Synopsis:
After discovering her boyfriend’s plan to propose on their weekend vacation, a young woman undergoes a crisis of commitment which attracts the attention of a sinister cult.
Bugs, Secret Death Cults, Head Splitting Gore, OH MY! Ringworms, a horror short film directed by Will Lee and written by Lee along with Ian Hedman, is jam-packed with all of these elements in its short 13-minute running time. While Ringworms has some insanely well-done practical effects and gore, it ultimately left me feeling confused about its storyline and direction.
Abbie, played by Faye Tamasa, is off on a getaway with her boyfriend Jacob, played by Skylar Okerstrom-Lang, and from the first frame when Abbie leans her head against the cold glass of a beverage cooler at a gas station, you can tell she’s not happy with the situation life has dealt her. After a brief run-in with a stranger where Abbie kindly gives up the last dairy-free coffee option, she hits the road with Jacob.
Upon arrival at the Airbnb, they have trouble figuring out how to get in and Jacob splits off to look around. Abbie snoops through Jacob’s bag for information and discovers an engagement ring. Shocked, she is scared further when the Host of the Airbnb sneaks up on her to provide the key.
From here the short film begins to pick up the pace but also starts to spring off into different directions. Abbie sneaks off to call Jacob’s sister, and we discover that Abbie isn’t ready to get married. We then jump to the Host in a basement with a very Old Man resting in a chair watching Abbie on surveillance camera. We are introduced to a mysterious cult interested in taking over Abbie….with bugs?
To go further into the plot would only confuse me further. And while I was a bit lost with the meaning of the cult, and how it related to the need to control Abbie and take her youth, I was entertained throughout. Director of Photography Rafael Gomez is quite the talent. Every shot’s composition elevated the film and it had a big-budget look. The acting was a bit over the top throughout, but by the 3rd act, the absurdity of the story began to match the acting–combining into one gore-filled finale that was a shock!
Ringworms has a lot of good ideas, and some fantastic effects, I just wish Will Lee had been a bit more focused and didn’t try to cram in so many stylistic elements and sub-genres. I would like to see what he and his team dream up next, and here’s to hoping they embrace that Carpenter-esque approach explored in Ringworms, and take it to the next level.
I was finally departing from the chaos of my early-mid 20s and a theme that felt close to me was fighting your own truth. I immediately thought of parasites to capture that struggle because I had a childhood experience — which I recreated in the bathroom scene of RINGWORMS — where I saw a long hair worm slowly emerging from the carcass of a crushed cricket. As a 9 year old, that stuck with me.We are working on writing the feature version of RINGWORMS now. The past 6 months of festivals have really encouraged us and shown us that the type of horror we want to make has a hungry audience. We’re fired up.
