NoBudge-O-Ween
A playlist of short films that take place around Halloween or otherwise contain jumps, scares, and/or terror. We've resurfaced some shorts that we premiered earlier this year, like "Central Dental" and "Madame Upstairs." And from our archives, we've included some comedy spooks, like “Spooky Town,” “Unfinished Business,” and “Ghosting the Party.” Others introduce nightmarish scenarios that seem impossible to escape from, like in “Zarina,” “Disforia,” and “Wakey Wakey.” And lastly, we round it out with some good old fashion existential dread, like in “Abbygail Was Here,” and "Holy God..." Dig in!
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Date Night Look
A troubled young woman's date at a Tiki bar reveals itself in disturbing ways. A pitch black tone piece by Wesley Wingo, “Date Night Look” paints a dire picture of desperate youth with flashes of glitchy soundscapes and elements of body horror. The woman has pulled herself together for her date w...
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Sacerdotisa - The 1992 Edit
Selina has recently discovered a newfound hobby in Witchcraft but when her Abuelita finds out, it leads to trouble at home. “Sacerdotisa - The 1992 Edit,” directed by Christian Santiago, is a throwback drama of the occult delivered with VHS visuals and a synth score unfolding with a creeping tens...
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Ghosting The Party
A sleazy romp through a drug-fueled Halloween costume party led by a group of sex-hungry gal pals. Using exceedingly poor taste and a gross out finale for the ages, "Ghosting The Party" is a fast-paced WTF comedy by director Carlos A.F. Lopez who crosses the line of decency to take revenge agains...
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Meshes of the After
A woman returns home to a constantly shifting domestic and mental landscape in this retelling of “Meshes of the Afternoon,” Maya Deren’s landmark avant-garde film. Meg Case and Brad Porter direct “Meshes of the After,” swapping 1940’s Hollywood for Brooklyn current day, and grainy black and white...
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Bite Me
On Halloween night, a woman dressed as a hot dog delivers marijuana to a series of weirdo customers. “Bite Me” is a night-in-the-life of a broke and aimless gig worker that’s based on director Jessi Rayom’s own experiences working at a L.A. weed dispensary. Filmed like a documentary and starring ...
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Unfinished Business
A male stripper has an unusual experience on the job in Mary Dauterman’s “Unfinished Business.” From a script co-written by Jenny Donheiser, the film is an awkward comedy that uses 1980’s costuming and choreography to highlight its dingy tableaus and expressionless ladies. When he arrives to a mo...
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Zarina
A woman endures frequent nightmares of her own death while finding it impossible to determine what’s real. Directed by Lexx Truss, “Zarina” is potent horror, a disorienting trek into the deep recesses of the mind — terror is alleviated with momentary blips of relief only to return stronger. Zarin...
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The Seventh Circle
A man is confronted by his violent past while living in a limbo of his own making. “The Seventh Circle,” directed by Alexandra Velasco, is a frenzied experimental horror film soaked in isolation and ambiguity. Whispering to himself in Spanish, a man called El Minotauro moves through a cavernous h...
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Avocado
A film about a person's inability to cut an avocado. Directed by and starring River L. Ramirez, this experimental short finds strange humor in reality-bending absurdities and illogical deep-seated fears. A woman sits in a white room at a table in front of an avocado terrified at the prospect of c...
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WRATH
Amidst a mandatory quarantine, a young woman living in isolation battles her growing paranoia and deteriorating mental health. Meg Case and Brad Porter direct “Wrath,” a craftily devised and executed homemade project, which in any other year would fall firmly in the sci-fi horror realm; in 2020, ...
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Wakey Wakey
A young woman becomes flustered when her boyfriend refuses to help prepare for an upcoming trip. Surreal moments begin to add up — Alex’s tooth falls out, an entire body of water lies just outside her window. Dauterman nails the feeling of a nightmare, say when your partner becomes inexplicably u...
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Abbygail Was Here
A young woman is left stranded at an abandoned house in apocalyptic rural America to search for a mysterious object. “Abbygail Was Here,” directed by Keaton Smith, is enigmatic horror delivered with minimal plotting but vivid atmosphere and creeping tension. We don’t know the circumstances that b...
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We'll Be Happy Over There
A supernatural shard of a film concerning a troubled young woman at a lake house. Directed by Zach Fleming.
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Holy God Holy Mighty Holy Immortal Have Mercy Upon Us
A supernatural thriller about a woman dealing with the void left by her recently deceased father. Mysterious tone piece with razor sharp editing & gorgeous images. Robert Barnett’s extraordinary and masterful short lurches towards a new way of expressing the mysterious facts of the world. It is d...
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It Felt Good to Have This Pain
File under a little unusual for NoBudge. Might be the closest we've come to a horror film. It's a deathly dark story of unrequited love between two women. There's an astonishing visual flair at work, slow shutter speed rain dances, spectacular lightening storms, ghosts that look like ghosts. It's...
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Hot Water
Freshly divorced and new to the US, Jeanne finds herself navigating the world of housemates for the first time. Madeline Mack directs “Hot Water,” a complex drama exploring social misunderstandings, power dynamics, subtle manipulation, and misogyny. Arriving in L.A. with no job or place to stay, ...
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Evil Grows in the Dark
Two young kids explore the legend of a witch living inside their apartment building. “Evil Grows in the Dark” is a playful wildcard that taps into a world of pretend, mimicking the herky-jerky thought patterns of a child. Directed by Erin Vassilopoulos.