Daughter (2002) User Reviews

Scary, powerful.. what horror films short or feature should aspire to be

[TizzyEntertainment · 9/10 · 29 September 2007]

Well the initial comment gave some information but is not entirely accurate. "Daughter" was the thesis film of Eduardo Rodriguez while attending FSU. I had the pleasure of first watching it while working with the Palm Beach Film Festival creating dubs of all the entries for the judges to view. I remember rewinding the tape and finding everyone I could to come view it. It truly is a very well written and well executed short film reminiscent of the early Clive Barker. The ending is just... well, if you ever have the opportunity to view it you will see for yourself.

The story behind the Deal with Mirimax (or more accurately Their sister company Dimension run primarily by Bob Weinstein) is this. An entertainment attorney saw the short at a showcase at recommended Edurado to the Weinsteins who then flew him to New York for a meeting. In reality The short alone was not enough to get signed. Eduardo pitched Bob a concept for a feature based on one of his older short titled "Symbiosis". The plot surrounded a small diner who's beautiful waitresses were kept young and vibrant by an entity that lived in a box and was fed unwitting patrons of the restaurant by the women. That lead to a three picture option (not quite the same as a three picture deal)

But as happens so often with the Weinsteins, Bob quickly lost interest and never approved any of Eduardo's scripts for production leaving the filmmaker in limbo, unable to make films with Dimension and unable to take his films elsewhere. Finally he got the job directing the Robert Rodriguez penned "Curandero". A film I have as of yet not seen. Apparently it is not distributed on DVD. However with "Open Grave" in the works my suggestion... keep an eye on this filmmaker

An excellent horror film... even if it is short

[phila-3 · 10/10 · 27 September 2006]

As far as suspense goes, one could not do much better than this film. Absolute genius in the writing and directing department as this pseudo-horror/thriller follows the final hours of a doting mother attempting to protect her daughter when chaos and supernatural events take place in her upper-class home. In the end, we find that - as in real life (and after-life) things are not always as they seem. Admittedly, the very first hints of horror bordered on a possible bad comedic piece, it very quickly changed pace into what it intended to be. Effective and disturbing, "Daughter" deserves every award that it has garnered so far. Brilliant work, and one of the scariest films I have seen - even if it is only 10 or so minutes long.

scary scary scary!

[dien · 8/10 · 16 January 2008]

A mother (Marcie Seklecki) wakes up in the middle of the night from a terrible nightmare. She goes to the kitchen and then to check on her daughter Sophie (Jennifer-Ashlyn Qualey). Everything seems to be alright until she hears strange noises coming out of the bathroom. She tries to get in, but some invisible force prevents her from doing so. And once she finally makes it inside, she wishes she had never opened the door.

There's really not much to tell about this excellent (although short) horror film except for - "If you get a chance to see it, don't hesitate!!" It's really worth the time. The only thing I did not like about it was that the director relied too much on unnecessary scary noises and fast-paced images. I wish he had concentrated more on psychological horror aspects. Still, this film IS worth the ten or so minutes of your time.

My rating: 8/10

Short and sweet.

[ElijahCSkuggs · 8/10 · 15 August 2008]

I knew nothing about this lil flick besides that it was a short and that it's supposed to be scary. I wouldn't go as far as some of the other comments saying it's really scary or whatever, but it did deliver a chill or two and also delivered a somewhat disturbing story.

Story revolves around a mother who seems to be losing her mind. Pretty simple, but effective.

With smart camera-work and music, and a lead who's pretty believable, Daughter delivered more than it didn't. For a short that actually was slightly scary, it's almost unfair to nit-pick at it's short-comings. So I'll just leave it at that and say if you do have the chance to see this flick, give it a shot. It's worth 10 minutes of any horror fans time.

Have you checked the children?

[jfgibson73 · 8/10 · 24 September 2009]

Like pretty much everyone who commented on the film, I agree this is very well made for a student film. The visuals--the makeup, the effects, the cinematography--are as well done as a lot of commercially released movies. There isn't a lot of dialog--we are shown more than we are told, a technique which I think more scary movies should pay attention to.

A mother wakes up in the middle of the night and seems to be having visions that revolve around her daughter. It was easy, as a parent, to allow myself to feel the dread of not feeling that your child is safe.

__SPOILER __ I also thought this story said something about the nature of suffering. Although the woman was supposed to be in Hell, reliving the terrible act she had committed, this could represent anyone who is in a prolonged state of pain. For example, I was recently laid off, and every day I relive the events that led to my sitting home with no job. In a way, I feel just as trapped, in a room with no doors, not even able to get an interview for a new position. That's a pretty specific example, but I think it's noteworthy that I was able to find this connection in a student film, while so many professionally done movies feel completely unrelated to the everyday experiences that make up our lives.

A SCARY movie

[suprafx-1 · 27 October 2002]

This movie is great, if you want to see an incredibly scary short, see this. As far as i know it is only available at very select places, possibly on at the FSU film school. I myself am trying to get into the film school here and this is a great student film! I have great respect for Eduardo and his current work. Keep up the good work. - James Segars