Klagger is a nice little horror short courtesy of Casey Crow. It’s simple, atmospheric, scary and to the point and that's one of the reasons why I like it. It’s effective in using a limited runtime, limited actors and possibly limited budget to tell a clean and concise horror yarn. I enjoy it more every time I watch it and am looking forward to the full length feature which is said to be being made in the near future.

Klagger is effective in keeping it simple. It definitely applies the KISS rule to the fullest extent. At the same time, the story is textured with great atmospheric chills and a couple of nice jump scares involving loud abrasive noises and quick cuts. I love that intro song by Pat Murphy, which is almost reminiscent of the original The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. My only worry of making it a full feature would be that the inevitable would happen, long running time stretching out a basic storyline too thin, but let’s not jump ahead here and be sceptical just yet. Hobo with a Shotgun turned into a far superior feature length film than its gritty little short did and with better actors brought on board. Turbo Kid is probably the best example of a short film turned into a rather amazing full length feature film and probably one of my favorites of 2015/2016. Another great example is the gorefest Headless, which was only a short concept within the movie Found and it was an incredible visceral experience. Let’s give Klagger a chance as I'm sure it has much more in store for us with a bigger budget and run time.

The only department I see Klagger lacking in is possibly originality. Old haunted factory, creaky sounds, guy who worked there died years ago, spirit comes back, haunts the factory and kills anyone who trespasses. Yes, this sounds cool but it sounds similar to a lot of haunted stories in the past, but fortunately it works using this simple formula and most importantly it isn't boring and keeps up that great pace.

With a limited cast it’s hard to get that story across but in this it’s done brilliantly with the old factory itself. The old newspaper clippings on the wall, the mysterious music coming out of the loudspeaker, the ominous voices chanting, the creepy sounds illuminating out of every inch of the place. The factory becomes the most important role in the movie and thus becomes the most interesting character. The old place is rich with dark rusty beams, clinking chains, musty air looming all around and busted out windows. It has old dilapidated water boilers waiting to start at a moment’s notice, ever so sinister and dead only to be brought back by the restlessness of a soul within a life that was taken there. Through all of this we learn of the man Joseph Klagger played by Matt Willis.

The story of Klagger has a building inspector of a salvage company played by Matthew Aycock coming to lay down the specs to have an old factory demolished. Aycock starts looking around to gather his information and can't help but feel he's been here before. He notices clippings on a bulletin board about a factory worker dying which shut down the establishment. As he walks through, we get the haunted house treatment with all the eerie sounds of the surroundings. Finally, Aycock stumbles right into a twisted dark figure with a crumbling face wielding a giant pipe wrench and not looking happy to see Aycock's character invading his territory.
 

Klagger is a great little short. I recommend checking it out and I look forward to Casey Crow's full length Klagger film and wish him nothing but the best. Klagger could turn into quite the horror icon, especially with his nifty little dance at the end. Become a friend of the villain Joseph Klagger on Facebook. 

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