(Online Screener)
Written by John Cosper, Neil Kellen, Cindy Maples
Directed by Cindy Maples
Stars: Rusty James and Mina Fedora
Huge thanks to the extremely talented and always lovely Cindy Maples for reaching out to me to review her horror short Out of my Mind. Its really exciting for me to see Cindy branching out into directing after following her acting career for some time. Showing a keen eye for interesting colours and offbeat camera angles, Out of my Mind looks professional, quirky and more importantly an all too promising sign of things to come for Ms Maples.
The story is eerie, interesting and expertly carried by Maples real life husband Rusty James who has done some excellent work in the indie field also. In its short running time we follow James as an author named Carter who spots an attractive young woman (Mina Fedora) in a blue dress at a writers celebration. Carters disappointment is all too evident when the woman's date suddenly appears signalling that his chances are definitely out of the window.
From here on out we witness Carters creative juices mixing with the hard liquor as he starts to write back at home, picturing his eerie story as he does so and yes it involves the beautiful lady in blue. Things begin to get very strange for Carter after he calls it a night and the film effectively toys with our expectations as to what is really unfolding. The film ends with the morning after the night before being more horrific than Carter could ever have imagined as shocking news comes a knocking.
In addition to Rusty I must also add that Mina Fedora does a superb job in her very mysterious role. The character veers from unassuming to seductive to horribly crazed and vengeful and Mina really pulls it off in impressive fashion.
In short Out of my Mind is an intriguing, well made, well acted journey into psychological terror. I cannot wait to see what Cindy does next, I truly hope that a feature film is in the works. Check out the films creepy trailer right HERE and make sure to see it when you get the chance!
