A broken tap and an inquisitive old man form the basis of Denis van Boekholt’s El Grifo, an extremely simple horror that shows that one of the most dangerous places to be in the world is the home. Beginning when an elderly father arrives to house-sit his daughter’s home while she goes on holiday, the film takes a sinister turn when he tries to locate a block in the tap – and gets stuck.
No doubt taking inspiration from the advice all older relatives give about not putting various body parts in tiny spaces, El Grifo reveals the real danger of not heeding this warning. Isolation, disorienatation and fear soon drive the character to a number of desperate acts, with the final act being the most extreme. While this is a horror that preys upon the universal fear of being trapped in somewhere and being unable to get help, this film is all the more frightening because of what it doesn’t show – leaving the worst images up to the audience’s imagination. Simple and scary, El Grifo is a real gem amongst the short films this year.