Sadly Over-hyped

good back-story, and good acting

Crappy film

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Little Amy (Evie Charlesworth) believes that there is a monster under her bed and keeps it at bay with her magic torch; when the batteries run out of power one night, Amy's mother (India Charlesworth) hears her daughter's screams and comes running. To put Amy's mind at rest, she checks under the bed. Big mistake.Amy's Torch is yet another horror short that dedicates the majority of its scant running time to build up the atmosphere, before rounding things off with a jump scare involving a freaky creature designed to induce nightmares. The inevitable final scare is handled competently (a well-timed screech helping the effect immensely), but the film suffers from otherwise pedestrian direction, a corny fairytale narration that serves to dilute the tension, and a stilted performance from India Charlesworth.Watch Fewdio's Bedfellows, Swedish shocker Lights Out, and Alasdair McBroom's The Little Witch to see something along the same lines, only executed with more style.

I have foggy memories of shining a light in my room when I was very little because I was afraid of the dark and under the bed-or to be more specific, what my imaginative and believing young mind was so sure was hiding there somewhere... It's a very primordial fear. Probably unlike a lot, I always knew exactly what it was that I was afraid of. It was a twisted freak that lived in a wicker basket from a certain unique horror classic from 1982 that shall remain nameless. For me that thing will always be terror incarnate. A lot of what can make or break any horror movie, short, or tale can depend on the ending. Be it a big explosive finale, or in cases like this a split-second. The defining moment of this very short short packs quite the wallop! Man, that horrid-looking goblin thingy was scary! And the scare actually got me, it made me jump. I knew something was gonna happen, but not that! That was quite a rare thrill for me, as I never jump at anything in any movie. I mean yeah, the acting's a little stinky and everything's a little on the cheap side, but for me that brief flash of leering face alone makes this short a worthwhile one. I've got to admit though, there's not a lot to it, but what do you expect for a mere three minutes? The man's narration was nice enough, if not a little corny. It gave things a somewhat dark fable kind of a feel. Little girl wards away a fiend with her precious night-light, the light runs out one night, taking a look under the bed to assuage her daughter's night terrors, mummy gets it. Royally. There endeth the tale. A mighty fine spooky little short-show it to the little brats and scare the poop out of 'em!!!