by Martin Unsworth
If you’re not familiar with pareidolia, it’s when we see familiar shapes in unusual objects, such as faces in trees or animals in clouds. In Aaron Truss and Stuart Morriss’ new short, it poses a deadly risk to Sinead (genre legend Diane Franklin, Amityville II: The Possession), a lecturer who is studying the phenomena. She begins to see faces in buildings and then even stranger things happening around the house. Meanwhile, a priest, Father Cavanagh (Graham Cole, best known as PC Tony Stamp,) has been called to a mortuary as a body has been brought in that seems to have had a bizarre death. However, Cavanagh appears to know more about what’s going on than anyone else.
Best known so far for the documentaries Cult of VHS and (K)nox: The Rob Knox Story, Truss shows he has an adept hand at handling narrative horror. Look beyond the familiar faces in the cast, and there’s a solid story that genuinely gets under your skin. Not a bad achievement in only 13 minutes. Many horror shorts ultimately play heavily on humour or build to a twist ending; Pareidolia doesn’t cop out and leaves you wanting more.
It’s great to see Franklin get her teeth into the character, and she’s ably supported by Cole, who is always a reassuring presence in any drama. Another former member of The Bill, Carolyn Pickles, appears as Sinead’s confidant. Halloween fans will get a kick out of a radio cameo from Judith Myers herself, Sandy Johnson. It’s all more than gimmick casting, though, as it’s the story that keeps the interest and the cast sell that well.
Written by the director’s father, Aiden Truss, Pareidolia is an effectively creepy short that deserves to be expanded to feature length. Catch it at a film festival later this year.
