It’s so common for horror films to be set in high schools — featuring teenagers, or at least 20-somethings we can reasonably pretend are teens — that we hardly even think about it anymore, but the fact is that once we’re out of it, we tend to associate our school days with nostalgic innocence and the slow process of growing up. Of course, once you throw in a serial slasher the growing up has to happen immediately, as in the short film Paura Tutto, where one group of 1980s high school kids discovers that they may not have much chance to grow up otherwise.
It’s so common for horror films to be set in high schools — featuring teenagers, or at least 20-somethings we can reasonably pretend are teens — that we hardly even think about it anymore, but the fact is that once we’re out of it, we tend to associate our school days with nostalgic innocence and the slow process of growing up. Of course, once you throw in a serial slasher the growing up has to happen immediately, as in the short film Paura Tutto, where one group of 1980s high school kids discovers that they may not have much chance to grow up otherwise.
Paura Tutto means Fear Everywhere, and in this case the villain is fear itself, though he’s a lot more physically real and immediately dangerous than in the old saying. Zeke Zanderfeldt (Mykee Morettini) realizes something of what’s going on, though, and rallies the other students against the threat — specifically, those other students whose last names begin with A, like Andy Abel (Peter Dorman) and Cindy Aderelli (Mia Morettini), since this killer is very methodical and chooses his victims alphabetically. So apparently having a Z name gives Zeke some sort of magical insight, or at least a little more time to work out what’s happening.
Also on his side is a mysterious girl (Kelli Alden) with no name at all who also has telekinetic abilities, which is useful since Annabelle Andrews (Rae Erin Walsh) and Jake Abner (Matt Kormanik) aren’t really a lot of help, though it’s hard to blame them. Even the best high school doesn’t prepare their students for life or death showdowns with possibly supernatural murderers. But will Zeke manage to rise to the occasion, or is everyone doomed even with the help of the telekinetic Jane Doe?
This wildly funny short, done trailer-style, hardly misses a trope or a play on words, the humor ranging from subtle to slapstick. There are chase scenes, a mysterious woods, people falling for no reason, and of course plenty of eighties hairdos, not to mention a killer who seems able to be everywhere at once, and it’s hard to imagine how our unlikely heroes will survive. But it’s a fascinating little gem, both making fun of and paying homage to the films that inspired it. Give it a watch and join me in looking forward to its hopefully soon-to-arrive sequel.