I Blame Monty Hall is directed by Ben Mehlman and follows Charlie (Ben Gavin) and Kate (Reid Cox) as they decide to house sit for Charlie’s aunt Rose (Jean St. James) while she’s away. Rose appears to be an angry, spiteful woman with an immediate distaste for Kate, but everything about the house looks normal, except for that door that they aren’t supposed to ask about or go near. Naturally, this is the first thing Kate decides she needs to do. She proceeds to slide a hockey stick under the door which gets violently yanked from her hands by some unseen force. Slightly perturbed, but otherwise not all that concerned about this turn of events, she heads to bed with Charlie who assuages her concerns by telling her a story about a cat that fell and died.

Nothing makes too much sense here. The premise is cliched, the acting is rather stilted, and how things end up developing just doesn’t add up. The visuals are adequate but largely unambitious and the whole thing just feels unnecessary. The concept of the spooky mysterious room is a classic, but I Blame Monty Hall does little to separate it from of being a simple trope. Horror movie logic sometimes asks a great deal with regards to suspension of disbelief, but this short simply asks for too much and isn’t interesting or novel enough to justify it.

Fortunately, you can watch the film for yourself online, for free, as the filmmaker has posted it online. The full film is below.