A father remembers his daughter who has passed away without realizing she never really left him.

She Will Return is a horror short, written, edited, and directed by Jeff Payne. This short is a follow up to the part-one film, The Pale Faced Lady, also written and directed by Payne who released the first installment to his saga earlier this year. Reminiscent of modern-day ghostly horrors such as Insidious (2010) or The Grudge (2004) in its pacing and aesthetic, She Will Return is a brilliant 2nd installment, further whetting the appetites of ghost film enthusiasts. 

The film opens with a voiceover of lamentation from a grieving father (John Altom), writing a letter to his daughter (Rachel Taylor) who has passed away. We find that he is self-medicating his sadness with alcohol, as images from his memories of her flash through his mind. When he thinks that he hears noises in his attic, he goes to inspect but determines it is is nothing. However, when he begins to look at old pictures of his daughter, her ghost comes in full view to him, returning to the home they shared.

Payne builds suspense in this short with foreshadowing, upsetting flashbacks, surprising imagery, and sound and music. The score accompanying this film, provided by Aimy Miller, is classic, as high-pitched strings set the audience on edge. Along with performances from John Altom as Father, who was just the right amount of emotion to be endearing, and Rachel Taylor as the frightening Pale Faced Lady when in full makeup done by artist Ren Allen, this installment in the series is a winner on its own.

The film is quiet, as far as dialogue, which helps to establish an eerie atmosphere; what we mostly hear are the sounds of the Father moving about the house — until the movie crescendos to its horrific jump scare. Director Jeff Payne does a lot with very little dialogue, besides the opening monologue from John Altom and some creepy whispers every now and then from ghosts. Instead, She Will Return relies on its visceral imagery to create a story, smartly utilizing show and not tell. Most of the explanation comes during the credits, where haunting Rachel Taylor as The Pale Faced Lady loses her life in the woods while more of the beautiful score chimes in to add to the haunting setting.

She Will Return is a beautifully nightmarish horror short, a continuation of his original story, The Pale Faced Lady. She Will Return looks very well produced for an indie short film, and the acting is great — a few more chapters to this story and Jeff Payne and crew would have a feature-length on their hands. Released October 13th, Chapter 2 to The Pale Faced Lady, titled She Will Return, can be found HERE for all who are brave enough to view its uber-creepy and scary ghostly imagery.