"Slash-in-the-Box" is a 5-minute short film from five years ago that was written and directed by Nick Everhart. It shows us the life of a couple and what happens when the man brings home a jack-in-the-box for whatever reason. Apparently, the little cube is cursed or something, or possessed with an evil spirit as it certainly has a life on its own and keeps wreaking havoc. It is a mix of comedy and horror, but I personally felt it does not turn out convincingly in either of these two areas. Plus the female actress was pretty bad and I wonder if she had any purpose really other than showing us her great looks and curves in her night outfit. The guy is slightly better, but also far from good enough to carry this little movie. I hope Everhart managed to improve in the five years since this was made, otherwise I cannot foresee a great character for him in the industry. As for this one here, I do not recommend the watch.

As far as clichés go, Slash-in-the-Box has them all: possessed toys, ball bouncing down stairs, hot female lead, wise-ass male lead, clowns, overly- curious characters, and wondering a dark house at night (though they actually turned a light on which is unheard of). There were a couple clever scenes but aside from that there's not much to be gained from watching this. A couple jumpscares might get you here and there but personally I loath jumpscares and think they're very short- lasting and uncreative ways to scare your audience. The gore wasn't too overdone, as I would've expected it to be in such a cliché of a short. Overall it wasn't bad though, the cinematography, acting and special effects were actually really good, the story and idea itself were just very dull and the methods to convey said story and idea were way too cliché for my liking.

Given Nick's The Asylum background, I was expecting over the top cheesy-ness. What we get is, well, funny... but not really that cheesy. Improbable... but definitely creepy. I think its OK to jump, laugh, and get a little grossed out is what I mean (btw, the best effects detail was the spray of blood when the box opened). If a low budget truly is an exercise in how to produce a quality film then Nick should win awards for making it look easy. Slash-in-the-box is everything you expect only better. Of course it can't be perfect or else it wouldn't be low budget. Which means it's familiar subject matter presented exactly how you want to see it with a bonus and in this case that's a good thing.

This is definitely one of the higher quality film-shorts that I have seen in a long time. Very well done with a professional polish and it actually got me a couple of times. Great editing, HD quality, and creepy camera angles help make Slash-In-The-Box stand out from other random run-of-the mill shorts.I especially enjoyed the "mirror" sequence, that one definitely gave me a start. While I felt the "mess" left behind from the first victim (trying to avoid any real spoilers here) was a bit over the top, it certainly didn't take anything away.If you're looking for something a little different that dishes up some clever fun with an old toy, then be sure and take a few minutes out of your day to give this one a watch.