Guilt Gets Under the Skin in This Creepy Horror Short Film GRIMA

Here’s another horror short film for you to check out titled Grima. In the film, after Jen's guilt gets the best of her, she begins to experience grima, or the sensation you get from nails on a chalkboard. She must confront what she did or be consumed by her guilt.

The film was written and directed by Richie Harrington. It is shared in collaboration with the FilmQuest Film Festival, where we are looking to expose some of the great indie genre films and shorts that filmmakers are creating.

I’ve included an interview with the filmmaker below along with the short!

What was the inspiration for your film? How did you come up with the idea?

I have OCD and one of my intrusive thoughts is that I hear nails on a chalkboard randomly. I did some research and found other people reported the same problem and that there is a word in Spanish that describes this specific sensation called grima. I thought that would be an interesting idea to explore with a horror film and tied it into the theme of guilt which is something that's been very prevalent in my life.

Tell us about yourself. What is your background? How long have you been a filmmaker? \

I grew up in Boston and graduated from the University of Miami where I was studying to become a doctor. I interned in orthopedic surgery and then realized I did not want to do that. I moved to Los Angeles to pursue filmmaking in 2016. I worked for filmmakers Michael Bay and David O. Russell, produced and directed commercials for clients like Disney and Meta, and produced videos for YouTube channels such as TalesVision and the Spy Ninjas.

What inspires you to work within genre cinema and tell these kind of stories?

I've always loved horror movies! Two of my favorite filmmakers are John Carpenter and David Cronenberg and two of my favorite movies are The Thing and The Fly, which have inspired me to make genre films. I think horror movies are special because they are so fun to watch with a group of people and really bring out the community aspect of filmmaking. I think exploring my deepest fears with horror films has helped me cope and grow with my fears.

What was your favorite part of the filmmaking process for this project?

Being able to bring the gang back together. I always try to work with my friends/people I've worked with before and it's been so cool to see how much everyone has grown and improved as filmmakers since the first projects we worked on together. We also had some really cool practical effects with our makeup team that I think came our really well!

What are you most proud of with this film?

I'm really proud of the execution of this short. I set out to scare people and get under their skin and so far everyone who has watched it has had the reaction I was hoping for! I also really wanted to leave people wanting more and hopefully drive up demand for a feature length version!

What is a favorite story or moment from the making of the film you'd like to share? 

We had a scene that takes place in a classroom and needed extras for the students. It was really cool and inspiring that so many of my friends and friends of the crew were willing to be extras for a few hours on a Sunday. I couldn't have done it without them!

What was your most challenging moment or experience you had while making your film?

You never have enough money or time so that's always a challenge. We had a special effects gag that involved prosthetic makeup and we only had a limited amount of takes before the prop was unusable. This forced us to be on top of it and use whatever we got. Luckily it worked!

If it did, how did your film change or differ from its original concept during pre-production, production, and/or post-production? How has this changed how you'll approach future projects as a result?

Conceptually the story pretty much stayed the same from writing through editing which makes my job easier! A big change was when I storyboarded a lot of my shots, we ended up having to flip the world due to the locations and light sources. So in a way the final version is like a mirror to what I originally envisioned. I always try to plan as much as I can in advance, but know to leave some room for improv and adapting things based on whatever happens on the day of shooting!

Who were some of your collaborators and actors on the film? How did you start working with each other?

The film stars Monroe Cline, Lynn Allinger, and Brissa Ramirez. I actually met all three while working as a producer for the YouTube channel TalesVision. I knew how good each of them were and was able to send them the script and see if they were interested in the roles. My DP Larry Tang also shot a lot of videos with us at TalesVision and I really wanted to work with him on a project I was directing and not just producing because he's so talented. I worked with a lot of my other collaborators on my previous short films and a bunch of commercials like my editor Yanni Zafeiriou, costume designer Maxine Etchison, makeup artist Crista Llewellyn, 1st AD Desiree Cardona, and composer Brendan F. Cochran.

What is the best advice you've ever received as a filmmaker and what would you like to say to new filmmakers?

Make a lot of stuff and fail early and often. I think quantity breeds quality and when you first start out most of your stuff stinks. But the more you make the better you get each time until eventually you have something good. You learn more and get better by making mistakes which is super important. Lastly, find actors and crew who are looking to make things and things similar to your style so that you can keep creating and growing together.

What are your plans for your career and what do you hope this film does for it? What kind of stories would you like to tell moving forward?

I'd love to write and direct features, direct music videos and commercials, and even write comic books. I hope this film helps me get a manager and/or finds a producer who wants to help turn it into a feature. Right now I'm developing the feature script based on the short film. Mostly I love writing horror films and crime dramas!

What is your next project and when can we expect to see it? 

Right now I'm writing the feature script based on this short film. I've had a few development meetings with some production companies and managers. Hopefully we'll make the feature in the next year or two! I have another short film called The Fixer which is a crime thriller that I'd love to shoot sometime next year as well!

Where can we find more of your work and where can interested parties contact you? Do you have a website or YouTube/Vimeo channel? Social media handles?

Website: https://richieharringtonfilms.com/ Instagram: @richieharringtonfilms Instagram: @grimashortfilm

Bonus Question #1: What is your all-time favorite film?

Good Will Hunting

Bonus Question #2: What is the film that most inspired you to become a filmmaker and/or had the most influence on your work?

Good Will Hunting