Watch The Horror Short SPOOL Which Tells an Unsettling Story About Family, Grief, and a Bottomless Pit

Here’s a horro short film for you to watch titled Spool, which centers on two sisters struggling with their father's cognitive decline while investigating a mysterious hole in his house that seemingly has no bottom.

The film comes from Mike Manning who says, “Spool is a Christmas-y horror film about two sisters who discover a bottomless pit in the closet of their ailing father’s house.

“The short film is a proof-of-concept for a feature that expands on characters as they face the difficult decision of whether to keep their father on life support.

“It's a story about the self-destructive choices we make in the face of unimaginable grief, using classic genre elements to explore the ways we can completely unravel in our most difficult moments.

This short film 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 director of the film below.

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

I actually discovered the script on the now defunct website Coverfly. The script was written by NY writer Mike Gerbino and optioned it from him solely based on the quality of the short. It was only when I showed him a rough cut that he surprised me with a feature length screenplay and it now might end up being my feature directorial debut!

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

I'm a born-and-raised Los Angeles filmmaker that co-founded BME Films with my film school buddies in 2008. We've made many short films in the intervening years, most notably NANO and TOXIC, which were featured at numerous film festivals and on prominent entertainment sites.

In addition to directing shorts, I've co-produced numerous television shows and feature films including PAM & TOMMY, THE ERIC ANDRE SHOW, LOS FRIKIS, INSIDIOUS 5 and, most recently, the Emmy-winning series THE STUDIO.

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

I think, simply, being a fan of genre cinema is my biggest inspiration!

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

The cold open stars my dog Winston. He is a VERY good boy and I was oh so confident that he could do what I needed him to for the opening shot. We spent all day loading in and setting up for our night shoot and my wife brought him to set when it was getting close to our first shot.

I did some rehearsal with him, seemed like it would be a piece of cake! We roll camera and he freezes like a deer in headlights and I'm instantly drenched in sweat. Thankfully we did it a few more times and he got the hang of it. I think it was about 11 takes in total and maybe only 2 were usable... But we got it!

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

There are my longtime producing partners Wesley Barker and Dane Naimy, as well as my DP Kevin Zanit--we all went to film school together (CSUN class of 08)! There's the writer Mike Gerbino, a NY-based writer that I have yet to meet IRL. And there's our amazing cast, Jesse LaTourette and Jessica Erin Martin, who came highly recommended from some mutual friends.

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?

Hopefully I'll get to direct the SPOOL feature soon! Until then, I'm currently producing on a new series for Netflix and eagerly awaiting for season 2 of THE STUDIO to start back up next year!

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

Where can we find more of your work and where can interested parties contact you?

https://www.bme-films.com | IG: @bme_films, @bme_manning

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

Back to the Future

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

Pulp Fiction