Since it’s October, it only seems fitting to feature a short film with a horror theme. In light of the budget constraints faced by short subject filmmakers, horror is a logical genre to delve into. Conjure up a clever premise, a credible cast and decent special effects and you’re halfway home.

It also helps to to have a full grasp of plot construction, pacing, cinematography, sound recording and editing. More often than not, most short horror flicks fall painfully short in these crucial areas. I’ve watched some presented as serious that are laugh out loud hilarious due to garbled audio, poor camera placement and lighting so dark it was impossible to discern what the hell was going on.

David J. Ellison and Mark Cripps — the writing, directing and editing duo behind The Insane — know their craft. The tale of a vengeful cop stalking the lunatics responsible for murdering his wife and unborn child is made all the more impressive by inventive shooting, ominous lighting and a really creepy soundtrack. Despite a predictable outcome, it’s a fun ride definitely worth taking.

Some of the very best horror flicks cross genres. The ability to blend elements of horror and action/comedy/science fiction into the same script has resulted in some truly great films. Movies such as From Dusk Till Dawn, The Lost Boys and one of my all-time favorites, Alien.

Ridley Scott’s seminal sci-fi/horror masterpiece from 1979 is dark, atmospheric and downright scary. It basically flips the haunted house plot on its ear by subbing out the house for a spaceship and the ghostly apparition with a insect-like alien lifeform with concentrated acid for blood.

After thirty years, Alien still holds up today. No matter how many times I watch it, I can’t help but get sweaty palms during certain scenes. Like when Brett goes searching for Jonesy the cat. As far as well-executed death scenes go, it doesn’t get much better than this.

Damn cat.

Ever been in one of those love/hate relationships? The ones where you can’t imagine being with anyone else the rest of your life one minute, then want to strangle the same person to death the next minute. It’s pretty much nonstop drama 24/7. I dunno about you, but I’m not a big fan of drama. I’ll take even keel over hot and cold any day.

In today’s shorty of the week, writer/director Jamie Rafn perfectly encapsulates the boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, boy takes girl for granted, boy and girl break up, get back together, only to break up again story, and does so without a single word of dialogue. Here is She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not.

October is my favorite month of the year. The temperatures are dropping. The leaves are falling. Football is in full swing. And Halloween is just around the corner. All is right in the world. Well, at least in my world it is. As a horror flick fanatic, it doesn’t get any better than the tenth month on the calendar. You’ll be hard-pressed to flip on your TV over the next twenty-five days and not find a classic frightmare airing on one of the many channels provided by your cable or satellite service.

Which is why I’m using this weekly feature to highlight a few of my go-to horror movies. Normally I lean toward more obscure offerings in the genre, but now seems like an appropriate time to take a dip in the mainstream. I’ll be back with the B, C and D-grade product in November.

First up is Stephen King’s Silver Bullet. I love me a good werewolf caper and this one doesn’t disappoint. It has a off his rocker Gary Busey, a wheelchair-bound Corey Haim and one creepy priest. In the following scene, our hirsute fiend takes some batting practice with the local sheriff, played by Terry O’ Quinn, aka Locke from Lost.

Too bad Locke didn’t turn into the Smoke Monster and kick some werewolf ass. That would’ve been epic.

Ever wonder what’s it’s like to suffer from schizophrenia? Yeah, me neither. I don’t wanna know. I have a hard enough time dealing with one personality let alone a half a dozen others. Anyway, this week’s short film offering does the dirty work by peeking into the crowded mind of a very troubled man. Directed by Trevor Sands and starring Jeremy Sisto (Six Feet Under), let’s take a trip INSiDE.

I’m sometimes amazed why certain horror flicks don’t get the proper studio marketing they deserve. Obviously a Friday the 13th or a Nightmare on Elm Street sequel/reboot is going to get the maximum push because they are proven commodities that have earned gobs and gobs of loot over the decades. Freddy and Jason are trusted staples, but what about someone like Clive Barker?

Author turned filmmaker, Barker burst onto the movie scene in 1987 with the delightfully demented Hellraiser. He followed that up with the ho-hum Nightbreed and Lord of Illusions, then concentrated on producing, and kinda disappeared for about a decade. This might explain why 2008′s The Midnight Meat Train — based on one of his short stories — was buried by Lionsgate.

Directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, The Midnight Meat Train is gory, action-packed and visually impressive. It warranted a wide-release, but was instead banished to DVD after a very limited theatrical run. Too bad because it features some excellent deaths, one of which was good enough to make the cut for our Horror Movie Kill of the Week.

Talk about eye-popping. Waka, waka, waka!

Having made a couple short films in my life, I know how difficult it can be to assemble a cohesive story that resonates in a short amount of time. It’s imperative to hook the audience quickly so they stick around until the end. Get them invested in characters and plot , and odds are they’ll come along for the ride. This is true of feature-length movies as well, but nobody walks out of a theater after two minutes (usually). However, I’ve dumped out of many short flicks simply because I felt they were heading nowhere.

Apricot, written and directed by Ben Briand, deftly weaves past and present together as a young woman reminisces about her first love. Not only does it pull you in early, but it also manages to steer you down an unexpected path. Beautifully photographed with a subtle, ethereal score, Apricot is a fine example of short form storytelling, and is one journey I’m glad to have taken.

There’s low budget horror and then there’s no budget horror. For example, Friday the 13th was made for $550,000, which is considered low budget, even by 1980 dollars. However, The Blair Witch Project was produced for $22,000, making it the quintessential no budget horror flick.

Generally speaking, the less cash spent in the horror genre, the worse the finished product. Sure, The Blair Witch Project earned an unbelievable $250 million at the box office, but it will never be confused for a technically or thematically brilliant movie. No budget usually means really, really, really BAD.

Which brings me to 1983′s The Deadly Spawn — a hilariously terrible spectacle about an alien beastie terrorizing a small town — made for the tidy sum $25,000. I assume all the money went into the creature effects, although it’s hardly discernible. Here’s the titular monster feasting on a mom in the basement.

It’s like a Alien chestburster, except bigger, and not as scary.

Boxing has all but disappeared from the sports landscape, but that hasn’t stopped Hollywood from telling their pugilist stories. Especially when it’s a Rocky-esque rags to riches tale like The Fighter. It stars Mark Wahlberg as boxer “Irish” Mickey Ward and Christian Bale as his half-brother Dickie Eklund, who returned from a life of crime to train Ward during a successful run during the 2000s. The movie is directed by David O. Russell (where’s he been?) and co-stars cute as a button Amy Adams, who plays Ward’s gal Charlene. After watching the trailer, I wish I hadn’t. It pretty much reveals the whole damn plot. Oh well. It still looks good and listening to Bale and Adams butcher the Boston accent might be worth the price of admission.

I’ve never been the biggest fan of animated films. I respect the skill needed to make them, but I prefer actual flesh and blood in my movies. That being said, Pixar really has raised the bar when it comes to capturing human-like emotion. The body language, facial expressions and eye movements are second to none in the industry.

One of Pixar’s chief animators, Rodrigo Blaas, used his specialized talents to create a spooky short film called Alma. It’s a strange little tale about a girl and a doll that reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode. Give it a look… if you dare. *cue ominous music*