Horror Short Film 'In The Weeds' | ALTER

A teenage girl suspects a local gardener's involvement in the unsolved disappearance of their childhood friend.

"In The Weeds" by Nick Milczarczyk

#ALTER #horror #shortfilm

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More About "In The Weeds":
When Michelle hears her gardener whistling the same melody she heard the night of her childhood friend's disappearance, she and her friends decide to investigate. Things are made complicated when the gardener clues into their efforts.

"In The Weeds" Credits:
Kenzie Spoltore as "Michelle"
Aidan Simpson as "James"
Mark Majersk as "Grant"
Marilyn Willock as "Diana"
Laura Korbel as "Young Michelle"
Klara Zurawski as "Sabrina"
Gaby Wojciechowski as "Gaby"
Karoline Varin as "Charlotte"

About ALTER:
ALTER is an ever-expanding platform for the most daring storytellers in the world of horror. We are a home, community and launching pad for our filmmakers. Slip into the dark, disturbing corners of cutting-edge horror.



About Gunpowder + Sky:
Creating content that resonates and impacts pop culture conversation, by empowering creators to take risks and experiment relentlessly in the pursuit of novel stories and formats.

Video Title

[TheProjecter]

Hey everyone!

My name’s Nick, I’m the writer, director, and producer of In the Weeds! I really hope that you loved the movie as much as I did making it! It’s a bit new to be exposed to an audience as large as this, so I thought I would answer a few common questions I get about the movie in a pinned comment in case anyone’s curious.

What happened to Grant at the end?
The only hint I’ll give here, think about where we’ve seen that knife before…

What’s in the box!!?!?
Well, this one I’m going to leave as a mystery. I will say that there is a hint as to what I’m trying to say hidden somewhere in the movie. If you’re eager enough maybe you’ll find it!

How did you come up with the story?
Well, this one spring day I went for a walk down this really pretty winding path, and I remember feeling this strange mysterious new feeling. I would just look at the people walking by, people in their backyards relaxing. It was this strange feeling as though I could never truly know all of these people, and while everyone looked so nice on the surface, anybody could be a killer or monster behind closed doors. I suppose this movie marks my first moment becoming aware of the duality of man if that makes any sense. From there, I sort of developed the idea, and everything else blossomed on its own.

What does the weed represent?
Personally, I always saw it as the ugly parts of ourselves that we’re not proud of that keep peeking out. In that sense, I kind of try to explore the difference between embracing the weeds (like Grant) vs. trying to hide them (like Diana and Michelle), and how both of these philosophies ultimately fail. My personal perspective on the debate is that no matter how hard we try, we’re not perfect. We all have our own weeds, and we’ll never run short of them while we’re here. There are also going to be awful people who are going to do terrible things out there that we may never find out about. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try and be better. To be human is to understand your weeds, be truly honest and vulnerable, seek forgiveness, and strive to be better.

How did you make this movie?
Believe it or not, I made In The Weeds when I was in high school when I was 17 years old on a budget of no more than $2500 CAD. I really like the idea of using what you have right in front of you. Most of the locations were just places I knew around the neighbourhood, all of the actors/crew were just family and friends of mine from different walks of life, and I kind of ended up juggling all sorts of different positions to make the movie work. I suppose none of this is necessarily interesting and new for indie filmmaking lol.

Do you have any other movies I can see?
Yes! Alter linked my YouTube channel in the description, and I suppose you can just click on my channel icon. I would recommend "Those Who Run" as a next viewing, but there’s a lot of fun stuff on there. Some stuff from when I was a kid too :)

Are you working on anything new that I can support you on?
Oh boy, do I! This summer, I shot my very first feature-length movie. Making was the most difficult, but also the most beautiful thing I have ever done in my life. I’m currently starting post-production which is exciting. I’ve managed to make the whole movie off a budget of $15, 000 CAD, which was all donations and my own savings. It’s crazy impossible that we were able to make it this far on that budget, but if you guys would like to support us through editing, it would mean the world to me. If you see any sort of value in my work, I made a GoFundMe fundraiser that’s still open linked in the description, and I would greatly appreciate any donations big or small.

I promise you guys that this feature is going to be something very special. Imagine five “In The Weeds” in a row but with a way richer and more meaningful story, higher production value, and more tear-jerking moments than you can count. And it's on the beach too. It is easily the best movie I have ever worked on, and I would love to have you all be a part of it. Please consider donating!

That’s about everything that comes to mind, but if you have any other questions or comments, I’ll try my best to answer all of you!

[richardd]

6:23 "I need you both to stay here, and make *sure* she doesn't move."
8:23 "You had ONE JOB!" 😂

[collinchaney]

Dude, this kid Grant needs to be a private investigator. He’s smart, to the point, and he has guts!

[RuKe]

Grant is the real hero of the story. Wasn't even his problem but dude broke in to the hags house no question. And was going to see it through till the end. Rip Grant!!!!

[scp-]

man this channel produces better movies than cinemas. Why is that? and I know these short clips take them a lot of time to make.

[IzMmay]

Okay the feet scene was terrifying. The whole thing was terrifying suspenseful and gripping. Loved it.

[Zeepjeliefs]

This should be a full movie, it's so intriguing and diffrent. Really liked it.

[drophammer]

When your Friend's are the Lookout, but when the Suspect leaves they wait until the Suspect is home to give you a heads up to leave their house. 😵

[lxeydoh]

ALTER, you keep picking gems!!
Nick, this was too suspenseful to be one and done Horror short film!
It's series worthy.
CANADIAN TALENT has to represent!
Loved this work of yours. Excellent cast.
Of course the resident sleuth was my favorite from your awesome cast!

[tiffanieathena]

I hope they make a part 2!!! Everything was phenomenal, 10s across the board! Writing. directing, the actors they story, everything!!

[aboyd]

Michelle's weed is knowing that she had lead Grant to the same fate as she had inadvertently done to Sabrina, and now had to keep both dark secrets to preserve her own life.

Very good acting. Good everything, really. Fantastic. 👏

[LookingGlass]

I love that we never find out what's in the box. I think that makes it much more unsettling and creepy.

Also that gardener lady is a fantastic actor. Perfect for this role.

[JR-kgee]

The whistle was very nostalgic. Growing up we had a clock which made that tone every hour. After watching this, very spooky.

[KymberlyStewartMusic]

This was very good. Suspenseful and chilling without gore. The fear of the unknown is true horror.

[nearlynursenerd]

Dogs tracked the scent all over the neighborhood because she was in the soil 😂

[sheilabattaggia]

It's amazing to see how a talented film maker, realize such a good thing with a few elements. You can feel the thrill! A very good job. My compliments😊 🎉

[RomeTokyooneway]

The gardener seems to be a witch or a person that reads the nature of people. Probably she put a spell on Michelle who killed the friend and then Grant. Michelle is a serial killer manipuleted by the gardener. The gardener recognized in Michelle a dark soul like herself . In the box there is Sabrina's soul and soon Grant's. Michelle kept in her box the leg of Sabrina's rabbit; serial killers take trophies. Grant felt she was evil. This is one of the theories I have to make sense of the video. I must say it is very intriguing and I would like to read others'interpretations. If the writer, director and producer will clarify fo us I would really appreciate! Nice work and thanl you for the short film.

[kristenmackenzie]

All I can assume was the other part of the stuffed rabbit thats in the box, because in the beginning we see a dead rabbit, the sister had a stuffed rabbit, and then inside the box on Michelle's desk was just the leg of the rabbit

[shawnapitzer]

Wow. That was great. So suspenseful and makes your mind go so many different ways trying to figure out what’s really happening. The acting was phenomenal, I can’t believe you put this together on that budget, at 17! Great work!

[SuperSunburn]

Awesome, i have seen so many shorts in this channel but this is one of my favorits, the clean and deceitful aesthetics, the tension, the well writen and stablished characters in such short time, just❤