Very well executed

Nice effects though.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

"The Ten Steps" is an award-winning 10-minute short film from 2004, so this one will soon have its 15th anniversary. The writer and director is Brendan Muldowney from Ireland and it makes me happy to see he seemingly managed a successful transition to full feature films in recent years as this short film we got here is absolutely top-notch. The only negative thing I can think of is that maybe the existence of precisely ten steps is emphasized on too strongly with the title and the father mentioning it. But as it is so crucial to the overall story, it's still fine and honestly it just came to my attention because it is not as great as everything else in here. The build-up early on was good, the jump scare moment handled nicely with how harmless it actually was. The contrast between the scary location for the girl and the warm welcoming location for the parents at the restaurant is among the very best things the film has to offer. But the real highlight is when she really goes down these 10 steps, from the very start a situation that will have you at the edge of your seat for way into the closing credits. The twist with her descent into hell was just as genius as the camera perspective during her descent. I also really liked how she kept counting and counted more quickly actually and it was obvious through that that something had taken control over her body and there was no stopping it. And lastly, the credits. As I mentioned before, it was a really nice idea to keep her counting, which makes this film a very good watch from the first to the last second. An absolute must-see for horror/mystery film fans. I highly recommend checking it out and finally I want to say that it is such a pity that lead actress Jill Harding is not having a better career right now and that Irish soap operas really shouldn't be the end of the road for her as she was tremendous in this one and it's even more impressive because this was her first career effort I think. Of course the rest of the cast were good too. You really wanna watch this one right now, definitely criminally underseen and under-appreciated and certainly a contender for best short film of 2004.

If you enjoy letting your mind figure out why she kept counting then don't read thisthe lady at the dinner table mentioned the devil. This is the answer. The girl had a panic attack in the basement before, but descending into the darkness was the biggest mistake, because as she descended beyond the ten steps, she was stepping down the stairs into HELL. It took a while for the sheer horror to set in, as the look on the fathers face widened as she counted well past ten. My initial question was, What about Steven, the little bugger will probably go looking for her. And of all places in her parents right mind would send their sensitive daughter down into complete darkness? Bad parenting anyone? My filmmaking teacher went to the first showing and was able to tell us what was going on. Scary Stuff man. ha ha 8

The Ten Steps is a short film that drew me in quickly and built up the tension very well. It is about a teenage girl who is home watching her little brother while her parents are out to dinner with the father's new boss. The girl, Kaite, calls and interrupts the dinner because the little brother is misbehaving--a minor annoyance. Then, the power goes out and she has to call back. Her father gives her instructions to check the fuse box in the cellar. This is when we find out that Katie is afraid to go in there, as some unknown event cause a panic attack earlier. The wife of the boss mentions that the house has a strange reputation, so as viewers, we begin to anticipate something bad about to happen. Katie agrees to go into the cellar so that her parents won't have to leave the dinner. The mother suggests that they get home, but the father begins to talk with Katie as she descends the steps...SPOILER: Katie counts as she takes each step. We hear noises and see the fear on her face. The tension builds as the father encourages her to continue. She gets to the tenth step, which is supposed to be the bottom--but she keeps counting. The film fades to the credits as we hear Katie count all the way to 52, her voice echoing as if in some underground cavern.

If film making is an analogy for food then horror movies are the ready meals you stick into a microwave . This probably explains why horror isn't all that well regarded in the cinematic world because any idiot can make a horror movie , all you have to do is stick someone in a remote location and if it's a dark location all the better , have some creepy sounds in the background that will have both the protagonists and audience gasping " what was that ? " and if that's not enough have some scary music . See any idiot can supposedly make a horror movie so why do most directors and screenwriters in the genre come up with movies that clichéd , stupid and most of all not scary in the slightest ? THE TEN STEPS by writer/director Bredan Muldowney contains every single cliché you have ever seen in every single horror movie . It's set in a remote country house where Katie a young teenager is babysitting on her younger brother Stephen because her parents are networking the father's new boss . There's scenes set in the dark with a mood enhancing soundtrack but within one minute of the running time I'd already jumped out of my skin and as Stephen McKeon's musical score increased the tension I felt my heart beat increase until the shock ending when my jaw hit the floor I can not praise this short film enough . BBC 2 are having a series of short films on The learning Zone slot and this is the best one they've shown . In fact this is almost certainly the most memorable short film I have ever seen in my entire life . It's brilliantly effective and isn't it obscene that absolute garbage like THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and THE EXORCIST are hyped while no one has ever heard of THE TEN STEPS ? If I have any criticism it's that this is maybe too effective and I will have a problem sleeping , but apart from that I salute you Brendan Muldowney and I hope that your obvious talent leads to the rewards you deserve