Are you alone?

No, really. Are you?

If you've ever had that sense of being alone in a crowded room, then American Hell may resonate with you. If you've ever believed yourself to be someone who could be dead in your home for weeks before someone would bother looking for you, then American Hell will most definitely resonate with you.

Based upon a full-length feature screenplay by director Robert Bryce Milburn, American Hell is perhaps most jarring because it feels really, truly possible.

It's an interesting film to watch living here in Indianapolis, a city that has experienced its share of home invasions over the past year including a handful of truly high profile ones that caught even the normally cynical public off guard.

In American Hell, a family's worst nightmare is realized when their apartment is invade in the middle of the night.

There's a catch. Is that surprising? There's always a catch.

In this case, their lives aren't threatend and the valuables aren't desired. No, there's something else going on here and it may be even more frightening.

Wouldn't it be absolutely horrifying if you really needed help in the middle of the night and no one would respond?

Or maybe there's more.

American Hell feels a little bit like a 70's psycho-thriller, a little bit like a Rob Zombie flick, and it maybe even exudes a little bit of that paranoia that was so dominant in a flick like The Purge. Truthfully, I don't know what it will remind you of but I do know it'll creep the hell out of you.

Winner of an Award of Merit from the Accolade Competition, an Audience Award from the Idaho Horror Film Festival (and there's not much scarier than an Idaho fuckin' potato), and having screened at a slew of fests already including Wasteland Film Festival, Canton Film Festival, Buried Alive FilmFest and others, American Hell is practically tailor made for the indie/underground and horror fest circuits.

The film features terrific performances from its ensemble cast, though I simply have to single out the freakishly jarring performance delivered by Hannah Fierman, who is somehow simultaneously seductive, scary, insane, and absolutely mesmerizing.

Trevor Metscher's lensing is kinetic and inspired, while Milburn's production design gives the film a believably lived in yet constantly unsettling feeling. The entire team deserves kudos for assembling a film that looks and feels like the psychological mind fuck that it is throughout its nearly eight-minute running time.

For more information on the film, visit the American Hell website linked to in the credits on the left.

© Written by Richard Propes

The Independent Critic

Video/image Yet another example of an interactive image which can be used to watch the trailer for this

short. The screenshot which is displayed is perfect for this genre of horror/psychological as the text being blood red connoting danger and the mise en scene of costume for the characters with the devil mask.

- Overall I believe this gives a great first impression of the film quickly identifying the genre and audience.

Language and register Informal register

- Use of expletives and indeterminate throw away words create the idea of an informal register. This could be positive as the reviewer seems genuine and It makes you feel he really has a honest opinion on this film. However this could also create the idea to the reader that the reviewer is not very professional and you may not trust his opinion.

Media terminology (jargon)- “Winner of an Award of Merit from the Accolade Competition, an Audience Award

from the Idaho Horror Film Festival (and there's not much scarier than an Idaho fuckin' potato)”Here it was said positively, identifying achievements made by tis short. This could encourage the reader to watch this film. This information and media terminology creates a good impression on the reviewer as well as he has researched this film.

Genre related lexis (discourse community of horror film)- “Seductive, scary, insane, and absolutely mesmerizing.”

The lexis choice of these words together are used to describe an actor’s performance and in the discourse community of a horror genre, it is a very positive review of their performance.

Imagery- “Are you alone? No, really. Are you? If you've ever had that sense of being alone in a

crowded room, then American Hell may resonate with you. If you've ever believed yourself to be someone who could be dead in your home for weeks before someone would bother looking for you, then American Hell will most definitely resonate with you.”Imagery is created at the start of this and it almost sets the tone for the short film. A very creepy and haunting description talking straight to the reader. If you can stomach that idea then this film is ultimately for you.

The “grade B+” gives you your first impression of the film and it make or break your decision to watch this shirt film

The social media tags give links to the reviewer’s different pages. This could increase access to other short film reviews. Or give access to this one from these social media outlets.

The bold red text shows the interactive poster for this short, which allows you to watch the trailer as well. I like this idea as the viewer will get an insight into the film before reading the review and by the looks of it, the film seems to be of a thriller genre based off the image and the colour red connoting danger.

General info to the short film, including actors, director, origin and length. It even gives a link to the website which could encourage people to watch the short.

Scoring system:

Use of numerical and alphabetical language to indicate if this film is good or bad. A very common feature of reviews as this gives a first impression of the film.