David C. Nelson’s horror short, Apnea, takes us into the supernatural underworld of sleep and the tortured souls who stop breathing in the middle of the night. What is causing them to do it?
Alina (Suzana Norberg) is running on fumes. She is exhausted because she can’t get a full night’s sleep; she wakes up in the middle of the night not breathing. Could it be a classic case of sleep apnea? Tonight, she decides to set up her old VHS camcorder to record what happens at night. This is that film.
The first night she sets up the camera, she takes one or two…maybe three sleeping pills. As the night progresses, a mysterious presence approaches Alina, but before it can do anything, she wakes up, not breathing.
Alina records a video diary on her VHS camcorder before bed in Apnea.
“Tonight, she decides to set up her old VHS camcorder to record what happens at night.”
The next night, we found out Alina was fired for sleeping at work. The stress alone means she needs an extra sleeping pill. That night, a black hand starts creeping toward Alina as she sleeps.
A brand-new San Diego crew, the film collective All Trades, puts together their first production: David C. Nelson’s Apnea. Made on a shoestring budget, Apnea is a quick, dirty tale about what happens to someone at night with sleep apnea. It’s simple…a bit too simple, but I like how Nelson and crew intertwine the real frustrations of sleep apnea and the supernatural.
Nelson and his collective deliver strong monster effects on a shoestring budget and use quick edits to amplify the terror. Solid take that may just frighten those who suffer from sleep apnea into getting some help before the nightmare turns into reality.
"…the tortured souls who stop breathing in the middle of the night."
