia Stewart; it’s comprised of xylophone-sounding notes coupled with a low, droning bass. And much of the film is shown through shots of Robyn’s back as she works—along with quick cuts to the still, lifeless mannequin—that Chelsea Taylor, the film’s Cinematographer, handles well to increase the tension.
Eerie Set-Pieces and Score; the Quiet Tension of ‘Mannequin’
But make note: “Mannequin” is not a film that ramps up its tension in ever-increasing degree, only to have it explode in a payoff finale; Taylor and McCoy-Davies keep the uneasiness steady for most of the film’s run, only to leave eerie footnotes in the film’s closing shot, which proposes one ending, but could in fact include dozens. The filmmakers want us to make up our own mind about this movie, and it makes it that much more unnerving.
All-in-all, “Mannequin” is a solid horror short. At under ten minutes, it creates palpable tension and scene-setting that make one feel nervous and uncomfortable while watching it. It’s scored well, and features a solid ending that leaves you wondering after the credits roll. There are some happenings towards the middle that drag a bit, but overall, there’s little to complain about here. If you’re looking for a short horror film to unnerve you and invite you in, “Mannequin” is the film to do it. The only recommendation from this writer is you watch it alone, preferably at night, with the lights off.
You can watch “Mannequin” on YouTube by visiting the following link.
“Mannequin” is currently available to watch on YouTube.
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