Sean Breathnach’s horror short, Don’t Open the Box, confirms the idea that if you open your door at night and there’s a mysterious package…Don’t Open the Box!
John Ryan Howard plays Mike, a father who is up late working at home. His first mistake was responding to the late-night doorbell ring and then taking the mysterious package at the front door into the house. At least he had enough sense to check on his daughter’s safety upstairs. Curiosity gets the best of Mike as he opens the package and potentially unleashes something sinister.
“…opens the package and potentially unleash something sinister.”
Don’t Open the Box is tight and efficient, running at just under four minutes. Filmmaker Sean Breathnach does a good job building suspense, creating his ominous visitor, and playing around with cool off-the-shelf special effects. It’s a good step for a filmmaker wanting to enter the horror genre. The film’s only weakness is that the story is about the narrative and lore of the box and doesn’t quite dive into the backstory or why this house was chosen. In the end, you really want something more than a straight-out narrative.
For screening information about Don’t Open the Box, visit the Irish Horror website.
