Paranormal Activity, Maybe

Bruce Von Stiers

Brian Higgins and Maria Snyder are paranormal investigators. They go place to place, town to town, investigating paranormal activity. But the truth is, the two of them are con artists. This investigator thing is a great schtick to dupe people out of money. This is the premise for the short comedy film, Mallas, Ma.

Brian and Maria have been asked by Eddie to check out his house. He thinks there is paranormal activity there. He's already had someone else, Robyn, check it out. She doesn't believe there is anything to his concerns.

But in comes Brian and Maria. Being hucksters, they make some obscure and ridiculous determinations in Eddie's basement. But when they find a young girl hiding in the basement, things take a completely different turn.

Just when you think that the film will conclude a certain way, there is a television interview that changes everything.

Brian was played by Timothy J. Cox. I've reviewed several of his films, including Static Cling, After and Good Luck To Me. Maria was played by Maria Natapov. She has over forty screen credits, in roles such as a mother, a newscaster and a judge.

Eddie Nason played Eddie. He has starred in several short comedy films, including The Car Service and Time Bomb. Robyn Kaan played Robyn. Andi Sweeney Blanco played the television host who interviewed Brian and Maria.

Uatchet Jin Juch and Nekhebet Kum Juch played Sydney, the girl hiding in Eddie's basement. The twins sisters have appeared in several films together, including Before Mars and Killing Khan.

The film was an entry in the 48 Hour Film Project – Boston. It was produced by Fix It In Post.

The director of the film was Sean Meehan. He also wrote the screenplay, along with Todd Mahoney and Daniel Berube. Rick Macomber was the cinematographer. Mahoney has worked on several films as a grip and other jobs behind the camera. Berube was also a producer on this film and assistant director. Meehan has been the director of such films as Camera Test Subject and Total Performance. Macomber has been the cinematographer for films such as Chemistry Read and With A Thud.

For the 48 Hour Film Project, Mallas, Ma was listed as a buddy film. I can see where they came up with that designation as Brian and Maria are kind of buddies in this con artist gig they have going.

Mallas, Ma is a fun comedy. Brian and Maria are going to try to bamboozle Eddie and the people of the town that there is paranormal activity going on. But discovering Sydney in Eddie's basement does take the film in a different direction than I thought it would.

Mallas, Ma is available to watch for free on Vimeo at https://vimeo.com/68377568

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© 2025 Bruce E Von Stiers