Latched is a short horror film with Hollywood production values that did very well on the short flim festival circuit. It follows the story single mother, Alana, and her breast-feeding toddler, Bowen, who arrive for an autumn break in their island cottage so Alana can work on her dance choreography. Alana has an unfortunate habit of closing her eyes while dancing and Bowen soon pulls out what looks like a dead fairy from the hollow of a tree. When spilt breast milk brings the creature to life, it turns out that it is not a benevolent being and Alana will need to keep her eyes open.
Written by Sean Sellars and directed by Robert Brinkmann, the comic Cindy's New Boyfriend was a finalist in in the 9th competition. Cindy is the ex-girlfriend of Spencer, who persuades his friend Nick that he should use his acting talent to scare off Cindy's new boyfriend. However, things go wrong when Cindy's new boyfriend turns out to be a man not easily scared. Brinkmann is better known as a cinematographer, shooting such films as The Cable Guy.
The king of the macabre revealed his hand in this stop-motion animation film - made when he was 23 - in which a young boy dreams of being horror legend Vincent Price. It was not his first short film but it introduced him to the wider film world as a darlky humorous director, which would lead on to his first successful feature film, Beetle Juice. Having Vincent Price narrate this short animation film was probably one of his most salient career moves.
Intersection showed at festivals on both sides of the Atlantic. Inspired by his own summer jobs, Intersection is a black comedy telling the story of two road construction workers who are dropped off in the middle of nowhere to police the non-existent traffic at a desert intersection (crossroads). The monotony of the dusty day is broken by the violent arrival of a meteorite and the belief that this astral object may be worth a lot of money.