Fri, Aug 8th, 10:00 PM @ TCL CHINESE 6 THEATRE || #1
By Valerie Milano
Hollywood, CA (The Hollywood Times) 8/8/25 – Set against the backdrop of skyrocketing rents, mass displacement, and soulless gentrification, HALFWAY HAUNTED reimagines the haunted house genre with a razor-sharp social conscience. Written and directed by Sam Rudykoff, the short film dares to ask: what if your supernatural roommate was the only thing standing between you and eviction?
The premise is both darkly funny and painfully timely — a desperate tenant, unable to afford anywhere else, chooses to live in a haunted house. But when a ruthless real estate developer threatens to demolish the building, she forges an unlikely alliance with the ghost that’s been tormenting her. The result is a clever inversion of horror tropes: here, the ghost isn’t the villain — the landlord is.
DOP
Rudykoff, known for his award-winning short Cruise (which screened at over 75 international festivals), once again demonstrates his knack for blending genre playfulness with urgent social commentary. His script taps into the very real despair of lifelong renters, transforming it into a supernatural fable of resistance. “There’s a feeling of total helplessness when you’re dealing with a bad landlord,” Rudykoff says. “I’d much rather put up with a bit of haunting if I had the choice, so I made a film where somebody does have the choice.”
The film’s polish owes much to producer Mark Delottinville of Big Pig Co., a seasoned collaborator of Rudykoff’s whose work on Cruise and The Door has earned him a reputation for championing bold, emotionally resonant indie projects. On the HollyShorts red carpet last night, Delottinville lit up when talking to THT about the film’s premise — a tenant forced to tolerate ghostly disturbances simply because rent anywhere else is out of reach, only to end up forming a reluctant alliance with her spectral housemate when a greedy developer swoops in.
For Delottinville, HollyShorts marked a milestone: this is HALFWAY HAUNTED’s world premiere. He spoke about the thrill of finally seeing the film with an audience, noting that while festival runs are always rewarding, nothing compares to the energy of a live screening on a big screen. With its Horror Block debut slated for 10 p.m., he was clearly eager to feel that communal jolt when the lights dim and the first eerie frame flickers to life.
From our conversation, it’s clear Delottinville relishes the collaborative spirit of independent filmmaking, the balance of creative risk-taking and practical precision that turns a clever concept into something polished and powerful. That care shows in HALFWAY HAUNTED, a short that mixes horror, humor, and political bite into an experience that’s as socially aware as it is entertaining.
In a time when the scariest thing in a home is often the rent, HALFWAY HAUNTED delivers both chills and catharsis and leaves you wondering if maybe, just maybe, you wouldn’t mind a ghostly roommate after all.
