The Ten Steps (2004)

Director:

Brendan Muldowney

Writer:

Brendan Muldowney (written by)

Genre:

Horror | Short

Tagline:

A young girl baby-sits in an old house . . .

Plot:

Set in Ireland, a family moves to a new city neighborhood, taking residence in a large, old house that is rumored to have a dodgy past...

Plot Keywords:

Number In Title

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jill Harding	...	Katie
William O'Sullivan	...	Steven
Paula Lee	...	Ciara
Gerard Lee	...	Brian
Frank Coughlan	...	John
Nuala Kelly	...	Lisa
Stephen Fitzgibbon	...	Waiter
Kerry O'Sullivan	...	Jenny
Ann Mac Farlane	...	Diner
Mick Fitzgerald	...	Diner (as Michael Fitzgerald)
Carole Ward	...	Diner
Noel Keegan	...	Diner
Eileen Cahill	...	Diner
Peter Loonam	...	Diner
Danielle O'Connell	...	Diner

Runtime:

10 min

Country:

Ireland

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Ireland:PG

Filming Locations:

Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland

Company:

SP Films

Effectively creepy and chilling in a low-key way

Left alone in her new home to look after her little brother, Katie is generally creeped out by her new home but is coping alright until all the lights go out. She rings her parents who are at a meal that is important to her Dad's career and naturally they are not keen to leave for a problem that she could fix herself. Her Dad directs her down into the cellar and down the ten steps to the bottom, where she will find the fuse box.

The problem with finding something you love and telling people is that it then becomes build up in the minds of the other people before they see it and something that surprised you turns into something that doesn't live up to expectations for them. I did it with the short French Doors and I suspect that The Ten Steps has the risk of being the same because, although it is chilling and effective, it is almost certainly not brilliant and praising it too much risks building expectations that it can't meet. So I have a problem then, because I did think it was really good but hyping it further will only produce a sense of anti-climax when the expectant viewer reaches the low-key ending. The whole film is atmosphere because there are no real jump-scares and fortunately it does this well. The direction makes good use of the haunted house and sets up a tension that heightens the whole way down the stairs. The main complaint I would have in this regard was that the restaurant scenes were too bright and colourful and jarred with the dark stairs – a more subdued setting would have helped and I'm not saying that the restaurant needed to be as eerie.

Jill Harding's Katie really helps the atmosphere as well. Considering her face is all we can see for a lot of the film, it was important that she be convincingly frightened – and she is. The actors playing her parents are a lot less convincing; her "father" in particular didn't convince as he sent her into somewhere she was scared of just so he could impress his boss. However these are all minor problems because the atmosphere does work and it is quite chilling in a low-key sort of way. Don't expect too much and you'll probably be as pleasantly surprised as I was.