Ivan Kander

In what feels like a mashup of a 90s teen high school film and your favorite Goosebumps novel, Givertaker from Paul Gandersman and Peter S. Hall is a short that feels tailor-made for nostalgia-obsessed audiences. As Stranger Things’ meteoric success proved this past summer, everything that’s old is new again. Culturally, it seems, we like our entertainment with a heaping side of the familiar.

Givertaker feels like it’s playing right into that craving—a sharp horror film that looks familiar, but has enough of a unique flavor to make it worthy of recommendation. It may sound odd to use the word “unique” to describe a film that is clearly using nostalgia as one of its primary selling points. But, while the short’s stylistic milieu might be rooted in the past, the execution feels surprisingly progressive (especially in the sexist realm of horror films). Here, after all, is a Bechdel-Test-passing flick that addresses topics as varied as female friendship to teenage bullying. Oh, yeah…there’s also a freakish looking demon thrown in there for good measure.

Every year around Halloween it feels like the internet is flooded with horror shorts. And, all of them sort of feel the same after awhile—generic slashers with little stakes or suspense. By keeping things character focused, Givertaker gives some much needed substance to its genre elements. This is a teenage revenge tale. There are no jump scares or “boo” moments—rather, things build slowly finally culminating in its creature climax.

So, without spoiling too much, let’s talk about that creature, shall we? The Givertaker himself, quite simply, has a great look—a combination of Leatherface and the Pale Man from Pan’s Labyrinth. He’s essentially the film’s marriage of styles displayed in microcosm: a combination of traditional horror elements and a supernatural sense of whimsy. In short: good stuff.

Givertaker premiered at this year’s Fantastic Fest and made a splash when it was released online a few weeks ago. The creative duo behind the film (director Paul Gandersman and writer Peter S. Hall) are hoping to use the film as an introduction to a new series of interwoven stories about a town filled with teenagers who dabble in the supernatural entitled The Dead Kids Club. If Givertaker is any indication, it’s like a “grown-up” Goosebumps. And, well, since most of us gorged ourselves on R.L. Stine’s writing in the 90s, it feels like the art form has come of age right along with us. More please!