Brutal Horror Short Film POV is a Killer Home Invasion Thriller Set on Halloween Night
If you’re a fan of horror short films and scrappy indie filmmakers who just get the genre, you’re going to want to check this out.
Director Brian Karl Rosenthal, the filmmaker behind shorts like Marvel Zombies Vs. Army of Darkness, Ash Vs. Lobo and The DC Dead, The Last Blockbuster, and Fever, has officially released his latest horror short, POV, online. If you’ve followed his work before, you already know he doesn’t mess around.
I caught POV at the FilmQuest Film Festival a couple of years ago and had an absolute blast with it. It’s the kind of short that grabs you and doesn’t let go. Now that it’s finally available to watch online, more horror fans can experience the madness for themselves.
The setup is simple and savage. The film centers on an ideologically opposed couple who attempt to survive a home invasion by a masked killer on the single most dangerous night of the year... Halloween.
POV plays like a love letter to classic slasher flicks, but it’s also having a great time tearing into the chaos of modern life. POV is built from the bones of classic slasher storytelling, its indulgence in tropes the evidence of love for the genre.
Rosenthal leans into the familiar beats horror fans crave, masked killer, escalating tension, brutal confrontations, and uses them as a playground rather than a crutch.
POV brings the bloodshed and the fun while weaving in ideas that resonate today. It taps into cultural friction in a way that feels organic to the characters and their situation. The conflict inside the house isn’t just physical, it’s ideological, and that tension fuels everything once the blood starts flowing.
If you’ve seen Rosenthal’s previous genre mashups, you know he loves horror, comics, and over-the-top action. But with POV, he sharpens that energy into something more focused. It’s tight, nasty, and self-aware.
Horror short films live or die on execution, and this one delivers. It’s got the Halloween setting, the masked menace, and the escalating nightmare you’d expect, but it also has personality.
POV is violent, smart, and made by a filmmaker who clearly loves the genre and knows how to play in its sandbox.
Now that it’s online, there’s no excuse not to give it a watch. Enjoy!