LAAPFF: Horror Shorts

The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival has, like many other festivals, moved online for the 2020 edition. The festival is dedicated to showing films about and by Asian and Pacific Islanders. I’ve taken a look at a few of the short horror films on offer from the festival. All films are only available to viewers in Southern California (excluding San Diego County) from October 1, 2020 at 12pm PT to October 31, 2020 at 11:59pm PT.

MAKHALISS

Directed by Koji Yamamoto – Japan – 30 minutes
At 30 minutes, this is one of the longer shorts of the horror line up and it uses all of this time to build atmosphere. The titular Makhaliss is a reaper, of sorts, who is seen present at a series of tragedies. Eventually, she appears to terminally ill teenager Satsuki (Yui Ohta). Interestingly, Satsuki appears unafraid and she and her mother leave the hospital for home. This is slow-burn, sombre film-making, reckoning themes of mortality and heading in a very dark direction with elegant photography and atmosphere.

BENEVOLENT BA

Directed by Diffan Sina Norman – Malaysia – 9 minutes
Benevolent Ba has chaotic energy and an incredible use of sound. The premise is a simple one, a family have just bought a piece of land and need a goat slaughtered in order to consecrate it. However, an ongoing storm, an excitable son and a squeamish, vegetarian refusing to sacrifice the goat conspire to turn everything more than a little farcical. There is a sense of building upon the strangeness that leads to a startling conclusion. The soundscape is the real highlight here and it contributes so much to the dynamism. Simple, but effective.

THE HAUNTED SWORDSMAN

Directed by Kevin McTurk – USA – 16 minutes
I think it says a lot about the incredible quality of the puppetry in this film that it took me a while to figure out exactly what was being done. Despite the smaller scale required for puppetry, this tale of a samurai hunting demons responsible for the death of his companion (now a severed head, played by THE James Hong) manages to evoke the epic feel of something far larger. The landscapes look excellent and the detail in the character design is mind-blowing in the level of detail.

BAKEMONO

Directed by Jorge Lucas, Sumire Takamatsu – USA – 10 minutes
Arguably my favourite of the shorts I watched, Bakemono is a charming film about a young girl, Ayumi (played excellently by Claudia Fabella) who decides that she does not want to partake in Setsubun. The Setsubun ritual is the throwing of soy beans to keep demons like the Bakemono away from households. Throughout, Ayumi’s parents make it clear that the Bakemono will steal food from her, but she is undeterred. Despite throwing in a few effective scares and a helping of suspense, the lighter tone really helps the film to stand out.

LOGAN LEE & THE RISE OF THE PURPLE DAWN

Directed by Raymond C. Lai – USA – 9 minutes
Staying on the lighter side of the genre, Purple Dawn follows young DJ Logan Lee (Osric Chau) as he is introduced to a new strain of marijuana that has an unexpected effect. Logan Lee is an eclectic mix and most of this lands, although the film almost divided into sections by a DJing tutorial recording feels like a slightly strange quirk that doesn’t pay off. The repeated cuts to the typography for Purple Dawn as events continue to spiral are brilliantly timed. Comedic, with nods to They Live, Logan Lee is plenty of fun. Karen Maruyama is a scene-stealer as Logan’s Auntie Bobbie.

TOGETHER

Directed by Ted Chung – USA – 6 minutes
Rounding up the selection of films I was able to see is Together. As the shortest film it does an excellent job of creating a tense atmosphere within that brief time period. Using a simple and effective idea, this gentle, melancholic film touches on the loss of a loved one and the process of moving on. There is a sense that there is more to explore within this, although the use of minimal dialogue adds more to the tone than it removes.

Check the Films and Events page for more information on the films available to view as part of the LAAPFF, running until October 30th.