Who Dies Next? is an interesting horror film. A dead man lies outside a house surrounded by an evil entity. Inside the house, five characters are stuck and contemplate escape. The beauty of this short film isn’t in its minimal jump-scares but in its attempt at innovation. While it is commendable, the degree of success at executing it should be addressed.
Directed by first-time filmmaker Nduka Ebube Dike, Who Dies Next? tows the line of films like Scary Movie (2000) and What We Do in the Shadows (2014) with its insistence on on-the-nose horror. The characters repeatedly remind the viewer that they are in a horror film, and they understand the cliches of said genre. Coupled with the fourth wall breakage, Who Dies Next? completes the set as an experimental horror film.
As is typical with films like this, the flaw lies in execution. There is a thin, invisible line that successful experimental films don’t cross. Whether being too edgy or not enough, they somehow cross that line. And this film still crosses that said invisible line once or twice. The early fourth-wall-breaking dialogues in the film don’t hit as naturally as they should, especially because of the deliveries. And some characters behaved inconsistently. In a feature-length material, that might be insignificant. But in a 9-minute short, you notice that sort of thing.
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