I’m Alive in Here!
Main Cast: Garrett M. Brown, David Dastmalchian
Director: Timothy Attewell
Defeating death has been a staple of speculative fiction since … well, since at least Frankenstein, but probably even before that, so a really really long time. Scientists are constantly on the lookout for ways to live forever, and that’s the premise of the Alter short GATEWAY, written and directed by Timothy Attewell (production assistant on THE HANGOVER PART III and THIS IS 40, this is his first writing and directing credit).
In GATEWAY, Craig McCallum wakes up on the floor of his lab. There’s broken glass, blood on the walls, the machines are beat to scrap, and the doors are sealed. He bangs on them, yelling for anyone who might be able to hear him that he’s alive in there.
Through flashbacks, we see Craig and his fellow scientist, Allen, as they discuss their current project and the Faraday cage they’ve built to trap the soul and how it might be used to help Craig’s daughter Katie, who’s due for surgery that week. Allen insists there are religious factors to consider, while Craig scoffs, saying many religions don’t even have a Hell, rendering the argument moot.
They’ve experimented on various animals but haven’t begun human trials yet. However, Craig says, it’s time to take that step. Allen insists “they” won’t restrict the use of their particle to hospitals and, when Craig grabs a syringe, Allen tells Craig he can’t let him inject himself with it. If you’ve ever seen any horror stories ever in your life, you know that wasn’t Craig’s intention at all. As Allen soon finds out.
GATEWAY reminded me of Stephen King’s short story The Jaunt from his SKELETON CREW collection in one major detail, and anyone who’s familiar with that story can probably guess it, but I don’t want to spoil any more than I already have of this 13-minute and 17-second short.
The production design was awesome. GATEWAY is a single location story, but the set dressing from the current events to the flashback scenes worked really well, making the story feel bigger than it is. You don’t even realize until the end that all of these events took place in the same utility closet-sized room.
The acting … come on, you’ve got Garrett M. Brown as Craig, along with his 73 credits. He’s been in everything from THE DOOLEY BROTHERS in 1979 to 100 episodes of Sisters in the 1990s to Roswell, The Shield, and The O.C. to the KICK-ASS movies to, most recently, 10 episodes of Good Trouble. You might not recognize the name, but you know the face, and he’s a long-time professional actor.
And he’s paired here with another one you know, David Dastmalchian, as Allen, from The Flash, THE DARK KNIGHT, THE SUICIDE SQUAD and, most recently, the acclaimed horror movie, LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL. A decade before his turn as The Polka-Dot Man, he was co-starring here.
I enjoyed GATEWAY (even more the second time). The story structure itself is old hat short story structure (we open in media res, then learn the full scope of the story through flashbacks, the story ending where it began, usually with a stinger or a twist on the opening scene), but Attewell plays with expectations and adds an extra wrinkle in the transition to act 3, a sidestep that adds great dramatic tension. In the end, GATEWAY isn’t breaking any new ground, but it is a very well-made horror short that leans heavily on the talents of its stars and its crew. I can easily recommend this one if you’ve got 15 spare minutes and want to be entertained. You can watch it on YouTube.
C. Dennis Moore is the author of over 60 published short stories and novellas in the speculative fiction genre. Most recent appearances are in the Dark Highlands 2, What Fears Become, Dead Bait 3 and Dark Highways anthologies. His novels are Revelations, and the Angel Hill stories, The Man in the Window, The Third Floor, and The Flip.
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