Joey
As you’re aware, we at Horror Facts have been lucky enough to get advance copies of some of the films featured at this year’s Blood in the Snow Film Festival.
We’ve already had the opportunity to watch and review ‘He Comes at Night,’ ‘The Call of Cableulhu,’ ‘The Monster Upstairs,’ and ‘Vicious Fun.’
One of the next films we would like to introduce you to is the seven-minute-twenty-seven-second horror short film, ‘The Phone Interview.’
‘The Phone Interview’ opens on Ruth as she makes a grocery delivery to Daphne, only to find herself being taken hostage by Daphne as part of her sinister plan to use Ruth to gain employment at the boutique grocery store, Blooming Market.
Originally unwilling to be a part of her twisted plan, Ruth soon finds that she has no other choice but to go along with Daphne’s plan or risk being burned alive by her unhinged captor.
With Ruth’s help, Daphne is able to get a phone interview with store manager, Lola.
This is where ‘The Phone Interview’ succeeds as a film. It’s able to communicate to the audience the extremes that Daphne is willing to go to in order to gain employment at Blooming Market, while also emphasizing how meaningless one’s obsession can be for others. This is achieved through Ruth’s mocking of Daphne during the interview and through Lola caring more about a pen she dropped than anything Daphne has to say.
As the short film progresses, we learn more about the motivation for Daphne’s obsession and how it ties back to her desire to be accepted after she failed to gain admission into a sorority.
The final moments of ‘The Phone Interview’ serve to convey to the audience that if you play with fire, be prepared to get burned.
‘The Phone Interview’ starts off delivering a message about how one’s obsessions can drive people to the brink of insanity; how one is truly capable of doing almost anything to see their dreams come to fruition.
It’s in the middle where the film struggles a bit as Ruth starts to empathize with the deranged Daphne, almost like someone suffering from Stockholm syndrome. The film also loses the overall message in the remainder of the interview where Lola does a complete character change and suddenly takes an interest in Daphne and her answers. The film would have benefitted from keeping her uninterested throughout the entire process.
The end of ‘The Phone Interview’ is able to bring us back into the moment in the closing minute of the film by once again displaying the level of insanity that Daphne is capable of, a level that seemed absent at times.
In the end, the film is successful in getting across the message that one’s obsession can unwittingly lead to their own undoing.
‘The Phone Interview’ is directed by Kassy Gascho and Melissa Jones, written by Kassy Gascho, and stars Alexandra Bell as Daphne, Scarlet Stinson as Ruth, and Alexandra Najarro as Lola.
Blood in the Snow Film Festival is set to take place between November 18 and November 23 at the Royal Cinema in Toronto, Ontario.
