WiHM Special - It's Coming from Inside the Screen - Cyber Horror Shorts Block: FinalGirls Berlin Film Festival

Spyglass

Paula is a young influencer who has organized a crazy new challenge. It consists of people trying to find out where she lives and calling the police before she drinks a glass of hydrochloric acid.

This was a rather enjoyable if highly confusing effort. The entire plot to this makes no sense and her intentions make her out to be a moronic millennial who's too stupid to live for attempting a stunt such as this. She's not trying to make a smart point and is way too stupid to care if she goes through with it or not, although the inventiveness of going through with this in the first place is quite commendable as well as the mounting tension created by the escalating situation.

Don't Text Back

A woman seeks the help of an energy healer to rid herself of a cursed necklace that strangles her every time she doesn't text back her bad Tinder date.

This was a highly enjoyable effort. The quirkiness of the initial meeting between the two of them and her awkwardness at the whole spiritualism scenario before her signals the hilarity of what's to come. From the craziness of the necklace lashing into her throat and the various tricks to help her overcome everything, the energy here is infectious and enjoyable to keep this one going along rather nicely even with a weirdly abrupt ending that's seen coming from a mile away.

Fragile.com

A teenage girl who more than anything wants to be told she’s special is approached by a charming man who promises her fame, fortune, and affection—if she agrees to livestream herself crying for his niche website, Fragile.com.

There was a lot to like here. There's plenty of rather unnerving concepts to be had about the whole setup of the website, how it's used and what she's actually doing with the various clients on the service which gets even more depraved as their relationship continues. Telling much about how far she's willing to go in order to be a success on the service and how she views her own mental health with the tricks she uses to perform and keep her secret. The finale at the prom feels rather out-of-place and overlong though, as it doesn't add much to the actual story although providing a highly satisfying and important resolution.

Swipe Up, Vivian!

Two agoraphobic women find love via a virtual dating app.

This was a pretty fun segment. Working on the not-so-farfetched concept of how virtual dating might appear in the future, there's a rather endearing energy to be had with how the whole affair comes together and plays out with the constant pop-ins that catch her off-guard while building a fine relationship between the two of them. While some of the storyline setups involving references to the world outside or how the app works to begin with, but overall that means nothing about how much fun the rest of the is one is.

Kalley's Last Review

Aspiring beauty vlogger Kalley is positively determined to finish her first sponsored review video for an unknown brand's chemical peel.

Overall, this was a highly impressive entry. The general body horror concepts at play here as the gradual evolving of the rash and crustiness found on her face creates a highly impressive layout combined with the general vlog layout and her unrelenting peppiness about everything. While the finale does have a rather confusing air as to what's going on and what the purpose of everything is really about in relation to the events at hand, it's not really enough to hold back how much fun the degeneration she undergoes.

This overview ran as part of our remote coverage of the Final Girls Berlin Film Festival. Click the banner below to check out our coverage of the event:

This also ran as part of our Women in Horror Month celebrations. Click the banner below to check out all of our reviews and interviews about the occasion: