With Halloween approaching, it is very common for people to get into the spirit of the season with a good horror movie. But what happens when the movie becomes real?
Today, we’re discussing the horror short The Loop by Rich Ragsdale. It is now streaming on Alter’s YouTube channel, and you can also watch it at the end of this article. It might inspire you to get a script ready for the next Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition.
The Plot
It’s an ordinary night for a kid named Mikey, until his older brother, Tommy, brings back a videotape of a movie called The Loop. He tells him that it is the scariest movie ever made, and sits him down to watch it. But things turn dangerous when Mikey is pulled into the world of the movie and is chased by the movie’s killer himself.
The Scariest Movie Ever Made
This movie appears to take place in the eighties, the era of slasher films like the one that Tommy takes home. It does a good job of setting this up with its fashion and atmosphere, but where it really excels is in its depiction of the actual movie. While everything before the movie is played has an admittedly more modern Edgar Wright-style of fast-paced editing, the movie within the movie is edited to be slower and creepier. The beginning of the movie doesn’t waste time explaining who or what the killer is, and gets right to what we come to expect from horror movies from the era. The fact that the victim is so two-dimensional and sexualized only adds to the feel.
The killer is also an interesting figure, with his inhuman look, one-liners, and the fact that everywhere he goes he seems to be followed by red light. This lighting scheme makes many of his scenes feel almost like a Giallo film.
This captures the feeling of being a child scared by a horror movie. It shows him being terrified that the killer could get him, except now, that is an actual possibility. And it’s handled with a level of comic relief. The Loop killer is as over-the-top as Freddy Krueger in many of his sequels, and there is humor in the fact that Tommy is too busy making out with his girlfriend to even notice what’s happening.
There is a surprise ending that fully explains why the filmmakers chose the title The Loop, a title that initially seems like a weird name for a serial killer. It might also possibly symbolize how the child’s fear of a movie doesn’t stop just because it’s over.
In Conclusion
The Loop is a fun, high-concept short film. Just don’t blame us if you get sucked in, and The Loop comes after you too.
Watch it below.
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