13 Hours In A Warehouse

Review by Alyson
Five professional art thieves, one hostage, three ghosts and 13 hours in a warehouse make for a genuinely creepy horror heist film. Writer and director Da-v Kaufman marks his feature length debut with an original and captivating spin.

13 Hours in a Warehouse takes place almost entirely in an abandoned warehouse after a successful art heist. The thieves must wait overnight for their buyer to make the exchange. A hostage was collected after they needed to utilize her car for the getaway and is locked up in a separate room while the guys wait and banter. The warehouse was thought to be formerly the location of porno film shoots, while the actual history is more macabre.

The hostage is bound and gagged when an apparition of a large woman with a plastic bag over her head frees her and whispers a numeric code to her. The specter also tells her that the ghosts are not there for her. The narrative then unfolds with hints and clues and an ambiance reminiscent of a Silent Hill game.

13 Hours in a Warehouse was created and executed by Minnesota locals and really illustrates the talent that prevails in the state. Kaufman’s screenplay gives a creepy thriller an engrossing plot that is flushed out with natural dialogue. The thieves’ performances are quite realistic. The cinematography by DP Adam Olson is beautiful and each frame is an image that can stand on its own.

The fantastic makeup special effects by Christ Ballas give the ghosts a classic, good old days of horror feel – back when one didn’t rely only on CGI – but the ghosts have a current feel as well. There is a static effect to the apparitions that is somewhere between a Star Wars hologram image and J-horror technology ghosts.

While there is plenty of kills and blood in 13 Hours in a Warehouse for gore fans, the scares are presented in a subtle, truly eerie way. A way a lot of fans have been craving in these recent days of torture porn, poorly executed big-budget film and splatter flicks with lacking plotlines.

13 Hours in a Warehouse will be released on October 28th by Maverick Entertainment. Check back with SCARS for an interview with Da-v Kaufman. He’s sure to be a name you’ll hear more of in the genre.