Unseen follows a mentally ill man as he stalks helpless victims, looking for Jenny who broke his heart and seemingly shattered his mind.
Written and directed by Steve Merlo, who also plays the tortured killer, it's a great example of story over budget. Nothing about this looks low budget, it looks dangerous and nostalgic. The small cast are also to be commended. It's a slasher with a human story at the center and that's well portrayed by them.
Shot in black and white, it has a very old school feel to it. The visual style is very reminiscent of Hitchcock and it feels tense throughout. Just when we think which direction the story is going, it turns off in another direction. It’s unpredictable and keeps us on the edge of our seat. From the first scene the mystery, intrigue and terror is set up. A tense score guides our fear and we are treated to watching a portion of the film through the eyes of the killer which is a style I haven’t seen for a while on a short but a very clever method of bringing us directly into the savagery and the mental state of the murderous man.
The single most terrifying thing about this short however is the fact that we never actually see the killers face. He is known, unseen and he could be anyone. He could be sat next to you or the shadow creeping past.
