WHEN SUPERNATURAL AND SWEET STORYTELLING MEETS THAT PIXAR FEEL IN THE SHORT FLM “HELLO”

Macabre Faire Film Festival Screening: Hello - Written and Directed by Christina Raia

Macabre Faire Film Festival Short Film Screening: Hello – Written and Directed by Christina Raia

Making a connection is tough whether alive or deceased. The short film HELLO by Christina Raia is a wonderfully crafted silent experience that returns us to the days of film as an experience. The short film brings together a heart tugging score, wonderful performances and a blend of humor as well as supernatural horror in a purgatory for both the living and the dead. Making a point to watch this short at the AXWOUND FILM FESTIVAL in Vermont and again at the MACABRE FAIRE FILM FESTIVAL on Long Island, New York, HELLO reminds you of an enchanting poem that is woven with ghostly whisper and playful frights that you find in classic cartoons like Mickey Mouse’s 1929 “The Haunted House”, a hint of Chaplin and the classic storytelling and incredible feel of PIXAR animated storytelling.
HELLO’s story revolves around the ghost of a young woman played by actress Lauren A. Kennedy that is trapped within a hotel room purgatory dying of loneliness (no pun intended). Waiting for each new visitor to the room, we watch the lonely spirit sit at a desk in the dark. We become voyeurs to the woman trying to get the attention of a frustrated writer played by Ricardo Manigat who is staying over at the hotel. With each moment that goes by, the lonely woman tries to grab the attention of the writer with each attempt never becoming what she hopes for or reciprocated. As the woman and writer deal with frustrations, she begins to manipulate a variety of solid items around the room in several attempts to communicate and even tries to make physical contact. Lost in translation, we watch as the writer thinks it is nothing more than possible unusual actions or tricks of the mind that are explainable. As the frustration builds with the woman’s constant attempts towards the writer rejected, she is pushed to a level that unleashes the full extent of her need to connect.  
HELLO was one of my favorite short films of 2016. Being a huge fan of horror as well as Disney, Raia blends the lighter side of loneliness and obsession together with hint of terror and tension. Why there is nothing technically to stand out with this short film, no visual FX or a set design that will entrance the viewer, Raia crafts an elegant and classic tale that enchants, makes you feel warm and showcases talented performers. HELLO hits the all the right beats in the time it allocated finding great development of the lonely spirit played by Kennedy with simple facial expressions, effective makeup, outside thinking and timed actions to the score. With no real exposition for why the lonely woman is stuck in the room, we see the character’s dress reflect a by gone era of the 1920’s that only makes the viewer feel sadder for the “groundhog’s day” struggle she has had for many decades.
However, we fall in love with the commitment to connect from both characters even though they have different motivates for their need to. Raia is very clever in her filmmaking, as she finds more evolved and funny ways with each attempt by the lonely spirit to gain the writers attention and the denials from the writer. The score for HELLO feels like a lullaby or the song that plays in your head with each memory that impacts you. The score takes this short film to a higher level elevating the performances, choreographed interaction and wonderful emoting by each character. Raia makes sure to leave an ending that viewers will not forget, returning to the most desperate, macabre and engaging hello possible.
Find out more about HELLO with the teaser at https://vimeo.com/144641387 and more about Christina Raia at http://christinaraia.com/
Follow Jay Kay on Twitter @JayKayHorror
(Images Found on Facebook and http://www.congestedcat.com/blog/2015/3/12/bts-of-new-short-hello)
 
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Macabre Faire Film Festival Screening: Hello - Written and Directed by Christina Raia
  • Macabre Faire Film Festival Screening: Hello - Written and Directed by Christina Raia
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