I recently had the privilege of screening Just One Night, a horror short by Mike West, also known as H.M. member House of Pain. There’s nothing I love more than a small bite of horror, satisfying my need for gore in a short amount of time.

The movie opens with a gorgeous woman, Isabella (Juliet Ladines) showering and primping for a night out. The theme for the movie is "Infidelity Kills," so you wonder if she’s a wife with a wandering eye or an unsuspecting single, about to be picked up by a sneaky married man. Turns out, she’s neither. She’s bait, set by a pretty housewife (Sarah Butcher) who wants to catch her husband Chris (Steve McMahon) cheating. It seems like the events are going to play out in a predictable path, but they don’t. Things go terribly wrong, as they always do, and people start to die.

The plot has more twists and turns than you would think a writer could fit into a 20 minute movie, and this is a good thing. With an indie, you expect a lot from the story and script, because you have to make allowances for the financial burdens of filming. I was, though, also pleasantly surprised by the production quality. It really didn’t feel low budget. In the filming arena, anyway. Unfortunately, the actors, save Steve McMahon, horribly betrayed a lack of big show experience. Chris’s best friend, Kevin (Steven Luckie) was almost painful with his delivery of some… okay… most of his lines. It was a good thing Steve could carry the film. He was a very natural actor and managed to play off, or rather, despite those who he shared the screen with.

There were a few moments when I did laugh at the unlikeliness of events, but that can be chalked up to Mike West’s relative inexperience at the time with film-making. It might also be attributed to the stun-worthy beauty of Ladines, who would make anyone stutter if she were seducing him. And she does seduce the camera. Horror fans love their foxy ladies, so right there, Just One Night gets major points.

Does someone deserve to die for infidelity? There’s a question for the philosophers, but this film seems to take a stand and say “Yes!” It makes you think while entertaining you. As far as indies go, I would rate this film at a seven, but in the general scope of horror movies, I’ll give it a six. All things considered, this is a great foray into the business, and I am anxiously awaiting Body Trade, his current project, a web based horror series.