The Ten Steps (2004) Poster

(2004)

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8/10
Now Available to View
jryn1 March 2006
Just became available on February 27. Check it out - the slow build up works very well as others have commented, and you'll feel your pulse pick up. Be warned though that the short is very dark and hard to see in places, even if you watch it in full screen mode. However, this does contribute heavily to the mood as you try to see what is going on in all the darkness. The ending really leaves you thinking, like a ghost story from childhood. Good spooky stuff!

The director is apparently working on a full length feature now. There's enough atmosphere and tight grasp of storytelling here to really look forward to what he'll do next.
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7/10
Mysterious ending
scharhon8 November 2021
I watched this court-métrage in class today and I expected it to be a boring gentle story like what teachers usually choose but I found it thrilling and creepy.

The end just made me wonder « Why is she doing that ? »\ « What made her do that ? »\ What happened ? » I recommend it if you have a little time in the afternoon or even better...at night .

Read more of my reviews to get updated on movies and TV Programmes .
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8/10
Too short---I wanted to see more!
planktonrules21 August 2008
This film is one of many that are included in a collection of short films entitled "Shorts: Volume Four". This and the rest of the films in this series are interesting shorts made mostly but up and coming film makers.

The film starts with a teenager and her younger brother at home alone. It seems their parents are out working on an important business deal over dinner with some clients. However, the kids interrupt the meal twice. The first time is pretty unimportant but the second time the power goes out and it means the teen needs to go into the dreaded dark cellar to fix the fuses--even though she has a phobia about this.

While this film is incredibly simple, they did a great job of creating a creepy and malevolent mood. It ended well for a short, but boy did I wish it had lasted longer--I really wanted to see what would happen next! Good stuff.
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Effectively creepy and chilling in a low-key way
bob the moo29 August 2005
Left alone in her new home to look after her little brother, Katie is generally creeped out by her new home but is coping alright until all the lights go out. She rings her parents who are at a meal that is important to her Dad's career and naturally they are not keen to leave for a problem that she could fix herself. Her Dad directs her down into the cellar and down the ten steps to the bottom, where she will find the fuse box.

The problem with finding something you love and telling people is that it then becomes build up in the minds of the other people before they see it and something that surprised you turns into something that doesn't live up to expectations for them. I did it with the short French Doors and I suspect that The Ten Steps has the risk of being the same because, although it is chilling and effective, it is almost certainly not brilliant and praising it too much risks building expectations that it can't meet. So I have a problem then, because I did think it was really good but hyping it further will only produce a sense of anti-climax when the expectant viewer reaches the low-key ending. The whole film is atmosphere because there are no real jump-scares and fortunately it does this well. The direction makes good use of the haunted house and sets up a tension that heightens the whole way down the stairs. The main complaint I would have in this regard was that the restaurant scenes were too bright and colourful and jarred with the dark stairs – a more subdued setting would have helped and I'm not saying that the restaurant needed to be as eerie.

Jill Harding's Katie really helps the atmosphere as well. Considering her face is all we can see for a lot of the film, it was important that she be convincingly frightened – and she is. The actors playing her parents are a lot less convincing; her "father" in particular didn't convince as he sent her into somewhere she was scared of just so he could impress his boss. However these are all minor problems because the atmosphere does work and it is quite chilling in a low-key sort of way. Don't expect too much and you'll probably be as pleasantly surprised as I was.
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9/10
It Left Me In A State Of Shock
Theo Robertson19 August 2005
If film making is an analogy for food then horror movies are the ready meals you stick into a microwave . This probably explains why horror isn't all that well regarded in the cinematic world because any idiot can make a horror movie , all you have to do is stick someone in a remote location and if it's a dark location all the better , have some creepy sounds in the background that will have both the protagonists and audience gasping " what was that ? " and if that's not enough have some scary music . See any idiot can supposedly make a horror movie so why do most directors and screenwriters in the genre come up with movies that clichéd , stupid and most of all not scary in the slightest ?

THE TEN STEPS by writer/director Bredan Muldowney contains every single cliché you have ever seen in every single horror movie . It's set in a remote country house where Katie a young teenager is babysitting on her younger brother Stephen because her parents are networking the father's new boss . There's scenes set in the dark with a mood enhancing soundtrack but within one minute of the running time I'd already jumped out of my skin and as Stephen McKeon's musical score increased the tension I felt my heart beat increase until the shock ending when my jaw hit the floor

I can not praise this short film enough . BBC 2 are having a series of short films on The learning Zone slot and this is the best one they've shown . In fact this is almost certainly the most memorable short film I have ever seen in my entire life . It's brilliantly effective and isn't it obscene that absolute garbage like THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and THE EXORCIST are hyped while no one has ever heard of THE TEN STEPS ? If I have any criticism it's that this is maybe too effective and I will have a problem sleeping , but apart from that I salute you Brendan Muldowney and I hope that your obvious talent leads to the rewards you deserve
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8/10
Descent into death
miljo8 February 2013
Warning: Spoilers
If you enjoy letting your mind figure out why she kept counting then don't read this

the lady at the dinner table mentioned the devil. This is the answer. The girl had a panic attack in the basement before, but descending into the darkness was the biggest mistake, because as she descended beyond the ten steps, she was stepping down the stairs into HELL. It took a while for the sheer horror to set in, as the look on the fathers face widened as she counted well past ten. My initial question was, What about Steven, the little bugger will probably go looking for her. And of all places in her parents right mind would send their sensitive daughter down into complete darkness? Bad parenting anyone? My filmmaking teacher went to the first showing and was able to tell us what was going on. Scary Stuff man. ha ha 8
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8/10
A simple idea can turn into something great with the right execution
Horst_In_Translation14 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"The Ten Steps" is an award-winning 10-minute short film from 2004, so this one will soon have its 15th anniversary. The writer and director is Brendan Muldowney from Ireland and it makes me happy to see he seemingly managed a successful transition to full feature films in recent years as this short film we got here is absolutely top-notch. The only negative thing I can think of is that maybe the existence of precisely ten steps is emphasized on too strongly with the title and the father mentioning it. But as it is so crucial to the overall story, it's still fine and honestly it just came to my attention because it is not as great as everything else in here. The build-up early on was good, the jump scare moment handled nicely with how harmless it actually was. The contrast between the scary location for the girl and the warm welcoming location for the parents at the restaurant is among the very best things the film has to offer. But the real highlight is when she really goes down these 10 steps, from the very start a situation that will have you at the edge of your seat for way into the closing credits. The twist with her descent into hell was just as genius as the camera perspective during her descent. I also really liked how she kept counting and counted more quickly actually and it was obvious through that that something had taken control over her body and there was no stopping it. And lastly, the credits. As I mentioned before, it was a really nice idea to keep her counting, which makes this film a very good watch from the first to the last second. An absolute must-see for horror/mystery film fans. I highly recommend checking it out and finally I want to say that it is such a pity that lead actress Jill Harding is not having a better career right now and that Irish soap operas really shouldn't be the end of the road for her as she was tremendous in this one and it's even more impressive because this was her first career effort I think. Of course the rest of the cast were good too. You really wanna watch this one right now, definitely criminally underseen and under-appreciated and certainly a contender for best short film of 2004.
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5/10
Short film that builds the tension well
jfgibson7320 March 2010
Warning: Spoilers
The Ten Steps is a short film that drew me in quickly and built up the tension very well. It is about a teenage girl who is home watching her little brother while her parents are out to dinner with the father's new boss. The girl, Kaite, calls and interrupts the dinner because the little brother is misbehaving--a minor annoyance. Then, the power goes out and she has to call back. Her father gives her instructions to check the fuse box in the cellar. This is when we find out that Katie is afraid to go in there, as some unknown event cause a panic attack earlier. The wife of the boss mentions that the house has a strange reputation, so as viewers, we begin to anticipate something bad about to happen. Katie agrees to go into the cellar so that her parents won't have to leave the dinner. The mother suggests that they get home, but the father begins to talk with Katie as she descends the steps...

SPOILER: Katie counts as she takes each step. We hear noises and see the fear on her face. The tension builds as the father encourages her to continue. She gets to the tenth step, which is supposed to be the bottom--but she keeps counting. The film fades to the credits as we hear Katie count all the way to 52, her voice echoing as if in some underground cavern.
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8/10
Well worth 10 minutes of your time
Stevieboy66617 January 2023
Irish short horror movie. A family move into an old house, the parents are out for a meal with the father's boss, the teenage daughter stays at home along with her annoying younger brother. There is an electrical power cut, candle in hand she makes her way down the cellar. And that's it, I'm not saying anything else! I knew nothing about this film, all I will say is that the ending is fantastically creepy and proof that when it comes to genuine horror less often means more. The small cast do a good job, the Nokia mobile 'phones used by some characters do date the film but that's not an issue. I recommend watching this just before bedtime with the lights off, happy nightmares! (It has taken me the same time to write this review as it did to watch the film, I will certainly be watching it again,)
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