Final Gasp

Sinister things are happening to a woman who is by herself in her apartment.

Lindsay (Carvalho), a young woman, is alone inside her apartment, playing the piano. Suddenly, she begins to hear sounds of knocking that do not appear to have a source. She snoops around and eventually, she discovers a pink box that was left outside her front door. She brings it indoors and finds out that it is not addressed to anyone and it contains a sinister-looking white mask and a black cloak and from then on, things go from bad to worse.

Filmed in Lisbon, Portugal, this spooky short horror film does a great job when it comes to building suspense and sending chills down the spine. The whole narrative takes place inside the apartment and initially, it relies on mysterious noises in order to indicate that something is up, such as knocking here and there, whistling and the ringing of a doorbell, apparently by no one. The atmosphere becomes much more serious following the arrival of the mysterious box, with darkness taking over, the sound of someone breathing heavily and more.

Lindsay is the only character in the film, and that creates a feeling of isolation, which works well here, because it gives the impression that she is somehow trapped in the apartment, unable to escape the evil that is approaching. She spends a great deal of time investigating, trying to figure out where the noises are coming from and what is going on with the box and Carvalho's performance effectively captures her fear and agony.

There are creative lighting techniques and the sound effects are quite effective in creating feelings of dread, especially during the scenes with darkness. Things get a bit surreal during a montage sequence that involves the heroine, wine and a facial mask and the upside-down angle technique is applied a couple of times, although it is unclear what effect it is supposed to have. Teixeira and Carvalho also worked on the music and the result is a frightening atmosphere.

This award-winning horror film has a screenplay that leaves it to anyone's guess whether Lindsay is dealing with supernatural forces or whether someone is playing tricks on her. Overall, this is a creepy story that will most likely chill the viewer to the marrow.