Halfway Haunted
Inequality is a steep slope; the lower down you are, the harder it is to get a firm footing to start climbing. Jess capable and determined, preparing for an interview for her dream job after months of futile temping, she is a woman interrupted, her new landlord Stephanie planning to evict her before the block is knocked down to build luxury condos and the apartment haunted.
Trying to secure something better with no cash deposit and a spotty credit record while dealing with spectral intrusions, blood dripping from the ceiling, a body in the fridge, an invitation to the basement from her tormentor is not something she would normally entertain, but her options are limited and could the ghost really be any more unreasonable than Stephanie?
A satirical comedy horror short of need and greed as the urgent demands of the modern world collide with something sinister lurking in the shadows, Halfway Haunted is directed by Samuel Rudykoff from a script co-written with Bryn Pottie, placing Hannan Younis’ Jess at the intersection of both, cornered by both Stephanie (Sugar Lyn Beard) and the ghost who offers her a proposition she is hesitant to accept.
The unnamed spirit (Kristian Bruun) who has kept her unwelcome company for two years bored, a bit protective of his space and tied to Earth by mortal sin, his own options as limited as hers, the setup in some ways echoes the original Beetlejuice but Halfway Haunted is its own thing, funny, smart and above all pertinent, presenting a situation sadly familiar to many people, albeit in somewhat unusual and extreme circumstances.
Halfway Haunted premiered at the HollyShorts Film Festival
