Chattanooga Film Festival 2023– Maya (Skarlett Redd) refuses to figure out her life. While all her friends are off to college, she’s content working the night shift at a tiny gas station in Texas, even as her manager, Walt (Jeff Murdoch), insists she make something of herself. However, her life is upended when mind-controlling parasites take over the town and invade the gas station. Dead Enders is all kinds of B-movie fun with practical effects that resemble 80s horror and a small-town setting that mirrors sci-fi’s 1950s heyday.

Redd does quite a good job playing a disaffected low-wage worker, while Murdoch does well in his role as a mentor-type character who doesn’t want his young employee to get stuck in the same dead-end job as him. Walt wasted years of his life at the gas station, and he doesn’t want the same for Maya. Redd and Murdoch have great on-screen chemistry, which only makes the short more enjoyable. Their banter makes this feel like a breezy 12 minutes. Co-directors Fidel Ruiz-Healy and Tyler Walker, who co-wrote the script with Conor Murphy, also capture that small town feel, which reminded me of early sci-fi movies like The Blob or Invasion of the Body Snatchers. They somehow manage to strike the right notes between horror and comedy, too, which is never an easy task.

When the bugs show up, they look pretty cool and at times, resemble the face huggers from the Alien franchise because of the way they latch onto their victims. This is the impetus for Maya to finally take some action and be more decisive. Really, this short is all about her character arc. The buggies are just an interesting and icky part of the mix.

Dead Enders never takes itself too seriously. After all, it’s a short about bugs that infest a rural town. That said, Maya is a relatable character trying to figure out her life. The bugs light the fire she finally needs. I suspect 80s horror fans and sci-fi aficionados will dig this one.

7 Out of 10