Sinister Storage

Bruce Von Stiers

Colin Costello is a filmmaker with a varied history in film and television. He co-wrote screenplays for films featuring actors such as Mario Lopez and Steve Guttenberg. Costello has also written, directed and produced quite a few short films. I reviewed a couple of those short films, one being the drama Dreamwisher and the other, The After Party, a noir styled film starring Rachel A Bryant, Hilary Baraford and Veronica Sixtos.

Costello has a new film that is making the rounds at film festivals. It is a thriller short film. The title of this new film is Storage.

The film opens with a woman waking up. She is in some kind of utility closet. But she doesn't know where she is or how she got there. She is just in her underwear. She opens the door and finds herself in an outer room. But she is not alone. There is a young woman in a cheerleader's outfit handcuffed to a pipe.

Through some dialog and actions, we learn that the woman is Rachel, and the cheerleader is Kelly. Rachel needs to know why they are there and how can they get out. It seems that they are locked in the room.

As the film progresses, there are flashback scenes with a woman, Abbie, and a guy named Conner. It seems that Abbie is some kind of therapist and Conner might be a patient. But he's more than that. Apparently the two of them are in a relationship. But we all know that those types of things rarely work out, right?

Kelly seems very strange and keeps trying to hinder Rachel from escaping. But why? I kept thinking that either Kelly was behind the whole thing or was at least a participant. That's usually how these things go. You know, where the co-captive is either the actual bad guy or is helping the bad guy. There was one close-up of Kelly where she seemed almost maniacal. It almost reminded me of Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn.

There are scenes with Conner and Abbie together and others with Conner by himself. The scenes with Conner by himself seem kind of ominous, possibly even sinister.

And just when it seems that all the weirdness has been exposed, a near escape is thwarted and there is the sudden appearance of two other women. The strange and weird just got stranger and weirder.

I kept looking for the twist in the film. I knew from reviewing the Costello films I mentioned earlier, that he tends to add a twist to the story. One that you might not figure out until it's revealed. And that's exactly what I experienced while watching Storage. That is, the twist was something I didn't even remotely see coming. There were hints during the film, but apparently, I didn't get the significance of them. And that's what I like about this type of film, second guessing the twist and getting it wrong.

Laura Huckaby is Rachel. She has been in several short films including The Time Travelling Sheriff. Kate Schrader is Kelly. Kate previously starred in The Honey Trap and Sydney. Jordan Butcher is Conner. Jordan has had roles in the recent films Allegoria and Frank. Abbie was played by Alicia Blasingame. Alicia has been in multiple short films and was a lead actor it the recent film, Bodyguard Seduction. The two women who appeared were played by Megan Penn and Francesca De Luca. Megan's previous films included Highway One and Take It Back. Francesca has been seen in films such as What A Girl Wants and Distant Vision along with several short films and appearances on television series.

The cinematographer for Storage was David Navarro. His previous work includes Angel Girl and the series From Russia With Motive. The music was done by Ryan McLean. He has composed music for a bunch of short films along with the series Football With Farhan & Moj. Speaking of music, the ending credits for the film had a great song, Unforgettable, sung by Kim Kalman.

Other people behind the scenes were Lily Kim as the production designer and Victoria Hanna in charge of wardrobe and costuming. And the film was edited by Sarper Gokbulut.

In addition to Costello, the film was produced by NJ Baroque and Victorya Brandart. Baroque previously worked with Costello on The After Party. Brandart was the producer on the film The Institute and produced a couple episodes of How To Become A Hitman.

I mentioned that Storage has been shown at film festivals. It premiered at the LA Shorts Film Festival last July. Then it won Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Ensemble Cast at the Seattle Film Festival. The film won Best Short at the Palm Springs Short Film Festival, Grand Prize for Best Short at the Silicon Beach Film Festival and the Best Director of a Short and Best Short Thriller from the Silver State Film Festival. Other festivals where the film won awards include the San Francisco Short Film Festival, Oregon Screams Film Festival and Idyllwild where it won the Vangaurd Award for best Ensemble Cast and Best Actor. As I write this, the film is being shown at the New York Sci-Fi and Horror Film Festival.

The film will continue its festival run until October 2023. As of yet, there hasn't been an official theatrical release date. Nor has there been a set date for possible VOD or streaming opportunities for the film.

I really liked Storage. The acting was excellent and the cinematography was very good. The story itself was a better than average psychological thriller.

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© 2023 Bruce E Von Stiers