Another urban legend inspired short film from the glory days of USA's Saturday Nightmares. Like James Dearden's previous short "The Contraption," "Panic" is all about slow pacing gently building tension. The story revolves around a model going out for a drive to her next job. The night is rainy and, as she drives through the city, she is accosted by rube punks. Despite the nasty vibes the city puts off, she still decides to stop and pick up an old hitchhiking lady. This turns out to be a mistake.
Not much happens over "Panic's" 17-minute run time. There are long scene of Mandy just driving around, the synth score droning away. However, the short slowly builds a sense of unease. From the beginning, it feels like the entire world is against our protagonist. The rain beats repetitively at her windows. Nothing happens at first when she picks up the old lady. Still, the driver and the audience feels like there's definitely something wrong with the elderly woman. The sting in the scorpion's tail doesn't come until the very end, the film dragging the tension out as tortuously long as possible. The ending goes for quiet chills instead of abject thrills. The silent eeriness of that final image is destined to stick with you a lot longer then any jump scare would have. James Dearden would later become better known as the screenwriter of "Fatal Attraction" and would, disappointingly, never direct a feature horror film. What a shame, as the guy obviously had the talent for it.
Not much happens over "Panic's" 17-minute run time. There are long scene of Mandy just driving around, the synth score droning away. However, the short slowly builds a sense of unease. From the beginning, it feels like the entire world is against our protagonist. The rain beats repetitively at her windows. Nothing happens at first when she picks up the old lady. Still, the driver and the audience feels like there's definitely something wrong with the elderly woman. The sting in the scorpion's tail doesn't come until the very end, the film dragging the tension out as tortuously long as possible. The ending goes for quiet chills instead of abject thrills. The silent eeriness of that final image is destined to stick with you a lot longer then any jump scare would have. James Dearden would later become better known as the screenwriter of "Fatal Attraction" and would, disappointingly, never direct a feature horror film. What a shame, as the guy obviously had the talent for it.