Short Film Review: “Night Terror”

Directed by David Duke
UK • Horror • 3 Mins

Night Terror is about a man stalked throughout his house by a killer clown. On the surface this may not seem particularly original, but director David Duke implements several innovative and emerging techniques to make this film feel fresh and totally different.

For a start, to class Night Terror as a “Mobile Film” would not only be spot on, but actually do it a great disservice, underselling the idea of a “Mobile Film” (merely shot on a phone) as Night Terror was not only shot on a mobile, it was also edited on one too making it a film fully realised on a mobile phone.

Also, the entire film is shot in portrait. While it’s becoming an increasingly more common technique, one of the things that most portrait films struggle to do is to conceptualise, fit and compose their ideas and shots for a vertical frame. However, David Duke really does a fantastic job of capitalising on this aspect and uses the portrait framing to great effect, composing shots around doors, beds and staircases and utilising the vertical composition to create a frightening sense of distance in some instances. 

The end result is a creepy little film not limited in anyway by being made entirely by one person on their phone. Bravo!

Night Terror is a fun and scary short mobile film that deserves some attention for its innovative accomplishments alone.

7/10

Night Terror was nominated for Best Mobile Film at our 2022 film festival.

Reviewed by Philip Pugh