Horror In Short: ‘Off Season’ Brings a Bitter Chill
by Marc Patterson
We just learned of a new short horror film that has peaked our interest. The film is called Off Season and is not to be confused with the Jack Ketchum book of the same name. In this film a nameless alcoholic transient, portrayed by Bill Sage (Third Watch, American Psycho) burglarizes lakeside summer cottages during the cold and unrelenting winter of the off season. His only company comes in the form a loyal Jack Terrier dog. During one particular outing in search of some alcohol our vagabond without a name discovers something so terrifying it will unravel his existence.
Off Season was shot over a ridiculously cold week in February of 2009 in the Georgian Bay region of Ontario. We’re informed that “Its production proved as frightening as the events being filmed. Long snowmobile rides across vast stretches of frozen lake in the blackness of night and brutal, subzero temperatures were only some of the many hardships that director Jonathan Van Tulleken, producer Jacob Jaffke and their crew had to overcome.“
Off Season is currently making the festival circuit and picking up some momentum. At BAFTA it was nominated for Best Short Film and was an Official Selection at the recent 2010 Slamdance Film Fest as well as 2009′s Encounters Film Festival. In the near future it will be playing at the Gasparilla Film Festival in Tampa Florida where an audience of folks in their shorts and will have no idea how to handle this sub-zero thriller. (My suggestion to the theater is to crank the AC!)
The film itself was shot by director Jonathan Van Tulleken of which we are told that “his short films have been selected for a wide number of international film festivals amongst them Toronto, Edinburgh and Slamdance. He has also had his work screened on the BBC and as part of the Virgin Media Shorts Awards in over 200 UK cinemas. In ’09 he was picked by Creativity Magazine as one of their top 10 directors to watch and most recently his film Off Season was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Short. He is currently working on developing a number of feature length projects.“
While we don’t currently have a trailer to share, you can check out the official website, which is now live, and follow progress on Twitter via @OffSeasonMovie
UPDATE: Shortly after posting this piece I was contacted by Jacob Jaffke, the producer on this film (as well as Hypothermia, which we recently wrote about. By the way… what’s up with the frozen shoots Jacob?), and I was given the opportunity to view this film in its entirety. While I’m sad to say I can’t share it with you now I can at least say that what Jonathan Van Tulleken has done is simply masterful. Please… I know we praise a lot of films around here. We like to promote the stuff that’s good, and there’s no shame in that. But, trust me on this one… Off Season is the real deal.
The short is only about 13 minutes long. In this span of time I kept looking for anything to distract me from the horror on the screen. Off Season is completely creepy and genuinely haunting. I believe my heart skipped a beat at one moment. A combination of skilled cinematography, careful and restrained scoring, and superb acting on the part of Bill Sage make this film a stunning short to watch. Though at the end I think what really did it for me was the incredibly adverse conditions in which the film was shot. I mean seriously… who shoots a short film in this kind of frozen terrain? Where’s the glory in that? That kind of dedication to the craft of filmmaking, and insistence upon authenticity, should be applauded. And folks… we certainly are.
As soon as this film becomes viewable to the general public you can be sure we’ll be letting you know. Until then put Van Tulleken and Jaffke down on your lists of filmmakers to keep your eye on!
