Have you ever been walking late at night, and, as you travel your route, you hear someone following. . . the sound of their footsteps, slowly gaining, the ‘thud thud thud’ of their slightly quicker pace penetrating your deepest fears – your heart starting to palpitate as you pray that this is just mere happenstance and not some sort of psychotic stalker. This is the premise of the 2013 horror short: 2AM: The Smiling Man.
Directed by Michael Evans (and based upon a Creepypasta – something I was unaware of until writing this article. . . it is a horror legend or image that has been copy and pasted around the Internet), the audience is placed in the shoes of a late night Roamer (Sean Simon), a twenty-something ‘anyman’ who is making his way home at 2 A.M. one night.
What seems like any other evening soon takes a unnerving turn when our Roamer spots a suited man (Paul Foltz) exiting the shadows of a tree as he waltzes down the sidewalk up ahead – his head obtusely angled to the stars as he beams from ear to ear. At first bringing a smile to our protagonist – perhaps thinking that the well-dressed man is coming back from a house party in which he got laid, there is soon a semblance that something is off. . . the air around him suddenly let out.
Crossing the street to regain some sort of control, the smiling sidler toys with the spooked walker, his Jim Carrey-esque elastic movements and Cheshire Cat grin somehow disconcerting, not helping that he constantly finds a newly unexpected position to be in every time the perturbed pedestrian glances back to keep apprised of the situation.
Playing on our primordial fears, 2AM finds an intriguing place between funny and frightening – a thin, traversable veil as things transition in almost an instant. Roamer quickly enters fight or flight mode. . . the adrenalin pumping, his palms sweaty, his stress level through the roof as things get hairy. Evans’ is aptly able to capture this fascinating premise by simple yet effective film making – a dark anywhere street setting combined with editing that provides us with varying shots of the Roamer (from closeups of his eyes to more traditional framing), which then cuts to his glances as he tries to figure out the creepy conundrum that is the Smiling Man. . . throw in a touch of shaky camera work and suspenseful calm before the storm and you have a perfectly palpable, suspenseful atmosphere. The music, by Matt Hanks, also adds that special menacing touch, elevating its horror aspects.
A four minute short that plays on our fears – a simple yet eerily possible premise, 2AM: The Smiling Man is the perfect late-night film fodder for horror fans. So, check out this short that takes all of the right steps along the way, it will have you frozen in terror as you are glued to your seat – unable to outrun your fear.