Not Alone in Here Review (Short Film, 2020)
“Not Alone in Here” is a short horror film about anxiety and paranoia. A woman is convinced someone has entered her home because her door is not locked. She remembers locking it, but she has no proof that someone else opened it.
David F. Sandberg and Lotte Losten have collaborated on many horror shorts that have gone viral on YouTube. They shoot the films by themselves in their house. Their best known short is “Lights Out,” which was adapted into Sandberg’s first feature film Lights Out, and he’s probably best known now for directing the Shazam! film. He and his wife Losten still produce short films on YouTube for anyone to watch.
“Not Alone in Here” is different for a specific reason: voiceover. Part of what’s helped the virality of their short films is the lack of dialogue. They do great visual storytelling. While the exact story can be up for discussion, the clarity of the edit and Losten’s performance (typically as the hero and the monster) create a consistent tone and style.
Their work exemplifies one of the clearest rules about horror. A simple idea told well is often better than a more complicated idea that’s hard to follow. Horror attempts to tap into the idea of fear, but everyone’s fears are different.
If I made a horror film about what truly scared me, I’d have to establish a universe where people inherently know to be terrified of pet fish in aquariums. I think it’s pretty safe to say that most people don’t share that fear with me and would need a lot of convincing to be afraid of this. I would spend so much time trying to convince you that my super situational horror film with years of backstory and connected trauma that led to that fear is both a realistic possibility to you and something to be scared of. I’m already bored of the idea and I came up with it.
Meanwhile, Sandberg and Losten keep finding new spins on the idea that you are not alone. Someone, or something, entering your home uninvited is terrifying. You can’t explain how they got there, what they’re doing, or why they’re there, but they’re there and you can’t stop them.
“Not Alone in Here” puts an interesting spin on their own formula. You still get those great edits where you look at a normal part of the house, look at the actor, then look back at the house and things are decidedly not normal. A door has opened. An object has moved. Something is hiding in the shadows.
The voiceover changes everything. This is a woman trying to cling to logic in the face of the illogical. We watch this woman lock every door with purpose and intention, yet the doors keep opening. She methodically searches the house for proof of her uninvited guest, but the only thing that changes is which door is left open. This is a horror story of obsession, frustration, and control.
One of the most remarkable things about Sandberg and Losten’s work is the surrounding content on YouTube. They make these impactful horror shorts right in their own home that look as polished and professional as big budget film shoots. Then they publish not only behind the scenes videos breaking down how they made each short, but tutorial videos for specific techniques along the way. Sandberg is a working director in Hollywood now, taking on the DC Extended Universe with the Shazam! series and even directing the newest Annabelle film that found a believable voice for that line of stories. Yet he still makes the time with his wife to share their knowledge and skills for how to create this kind of work with a smaller pool of resources.
“Not Alone in Here” is streaming on YouTube.
My new book #31Days: A Collection of Horror Essays, Vol.1 is available on Ko-fi.
