The Boy Next Door is a short horror film created by Ben Ayres, about a man who receives a parcel that was meant to be delivered to the house over the road. When returning the parcel, he notices a young boy up in the window of the house, and when questioning the owner of the house, she replies by saying that she lives alone. The man makes his way back home and turns the corner only to find the occupant of the house standing in front of him where she then gives the camera a sinister look.
I felt that the storyline had potential to work as a short film, however it was maybe a little more like a scene from a film rather than an entire short. Even so, parts of it were executed really well, such as the shots used, the editing and the last shot in which the woman looks very creepy, her costume also works great. In places, Ben could have benefitted from retaking a few shots, particularly the wobbly ones taken whilst walking and the bit where the actor says “that was a bit weird”, because the delivery seemed a little too unnatural.
Some of the content needed a bit more rethinking in order to tell the story more visually as opposed to the one long conversation at the door which explained the whole story. This may have meant that the film would have been longer, which would have worked because there would have been more time to develop the story and add to the suspense before the last shot.
I think the music worked really well for the scene, despite a few places where it didn’t really match the visuals. However, for a score that wasn’t composed specifically for the scene it really helped to add to the creepy, dark feel of the short film. The order of the shots towards the end of the scene could have been improved, however I really liked this short film, especially the creepy last shot!
Jess Marshall's A2 Media Studies Blog 