“Voicemail” is a 2010 short horror film directed by independent filmmaker Michael J. Sirois. “The story involves young man who receives an eerie voicemail from his girlfriend. The message is a repetition of a single phrase, “I need your help,” and is the force that draws the young man to venture towards her apartment. When he arrives, he is faced with a series of events that may or may not actually be happening.” Shot with a Canon XL2 and edited with Final Cut Pro. Directed by, written by, edited by and music by Michael J. Sirois. Director’s note: “As human beings we’ve had some tens of thousands of years to evolve, and yet this past century has given us more technology than ever before. However, technology and development lead to displacement. Today, text messaging seems to be the premier form of communication among the American youth, but this displaces face to face communication—something which is a natural part of life. There is very little dialogue in my film because of this. There are almost no real human voices. Instead, the first words the audience hears is that of a robot, of an automated phone message recording. Inorganic sounds dominate the film. Even the opening shot is just a black screen for nearly half a minute. We lose face to face communication, we’ve gained reproduction at a damaging level. We create ghosts and apparitions in our loneliness. I criticize this reality, and I try to do the same in Voicemail.”
Video Rating: 4 / 5