Virus (2002/II)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Simon Hynd

Writer:

Simon Hynd (written by)

Genre:

Short | Thriller

Plot:

Andrew gets a strange e-mail attachment from his love Amber. When his virus scanner tells him there's nothing wrong with it, he assumes it's safe.

Plot Keywords:

E Mail | Working Man | Cell Phone | Murder | Office

Cast

Lee Scott	...	Andrew
Erin Weber	...	Amber
Margot Taylor	...	Cleaner
John Henderson	...	Guard

Runtime:

6 min

Country:

UK

Language:

None

Color:

Color

Company:

Simple

Lacks originality by heavily borrowing from Japanese horror but is still chilling and effective

A man works late in his office with only a security guard and a cleaner doing the rounds on other floors. He tries to call someone but gets no reply but then notices he has an attachment in his inbox. He waits for it to download and finds it is a video of his girlfriend brushing her hair in front of her webcam – but then he notices something moving in the background.

A very simple and effective short film that is obvious but just about manages to overcome the lack of originality inherent in it to remain chilling and enjoyable. The plot owes a lot to Ringu in regards the idea of a "virus" that spreads death as it is seen by means of some strange supernatural force. It is simple but again it borrows other things from Ringu (and Japanese horror generally) to produce the tension. The use of slow moving figures is one, the use of crackling video footage is another – both are well used though and I did get a bit creeped out by it (although I generally am by Japanese horror movies). Attacking the film for lacking originality is perhaps a bit unfair since the Japanese horror genre itself seems to be a bit stuck in endlessly repeating these genre stables so I will focus on the fact that, although it is aping the genre to some extent, it did it very well and for all its simplicity and obvious narrative, it is short, punchy and chilling.