The Smiling Man (2015) User Reviews

Seven very disturbing minutes

[DogFilmCritic · 7/10 · 2 August 2016]

Short movies make an excellent choice for horror an it goes right to the point...scare you. I felt very disturbed by this one quite clever on how to use in very little time, to me horror the less you show the better, yes you have to the revealing point but the idea of the unknown is way more creepier specially with the glimpse of the smiling man you immediately imagine your worst nightmare coming to the screen and hunting your nightmares the rest of the night, gave me some strong chills and for a horror anthology it could perfectly fit.

I highly recommend this one but watch it like you should at home alone with the only like being the screen were you have to glue your eyes and be waiting for some genuine frights.

Creepy

[sreeragmeppadath · 7/10 · 30 April 2019]

The make up artist has done a great thing.The character itself looks so haunting.But it should have been more horrifying.Actually at the beggining,i felt sorry for the look of the smiling man due to his looks.

Manipulation

[Hitchcoc · 5/10 · 22 April 2019]

This is one of those films where a little child is subjected to the unspeakable. She is watching TV when she hears something. As she goes down the stairs, she is drawn by a series of balloons. Soon she encounters the title character. There is a puddle of blood on the floor and he scoops it up and puts it on his face, then grins or laughs at her. While I cringed, it ultimately is a manipulative film with cheap thrills.

Did not make me smile - or scared, or care

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 13 October 2016]

"The Smiling Man" is a 7-minute (6 without credits) live action short film from 2015. Do not mistake it it the Willem Dafoe short film. This one we have here was written and directed by A.J. Briones and it won him a great deal of awards. For Briones, it was his second effort in writing and directing after another short film from one year earlier and he is mostly known for being a visual effects artists on many blockbusters (Avatar etc). I cannot really see why this was so successful with awards bodies though. The story is fairly weak, even for this run time and honestly if there is any memorable aspect about it, then it is the title character's make-up, which then again is really just a very poor man's Joker once again. The girl is entirely forgettable and same is the woman, who is actually played by the girl's mother I guess looking at the names. And the title is misleading too as the man in there is really laughing for the most part, not smiling. Maybe it would have been better when this film had ended after we saw the hand at the girl's neck after two minutes. It still would have been very mediocre, but at least not for that long. In my opinion, Briones is far far away from the best horror short films these days (Sandberg for example). I give it a thumbs-down and do not recommend the watch.

What are you waiting for?

[MrGKB · 9/10 · 26 May 2016]

If you're reading this on a whim, hie yourself on over to YouTube and relish the outright creepiness of this disturbing little short! Auteur A.J. "I do visuals" Briones graces us with a truly effective slice of nightmare, and I, for one, am surprised this hasn't garnered even more attention than it already has. Aided by some impeccable camera-work by David "A Finger, Two Dots Then Me" Holechek, some spot-on acting by two virtual unknowns, and a thoroughly talented production crew, Briones has fashioned something both utterly familiar (who hasn't had at least one bad dream along these lines?) and satisfyingly different.

So like I said, stop killing time reading this and go watch "The Smiling Man." It's worth the bother.

Oooo So Spoopy

[creepyhomeboys · 5/10 · 22 June 2019]

I saw this recommendation on my imdb and decided to look it up on YouTube. First I gotta say, Strange Dave, if you're reading this, your performance was awesome! The first three minutes of this were very creepy, lots of tension building, the music was fantastic. There was even a part during this sequence that made me jump and was totally worth it.

Unfortunately, it just sort of devolved into a creepypasta towards the end. For me, a creepypasta becomes "and then it was all hyper realistic and blood eyed," towards the end. I feel if maybe the lighting wasn't as bright and we didn't get a good look at The Smiling Man the whole time that it would have been much more effective. Overall though, this was enjoyable and the first three minutes definitely earns a 10/10 from me.

A Really Creepy Short Horror Movie

[timothygartin · 8/10 · 26 October 2019]

I really liked this short horror movie. It lacks dialogue, but isn't hurt a great deal due to some great imagery. The villain is very spooky and convincing. The practical make up effects are superb. The little girl does a great job as well pulling off her character.

I also like the end and implications for the characters. I highly recommend this one for short horror movie fans.

It's Not Scary or Creepy, Just Dull

[panagiotis1993 · 3/10 · 3 December 2022]

Wow this short film has 11 million views on YouTube! That's definitely an achievement for such a mediocre short film. Many people theorize that the smiling man represents the father of the little girl and that's why she doesn't look scared when she saw him. Well that's a decent theory but i don't really see how that's the case here. All you have is a little girl alone at her house and a creepy man or creature whatever who stalks her and at some point he meets the girl face to face. For some reason he also killed a woman who must be her mother, i guess. I don't know, this short film lacks any build up, tension, suspense or horror. The performance of the little girl is decent and the performance of the smiling man is decent too but still the result is very mediocre. The monster's design is also tasteless to me. The plot, well... there isn't one. The use of music could have been better. Nothing special here, my rating is 3/10.

Great fresh take on clown horror

[FooserX · 8/10 · 17 October 2016]

This is the year of the clown when it comes to horror, it seems. With so many movies and shorts dealing with killer clowns, this one stands out to me. When we first see the smiling man, he doesn't look too menacing. As the short goes on, we see him laughing and painting his face with blood to mimic the look of a clown as he develops a relationship with the young girl. Finally, we see where the blood is coming from...and we really get a full injection of insanity and evil. Because he doesn't have the standard look of the clown, it's even more unnerving. I absolutely adored this short, and the creativity behind something so simple.

I now sleep with a nightlight...

[ravenhair702 · 8/10 · 9 May 2020]

My daughter showed me this short. My eyes were glued to the screen, waiting for what was going to happen next. I thought it was an actual movie I had just walked into the room on. "Just a short on YouTube' she said. This just gave me every kind of creeps there is. Seriously, they could make this into a full length movie. I've sat through a 2 hour movie that didn't give me the Willie's like this did. Bravo. Peace

This is some serious scary story

[clarakabala · 10/10 · 11 September 2019]

I found myself watching this short movie and it was very scary, nicely done and entertaining. I love it. The Smiling man is terrifying. Nice job.

Genuinely creepy

[Rectangular_businessman · 8/10 · 15 July 2022]

At first I thought this short was influenced by the "It" remake from the year 2017, but it turns out this predates said movie by at least two years.

While the plot felt a bit incomplete, as if it was the beginning of a movie, The Smiling Man was a genuinely creepy watching experience, being far better than the large majority of horror shorts I have seen this year.

Hope the director continues the story in any way.

inspired work

[Kirpianuscus · 15 October 2018]

Version of IT. Crumbs from Snow White. Tension, dark revelation, exercise of seduction. All - in wise manner crafted. A film about innocence and evil. Admirable work for its own voice in the large circle of bad clowns.