Horror Short Review: Dystopia St. (2011)

Dystopia St. is a horror short written and directed by Dave Cave. It stars Danny Shayler, Shaun Lavery and Freya Parker.

An apt title, Dystopia St. is a Lynchian slice of weirdness that leaves you confused but elated. The former because its story is so unusual, the latter because it is so well-made that it hooks you and drags you into its bizarre world.

Originally released in 2011 but now available to watch via Dark Matters YouTube channel, the story can be simply summarised as so. A man is trapped in some kind of nightmarish world presented as a squalid apartment block. How he got there, why he is there and who put him there is not important anymore. The only thing that is important is how he can escape.

A visual treat, Dystopia St. creates immense atmosphere that leaves you feeling uncomfortable. Very little makes sense but that is exactly what you would expect in a waking nightmare. We are all the man… lost, perplexed and scared but also determined to find a way out. How far will he/you go into this nightmare to find such a way out? Those questions will be answered even if so many more are left for the imagination to conjure up.

Comparisons to the wild and wacky story-telling that David Lynch has created over his extensive career are obvious. However, the short also gives off Silent Hill 4: The Room vibes. That’s not something you often get to say so makes this required viewing. Check it out yourself below.