It should have been a simple night in for Lauren, having just planned a date with her crush in the morning. Little does she know, behind her screen and every text is someone watching and waiting. This very message could be her last.

Director’s Statement

Throughout my long exploration of filmmaking and my favorite genre; horror, I have grown a endearing fondness for the slasher sub-genre with formative classics such as Alice Sweet Alice (1976), John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978), The Burning (1981), and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) serving as constant influencers and a source of education for effective horror and suspense. Though the slasher film has all but died out until very recently their style, and thrills have continued to inspire.

Shot over the course of a day by myself and my creative collaborator Lorian Gish, “One New Message” is a simple love letter to what I love about slasher films with a modern story device: Text messaging. Utilizing what I’ve learned from masters like John Carpenter in pacing, scares, resourcefulness, and even original scoring, “One New Message” is an affectionate homage, and we are proud of the resulting film.