A psycho brute with a shovel takes a stroll on a nice day, killing every man he encounters along his walk; while a little girl looking for special attention walks on a thin line of reality.

Bloodshed Deathbath Productions – a production company that makes scary, stupid and silly horror films – presents a new short film that is bloody by nature and metal in spirit. With beautifully stylized panning shots and flickering, paranoia-inducing imagery, Shovel (2019), written, produced, and starring Doug Newville and directed by Ryan Policky, is one short trip you should take.

A little girl skips through a field holding a handful of flowers as a trippy, industrial sounding score begins. Her idyllic image is soon juxtaposed by the introduction of a large man somewhere else in town, covered in thick and dark blood, and who happens to be carrying a heavy, toothed shovel. We follow him as he spots an elderly man engrossed with fixing his car, when suddenly, the shovel-wielding man swiftly attacks without thought or provocation. Mute and regressive, he seems to be acting without motivation, as we see him attack and maim other unknown, innocent people he comes across during his afternoon stalk, spiked shovel in tow and leaving a body count in his wake.

We are finally re-introduced to the little girl again, who we now know had not been far behind him during his tirade. She peels the face off of the first victim, and then another, happy with her new treasures – yuck! In exchange, she hands the blood-covered man her bouquet of flowers and begins to play with her new faces. “Now I can be just like daddy”, as she ghoulishly tries on the sagging skins of their victims.

A blood-covered barbarian armed with a rusty shovel stalks and attacks seemingly innocent people around town on an otherwise perfectly sunny day; this could have been silly, and from the production company perhaps they meant some humor, however, this felt more like a featurette. Lord knows horror fans love crazy, backwards families that stalk innocent, unassuming people, right! This could very well be the concept piece for a feature film to come. I noticed a blown-out look to the coloration, I wonder if that overly bright and sunny aesthetic was done purposefully to contrast the dark subject matter? Or just to help set the viewer on edge along with all of the flickering imagery. The barbarian, who happens to be the movie’s writer, Doug Newville, does a delightfully devilish portrayal of a doting dad with terrifying tendencies. His little girl, played by Aeona Cruz with a sinister innocence, was an unexpected twist, as I was put in suspense at the beginning with images of her skipping and flower picking, assuming a set up of her being his most tragic and only female victim, but the narrative smartly plays out otherwise with the familial twist at the end.

Overall, I was impressed during Shovel‘s brief runtime, clocking in at around 6 minutes. In that time, you get suspense, terror, and a quirky killer in the form of a slow-witted and silent, yet on some level, loving dad. It makes for an interesting premise and makes Ryan Policky’s short film, Shovel, a good and worthy watch – find Shovel via online platforms now.