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Heirlooms | Horror Short Film | ALTER

ALTER

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🔥 This horror is scripted. Your goosebumps are not.

A young family goes to see their dying patriarch, only for old familial nightmares to resurface.

"Heirlooms" by Peter Huang

#ALTER #horror #shortfilm

Connect with the Filmmakers:
https://www.pengpeterhuang.com/

More About "Heirlooms":
Adam visits his dying father with his wife Jen and young daughter Kylie. His much older sister Ida greets them and reveals that their other sister, Melinda, won’t be returning, even though their father is dying.

The house is lavish, but filled with strange, somewhat frightening heirlooms, as if hinting at a colonial past.

After Kylie seemingly has a nightmare about her grandfather, old familial tensions around what’s real and what’s imagined begin to resurface. It’s revealed that their childhood was filled with strange nightmares that the adults never believed. In the end, Adam comes face to face with the truth about his family… only to swallow it, choosing to carry the darkness forward rather than expose it.

Director's Statement:
HEIRLOOMS is a patchwork of memories shared with me by people close to me, including my own. I’ve always been fascinated by how families brush aside their darkest truths—the harm they choose not to bring to light: disease, addiction, abuse.

This instinct to bury things was core to my Chinese upbringing. Even my parents’ divorce was hidden until after it happened, leaving me to piece together the truth from overheard conversations.

With this short, I wanted to capture the mood, through a genre lens, of a house full of secrets… and what happens when you are finally forced to confront them.

"Heirlooms" Credits:
Director/Writer/Producer: Peter Huang
Producer: Nicole Powell
Exec Producer: Evan Landry, Nick Burry
Associate Producer: Matthew Marquis

Director of Photography: Bryn McCashin
Production Designer: Ciara Vernon
Costume Designer: Zena Fares
Makeup & Hair Lead: Summer O'Grady
Casting: Sara Kay & Jenny Lewis

Line Producer: Emily Ryder
1st AD: Tyler Weyersberg
Intimacy Coordinator: Alix Sideris, Rebecca Lashmar
Actor Care Specialist: Alan Powell
1st AC: Mike Pesut
Gaffer: Gabe Dinardo
Key Grip: Zak Rist
Script Supervisor: Hilda Babazadeh

Editor: Paul Skinner
Sound Design/Mix: Urban Post
Composer: Ben Fox
Color Grade: Wade Odlum @wadeodlum
Creature Visual Effects: Caitlin Rupert
VFX: Pilon Lectez, Golden LA
VFX Supervisor: David Axford

Produced with the participation of the Directors Guild of Canada, Ontario District Council.

Cast:
Addison Bel
Kelly Penner
Vanessa Smythe
Philippa Domville
Michael Smith

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.

Beyond our longstanding presence on YouTube, ALTER also operates a free streaming tv channel available on DIRECTV, Sling, CW, LG, Plex, Samsung TV+, Tubi, & TLC+.

Learn how to watch ALTER on TV: https://linktr.ee/watchalter

Submit your short films here: https://filmfreeway.com/alterdustsubm...

NOTE: Only completed horror shorts will be considered. Unsolicited scripts or pitches will be immediately deleted without review.

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20 Comments

@pengpeterhuang 4 months ago Pinned

Thanks for watching everyone! My name is Peter Huang and I am the writer/director of Heirlooms. I'm really happy to see so many people commenting that they'd love to see more.

Even though I left this up to interpretation, I'd love to hear what you think the centipede/backstory is all about!

@xskullkittenx 4 months ago

oh my god the way it was so silent when the grandpa walked into the daughters room was so spooky dude PEAK

@BEATSARTSBYSPOIL 4 months ago

I feel like there is a lot of hidden truth within the family that are being exposed through the symbolism of the centipede, which can represents old habits and personal transformation. The statement “You use to have those dreams.” Is the woman reminder of his childhood wounds that may have been suppressed and now is resurfacing.

Thanks for sharing✨

@thalia_1701 4 months ago

excellent film, very well done and truly captures the power of unspoken generational trauma, and how it can impact so many others within its radius

@KeithsTVHD1 4 months ago

i,m getting ready to retire from my 9 to 5, now i can watch these all day if i want to.

@Get-BBaked 4 months ago

Oh.My.Gosh!!!!! This short NEEDS to be turned into a FEATURE film ASAP!! So FREAKING AWESOME!!!!! Wow! So many, many, directions that this could go….Fabulous, simply FAB!

@ImahSillyGirl 4 months ago

11:03 she's so good; Even her silent remembrance 8:00 delivered the weight of a bowling ball of angst, fear and dread to the stomach.
The music was well paired throughout, it's another short that leaves me wanting more. Perfect.

@jamiemiller8678 4 months ago

5 minutes in and I hope a monster eats the dad

@sya2.0 4 months ago

And to think that they really existed... it gives you the shivers, and the transformation, like something evil found and transmitted, inherited, which condemns an entire lineage.

@FlyingthruHellfire 4 months ago

This NEEDS to be a full length movie!

@grilledleeks6514 4 months ago

The dad is an asshole lol

@tikic4641 4 months ago

Generational trauma and abuse. Seemingly verbal abuse and dismissal of a child’s feelings. Could also be a narcissistic parent passing down to their children. The dad was terrible to his daughter and I think he got it from his dad. The mother had the dream—a premonition of what would happen to her daughter. Hopefully she leaves that man.

@So_Toasty 2 months ago (edited)

It really captured the feeling of being a young child and having the sort of awkward, confusing, sometimes frightening experience of a visit to a sick or dying older relative and other people you don't really know or remember, but they appear to know you. It's such an uncomfortable place to be in when you're a child, and there's something palpable in the environment, between other relatives, that you don't quite have the frame of reference to really grasp, and you certainly don't have the wherewithal to provide an appropriate response, or ask the right questions, but you just know it's there and it doesn't feel right. This brought back some distinct memories for me. Excellent atmosphere in this, well done!

@Nitephall 4 months ago

The woman who played Ida is an excellent actor.

@adriandavis9075 4 months ago

Come on ALTER!!! MAKE MY RAINY DAY!!!!

@louisehenri80 4 months ago

No no no!!! I want more!!!! I forgot it was a short and now I am mad. Great film! 👏👏

@maheenahmed6653 3 months ago

I haven’t finished it yet, but with how timid and afraid Ida was, and how she led the daughter away when the grandpa looked at her, it made me wonder if the grandpa was abusive towards Ida when he was healthier or even the granddaughter when she was younger. Especially given the bed wetting

@lesmith939 3 months ago

Very well done!!! The video had the perfect tone, the actors played their parts perfectly, and the story ended giving us all the feeling of unfinished business.....Family secrets are sometimes best left unsaid.........thank you!!!