Short Film Review: I Blame Monty Hall

I Blame Monty Hall is a short film written and directed by Ben Mehlman and starring Reid Cox, Ben Gavin, and Jean St. James. The ten-minute feature is a chilling exercise in suspense, in which a young couple arrives at a creepy old house to be greeted by the young man’s (Ben Gavin) Aunt Rose. He tells his girlfriend (Reid Cox) not to be put off by his aunt, who he describes as “cold” which is like saying Alaska gets a bit chilly sometimes.

Aunt Rose is going out of town (she won’t say where) and the young couple is house sitting. The girlfriend tries to be chatty and friendly to no avail. The last straw is a mysterious door that Rose locks and warns the young woman to stay away with from it. Naturally, she becomes obsessed with what is behind that door. After a quite literal lecture about curiosity killing the cat from her boyfriend, the young woman stubbornly pouts…until a late night game show pushes her over the edge.

It is a fun, concise piece of suspense that will keep you riveted and give you a nice case of the creeps. Reminiscent of early thriller anthologies like “The Twilight Zone,” “Night Gallery” and Alfred Hitchcock Presents” the film is sure to be a hit with fans of the above and anyone who likes a story with a nifty twist. Watch it a few times over back to back, and it will really mess with your mind!

Of the film, the director says, “I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of accepting one’s limitations and learning that some roads are better not traveled. It’s a suspenseful and mysterious tale about learning to let go of the things that are out of our control.”