Why Watch? The upstanding, not at all imbalanced folks at Bloody Cuts recently held a short film competition that revolved around the theme “Who’s There?”. There was a sickening amount of fantastic entries, but this one from Ryan Thompson was chosen by a panel of experts (including me, Joe Dante, Gale Anne Hurd, Drew Daywalt, Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan and more).
Play Time is pure atmosphere. It’s an excellent example of production design and editing meant specifically to unnerve and disarm. The plot is merely a scare delivery device: there’s a ruckus downstairs, so a young woman goes to investigate. Although, if you want to think deeply enough, the creature imagery could be psychologically appropriate for a lone woman in a big house.
Probably best to watch this after you’ve brushed your teeth and put on your pajamas.
What Will It Cost? About 3 minutes.