SHE WILL RETURN *** USA 2019 Jeff Payne 13 mins
SHE WILL RETURN is the sequel to Jeff Payne’s short released this spring THE PALE FACED LADY. It is the origin story of THE PALE FACED LADY, a malevolent spirit that haunts her families home. It begins with a grieving fathers monologue describing how his wife died and how he then watched his daughters behaviour wildly change before she too disappeared only to return to haunt him in their home. Once again this contains beautiful set pieces, great visuals and another stunning score from Aimy Miller. If you watch closely, as with the first short, you will find spirits lurking in every scene. However, this time around they seem a bit more obvious than in the first one but maybe it is just because I know what to expect this time around. It is again narrative driven yet this time did not carry as much dread or feel as creepy as before but it uses whispers and cries to great effect. The acting by the very small main cast of 2; John L. Alton as the father and Rachel Taylor as The Pale Faced Lady is a little stunted at times but still okay. Small snippets of the daughter before her demise wandering around in the woods pop up throughout and are very beautiful to watch even when the end is disclosed. On the whole this is another great effort from Jeff Payne and his small but very talented crew.
Review by Sarah Budd