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“They’re coming tonight. We have to be ready,” a man declares, his voice low and urgent, to a curly-haired woman in a beret who seems oddly out of place indoors. She is probably channeling Bonny from the 1967 classic.
Who is coming, how does this man know they’re coming, why and what are they going to do? We know nothing. But that mystery is part of the charm of the grainy black-and-white short horror film ‘They’re Coming Tonight’ by John Bonner.
Actors Gabriel Burrafato and Gabriella Gonzalez Biziou star as a couple under siege from a mysterious group of strangers. As the minutes tick by, they brace themselves, whether for discovery or attack remains uncertain, leaving viewers unsure of what’s to come.
Running under ten minutes, ‘They’re Coming Tonight’ plays like a retro slice of 1960s noir. The actors embrace heightened theatrics in their exchanges, while the score steadily builds suspense over their looming fate.
Are they outlaws? swindlers? Maybe just tax cheats? You won’t know until the closing moments spill the secret. The darkly comic twist at the end pays off, making the slightly uneven build-up worth the wait.
Watch ‘They’re Coming Tonight’ on Alter’s YouTube channel.
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