Horror Short Review: The Lookout (2021)

Directed by Katherine Oostman and starring Lizzie McDowell, The Lookout is an effectively creepy and disturbing horror short with a familiar but satisfying payoff.

A fire lookout (those that sit in those huge towers in thick forests) settles down for the night. She is woken by noises before she gets a plea for help across her radio. Venturing out into the forest to find the person, she ends up coming across something far worse than a fire.

The build for this short is fantastic. The sense of isolation, the sounds of the creaking tower, the wind and dark… even before anything strange has happened, this short builds atmosphere. Forget wandering out into the thick and dark forest at night, even if someone is calling for help on the radio. The whole vibe is menacing and unnerving, are those noises the sound of the forest or is something walking around on the roof?

Once in the forest, it doesn’t get any less unsettling. Especially as the deeper she goes, the stranger the environment becomes.

It’s a jump scare final shot, par for the course with horror shorts, but here it feels earned. A brief flash of just what the threat is and then you’re left to reflect on the horror you just witnessed. It’s well worth checking out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iRU6Q7Agks