Julian Terry presented the horror short film “Don’t Peek” during the SXSW Online.
The plot shows a young lady interacting with a slender man-like creature through her Nintendo Switch while playing Animal Crossing, where she suddenly discovers the in-game actions reflect in reality.
The scene can be described as, the appearance of an obscure presence while she’s playing the game, that watches her play from the other side of the room. This oddly-looking monster starts to “harass” here in both in-game and real life.
Fans of the series acknowledge Animal Crossing’s powerful interior design tools helped the director and stakeholders to build so well the girl’s darkroom.
This short was so well received, that it will receive its long-duration movie adaptation under Timur Bekmambetov’s collaboration.
Better known for works like Wanted (2008), Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012), or Hardcore Henry (2015), this Russian director has enough experience to offer. Majd Nassif and Pavel Bozkhov will work within the producer roles.
Julian Terry isn’t unaware of the horror genre. He merged technology, video games, and the supernatural matter before, as we can find on Whisper (2017), where an Amazon Echo device registers the sounds of an unrecognized creature.
But personally, the Animal Crossing cross-over seems like an original and fun idea to watch. This isn’t the only “fun” part behind it… There was a lot more about the production/creation of this short horror film.
In the first place, it started to be done in the middle of the pandemic. Bryce McGuire took care of the script and the film distribution is been done by Amblin Pictures.
There are rumors running around, saying Mr. Bekmambetov might not direct the final production. But let’s wait for him and his team to see what they come up with. If you want to see more shorts from this young director, you can get a handful of them on his YouTube channel.
While this movie comes out, you can also try the actual Animal Crossing game, if there’s more need for unexpectedly horrifying experiences.
At first impression, New Leaf or the “newest” New Horizons doesn’t spooky at all, but…
A cute game with pleasant and colorful anthropomorphic characters can become scary with enough creativity. That’s exactly what its most tormented players have done with its QR codes and design patterns.
Normally, you would catch up with your island’s/village’s neighbors (even other players, in the multiplayer mode, where some are willing to do their best to create a haunting and uncomfortable experience for its visitors).
Although there’s another way to play it… And is through Creepypastas.
Some of these horror stories are well known online, such as the Aika Village or Hitokui. More about them can be found online, but the short-term version: mysteriously created territories with haunting music and symbolism.
As in the case of “Hitokui”: this one goes for full-shock with creatively-generated gore elements and Japanese-speaking NPCs that for some reason, make it cooler but scarier.
