The Manipulate Festival has returned to Edinburgh for its 19th edition, with a glorious first time collaboration with The Filmhouse to house their film events. Part of the festival was a collection of animated horror shorts from around the globe. Each had their own styles, providing an eclectic and exciting mix of new works for the horror genre. Being that each film had its own distinct identity, it is only fair that each film gets its own distinct review.

---

Buzzkill

Created By: Peter Ahern (USA)

The evening started with Buzzkill, a story of a young woman on a date, and just when things are about to get steamy, she has what appears to be an eyelash stuck in her eye. The short quickly establishes itself as a work of horror when the audience discovers what is actually lurking behind her eyeball. Buzzkill does a beautiful job of establishing relatable characters, playing into classic horror tropes, including moments of comedy and levity, and finally surprising audiences in the end with a twist. It’s hard to believe so much story was packed into the short five minute run time (the shortest of the evening!).

Larval

Created By: Alice Bloomfield (UK)

Larval stands as one of the more clear stylistic pieces of the evening, with clear tonal choices that are especially on display considering the piece is set without any dialogue. This film utilized imagery to its fullest extent, with lots of psychedelic animations. While this piece is beautiful, where it seems to fall behind is in its classification. The short itself seemed disconnected from the rest of the pieces as a piece of horror media, outside of the inclusion of moths throughout the film. That said, this is not the fault of the film itself, as it had a clear story that was effectively told in a beautiful format.

---

Something in the Garden

Created By: Marcos Sanchez (Chile)

Marcos Sanchez immediately shocks audiences with Something in the Garden, as well as an adorable cat that is electrocuted in the first few seconds of the film. The film tells a simple story of a shapeshifting creature that electrocutes and eats anything it encounters, and then takes their shape. The story is succinct and well designed, and even with its lack of dialogue and short run time, it tells a full story that feels fleshed out and complete.

Sisowath Quay

Created By: Stéphanie Landaque & François Leroy (France)

Perhaps the most horrifying short of the night was Sisowath Quay. A story about a woman who is transformed into a terrifying creature. The animation style immediately utilizes a sense of unease, towing the line between realism and standard animation to create a piece that lives directly within the uncanny valley. This story also was perhaps the most fleshed out of the night with a lot of lore that makes the story feel more realistic and seem as if it is based on a well known story. This contributes well to using the urban legend of the Krasue as the primary villain, as leaning into the urban legend element of the story also helps it feel more deeply connected to humanity as a whole. The short itself was well made and felt like it had a complete arc that sets it as a notably strong film. 

---

Les Bêtes

Created By: Michael Granberry (USA)

In Les Bêtes, my personal favourite short of the night, a rabbit with magic keys leads a collection of  odd creatures through a magic door to confront a court of an evil king. The style feels reminiscent of classics like Corpse Bride and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Despite having a similar style to these classics, Les Bêtes has its own personality, utilizing regular household items as the characters that enter the magic door. After they approach the court of the king, things turn to chaos, culminating in an unexpected twist and a beautiful ending. This film managed to tell a full story with no dialogue and remained engaging and authentic through its full run time. It easily could become a modern classic. 

Regenerative Being

Created By: Stas Santimov (Ukraine)

Regenerative Being is the official music video for the song of the same name by Eluvium. This short film was clearly more focused on the connection to the music, which is absolutely fitting for a music video. The film encapsulates an eerie vibe as the audience sees a strange world with people whose expressions cannot be trusted. The one thing this film especially succeeds on is its ending. The film leaves the ending ambiguous which leaves a question lurking in the air; will this happen again and again?

---

Playing God

Created By: Matteo Burani (Italy/France)

In one of the most intriguing films of the night, Playing God, a clay figurine is crafted and gains consciousness only to immediately see a mob of disfigured and rejected clay beings surrounding him. As he tries to escape his fate is sealed as he joins the army of the other figures, only for the hands of his creator to start this process again. The visuals of this film are grotesquely beautiful. The juxtaposition between the clean and realistic hands of the creator and the lumpy and imperfect clay beings gives the story a deeper meaning about the imperfections of humanity and the search for free will. This was an excellent film that perfectly found balance between horror and empathy with the audience. 

Praying Mantis

Created By: Joe Hsieh (Taiwan)

Rounding out the line up was Praying Mantis, which tells the story of a sex worker who kills her clients to feed her mutant praying mantis child. The storyline of this short was clear and easy to follow. The animation style, while done well, was reminiscent of old school flash games from the mid 2000s, which at times felt a bit distracting. The film was also a bit long, especially when paired with other shorts that seemed more engaging, even with shorter run times. Overall though, this film was strongly connected to the horror genre and definitely earned its spot in the festival.

---