By Luke Barnes
October 24, 2020
The Tell-Tale Heart is a horror short film directed by McClain Lindquist. The film serves as a modern reimagining of the classic Edgar Allen Poe tale of the same name. The plot sees a man (Sonny Grimsley), be driven to madness and murder and we the audience are left to put the pieces together.
Sonny Grimsley might be my favourite performance of the year so far, or at least in my top 5. This narrator character perfectly capture the sense of the original tale and is so wonderfully disconcerting throughout, you never want to turn your back on him. There is an elements of mania to the performance that really heightens it into being something special.
I really enjoyed the practical effects in this film, I thought they had a great retro feel to them and the horror as a whole reminded me of classic 80’s pieces; I will admit I am a sucker for a good practical effect.
I thought the film itself was quite scary and threatening and had many moments in its short runtime that sent a chill down my spine. I would easily recommend this to any horror fan. You don’t need to be familiar with the Poe original to enjoy this either which is helpful for newcomers.
Overall, an incredibly strong horror short that is reminiscent of early Sam Raimi or Joe Dante which is high praise indeed.
Pros.
Sonny Grimsley
The scares
Being friendly to newcomers as well as a good adaption of the Poe original
The effects
Nicely paced and perfectly edited
5/5
Review can be found at: https://anothermillennialreviewer.wordpress.com/2020/10/24/the-tell-tale-heart-look-what-you-made-me-do/