Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Red Balloon" is a British 13-minute short film from slightly over five years ago. The two directors are Damien Macé, Alexis Wajsbrot and they also worked on the script, with two more guys, which is quite a lot actually looking at how short this one is. It is pretty generic for a short horror film and it does not bring anything new really, but that's perfectly fine as it uses aspects that have worked in the past and these also work in here. A cute babysitter is in charge and she takes care of a little girl. but something's not right with the girl, or with the room the girl is in. Watch for yourself. It's atmospheric, has some scary moments and like I wrote Rachel Bright's looks aren't hurting at all either. Maybe the film tries to be something that it should not have with the very end and the television report, but it's nowhere near being so bad that it could destroy the film. I give this one a thumbs-up and I am not even a great horror film fan. People who appreciate the genre more than I do will probably have a really great time here.
Asten Culloski
Who the hell runs out of a house and calls the cops because the girl they're babysitting has a doll her mom doesn't know about? The main character is guilty of extreme overreaction and it's honestly the only way the director establishes tension throughout the short. The doll/crazy guy in mask idea has been beat into the ground over the years and comes off as nothing more than cheesy nowadays. So you may be wondering why this film even got a 6/10 from me. Well for starters the cinematography was A+. Whoever was behind the camera shouldn't be working on small films like this, they deserve the big-time. The camera work was better than many high-budget, full-length horror flicks nowadays and it's what saved Red Balloon from being completely dull. The fact that the film was so easy on the eyes excuses most of it's other shortcomings, though let it be known the idea, story, execution and most executive creative decisions were poorly done.
Siflheim
This film can be summarized in one phrase: 'another babysitter horror'. Yup, that itself can already be the spoiler.It's a story that's been told over and over and over again. There's nothing new to it; it's a film version and nothing more. The cliché scare tactics could've been easily pardoned but it was just so predictable. Also, the part where the protagonist right away know's what's up was very exaggerated and unrealistic, and this will definitely make your eyes roll.All in all, fans of horror and urban legends should be spared from this. If you haven't watched it yet, I bet you already have a pretty good idea of what it's about. At least it was short.
Theo Robertson
RED BALLON is a horror short revolving around Julie a teenager babysitting a young child called Dorothy . Julie is bored and watches the television news and one of the reports revolves around a violent criminal who is on the loose !!! SUGGESTIVE SPOILERS !!!! It's an effective enough short film and the directors show show enough technical competence . In fact the directing does better than being competent and some of the camera work is very impressive indeed such as the scene where the camera zooms out of the living room in to the garden . The problem is that I was hoping for a supernatural element to the story and the " monster " as such is very mundane without any supernatural cause which is something of a pity
AD
