Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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The short for Occurrence at Mills Creek is perhaps one of the best marketing pieces for a full-length film seen in a long time.
| Director(s) | Don Swanson | |
| Screenplay By | Don Swanson | |
| Date Released | 7/5/2019 | |
| Genre(s) | Horror | |
| Good If You Like | Horror Films With A Female Lead | |
| Isn’t For You If You | Are Looking For The Usual Slaughter House Style of Horror | |
| Noted Cast | ||
| Clara | Ava Psoras | |
| Cassie | Alexa Mechling | |
| Emily | Betsy Lynn George | |
| Victor | Joe Fishel | |
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Occurrence at Mills Creek (Short) Plot Summary & Review
Clara, Cassie, Emily, and Victor perhaps once were some semblance of a happy family. However, being happy takes work, commitment, and patience. All of which was in short supply in the family. Which is why perhaps everything went down the way it did like a row of dominoes.
Highlights
It’s Creepy Without Being Overtly Graphic
The way Swanson has Occurrence at Mills Creek setup, it’s more about being eerie, perhaps nightmare inducing for some, than throwing gallons of blood around. If not creating quick and easy jump scares or trying to gross you out with expensive makeup. Instead, it wants to earn that blood, earn that sense of fear, and slowly create that sense of discomfort. Ultimately reminding you that there was a time when the horror genre focused on story and build and not just how many times it could make you scream or tempt you to vomit.
On The Fence
The Acting
To be fair, everyone has to start somewhere and when it comes to some in the cast, like Betsy Lynn George, her last role, according to IMDB, was in 1998. So for many this short, soon to be a full-length film, is either their first major role, their first one in a long time, or their first film – period. Luckily, as you continue to watch, that nervousness, overacting for some (the trailer provides an example), you see Swanson rein that in a bit. But occasionally, in what is presented as just the first act, you are forced to give a certain allowance that you wouldn’t give if you didn’t know this was an indie movie.
Occurrence at Mills Creek (Short) Overall: Positive (Worth Seeing)
While there is a need to remember this is an indie movie, which presents a sort of handicap, what matters is the foundation presented. Setting aside people learning on the job, what this short offers is that the full-length film, to be released in the summer of 2020, is worth the wait. For what Occurrence at Mills Creek does, unlike many other indie horror films we’ve seen, is not rely on gratuitous violence, gore and blood to compensate for its story. That alone brings a sense of hope and faith that any kinks that can be seen in the short, they will be worked out in the long run. Thus leading to the potential the short shows being tapped and us getting something which horror fans will love and for those of us who don’t like being scared, we’ll have something stronger than Black coffee to keep us up at night.
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