Wendy works in a small 1-hour photograph developing shop. She is open late one evening and says goodbye to her friend Trish who works next door. When she is an hour away from closing she gets a call from a Mr Stanley to say he will pick his pictures up in an hour. She sets about developing them to find blurry images of bound feet and hands etc. Her fear rises even more when the pictures start to be of her, her house, her at work etc. When the phone rings again Wendy answers it to find that Mr Stanley is coming for his pictures and will not be stopped.
This is an excellent little film. I don't understand people who refuse to watch shorts - some can be rubbish but some are really excellent, they don't have to pad out a two hour running time, or make money at the box-office. Look is the perfect example of a tight, focused little short that delivers in every area it sets out to. The story is simple and is very like the first 10 minutes of Scream with Drew Barrymore being terrorised by the killer over the phone. So originality probably isn't one claim that could be thrown at it.
However this is better than that opening scene, replacing the gore and sensationalism of that with mood, chilling music and a really tight atmosphere. The film starts really bright but turns quickly to create a building sense of fear. The director uses the dark and the chilling music to great effect and it is genuinely scary. The ending is typically low-key and chilling without being gory in the way most horror movies go.
McIntosh is really good as Wendy, her fear seems totally real and you do really feel for her. Jack Davenport doesn't show up on screen but his voice is soothingly menacing and works really well.
Overall this is a real gem in miniature. It hits all the right notes and leaves you feeling slightly chilled - all this in less than 10 minutes. The only downside is that the multiplex generation will criticise it for "not being as gory as Scream"!
