The Thing From the Hallway

A lonely man receives an unexpected visitor that is more than what she seems.

  • Tony J Rivas
    Director
  • Tony J Rivas
    Writer
  • Matt Landsman
    Producer
    Sea Monsters
  • Hilary Barraford
    Key Cast
    "Karen"
    Interwoven, The Ice Cream Truck
  • Mike Bash
    Key Cast
    "Patrick"
    Westworld, Beneath Contempt
  • Pascal Combes-Knoke
    Cinematographer
    Jolly Boy Friday, Beneath the Leaves
  • Zach Marshall
    Editor
    Happy Hour, Twenty Years After, The Desert's Love to Anna
  • Mike Flores
    Editor
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    11 minutes 25 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 13, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    5,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    ARRI Alexa
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director - Tony J Rivas
Director Statement

Horror has always been an interest of mine. Regardless of the medium, I have always been intrigued by the unordinary, strange, and pathological. The influx of formulaic “torture porn” offerings inspired me to draw inspiration from the psychological thrillers of the 50s and 60s, where minimalism pervades and dread is produced in viewers’ minds rather than a stylized image.
With this in mind, I set out to make The Thing from the Hallway from an impressionistic standpoint—utilizing bodies, space, and immediate surroundings to elicit a response rather than relying on genre tropes like special effects and jump scares. My goal was not to create a clear, coherent narrative-driven experience that ultimately sutures the viewer into a comfortable sense of comprehension; rather, I set out to create something enigmatic and open-ended, something that can be read from multiple angles despite its fundamentally linear orientation.