Director – Andrew Gibbs (Witch, Midnight Snack)
Starring – Andrew Gibbs, Catie Gibbs, and Emily Gibbs
Release Date – 2023
Rating – 2.5/5
I’m starting to suspect that micro-shorts have such low run times that it makes it impossible to tell any sort of story. I can see these being very effective as proof of concepts or funding purposes but I’m struggling to see the benefit of having a short less than five minutes long. Several months back I was contacted by director Andrew Gibbs to review several of his micro-short indie horror films. So far, I’ve seen Midnight Snack and Witch before moving on to this one, Come Up Here. I want to thank Andrew for sending this one over.
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows a woman who is home alone when she hears a noise upstairs. When she calls out asking if her family has returned early, she hears a voice that sounds like her husband telling her to “come up here.” She reluctantly ascends the stairs where she notices the attic door is slightly opened. When she approaches the door she turns her back to it as her husband and son rushes through the door while the thing in the attack uses the distraction to sneak up behind her. **Spoiler Alert**
Come Up Here is a little bit more like a traditional short when compared to the other micro-shorts I’ve seen so far. While it was still a little too short to get anything really going, it was able to give viewers some sort of story to follow. It wasn’t a lot but it was more than the previous two films had established.
The acting in this one is a little more than what we were given in the other two shorts. We get some dialogue delivery and a little more emotion. I liked it but I wish we had a little more to the film so we could see what she is truly capable of Infront of the camera. The story for this one is decent enough for a short but I want to know more about the creature in the attic. Things like how did it get there, why is it there, and what is it going to do with the mother? I liked the idea of this one but I’d love to see more to it.
Finally, the film isn’t a bloody one but I fucking loved the masked used. I don’t know if it was made for this project or picked up for a prop or Halloween store. Regardless, it looks awesome. Overall, Come Up Here is another beautifully shot genre short that has a great looking creature but the lack of story and gore does make it feel like it’s a puzzle missing important pieces.
