Seed

In the world of witchcraft, simple tasks are never as easy or straightforward as you’d think… like gardening. Nikhail Asnani’s creepy tale, Seed, is the story of Ms. Persimmon (Niki J. Crawford) — a witch in need of help with her magical garden as she loses the last silver leaf on her prized plant. Help comes in the form of the virginal Emma (Nicole Shadi Tchounga), who is lured to Ms. Persimmon’s home, where she’s been asked to help pull weeds. Engaged in a bit of relaxing conversation, Ms. Persimmon grabs a strand of Emma’s hair for a quick virgin test. Emma is now ready to plant a seed in the witch’s garden. But, Emma didn’t come alone.

Running at a quick nine minutes, writer/director Asnani gets right to the action in this story of a witch entrancing her next victim to do her nefarious bidding. As Ms. Persimmon, Crawford gives a good, eccentric performance as your neighborhood spiritualist. Tchounga is equally good as her virtuous, unwitting next victim.

“…the virginal Emma…is lured to Ms. Persimmon’s home, where she’s been asked to help pull weeds…”

The only negative comment I’ll make about Seed deals with the cinematography. The shot composition is a little too standard, with subjects in the middle of the frame, the camera almost always in a fixed position. Asnani should explore enhancing the chilling atmosphere using more interesting angles, extreme close-ups, and camera movement. Learn from some of the great horror cinematographers and copy them. Tweak and experiment and look at ways to use the camera to make scenes more creepy and thrilling. It’s practical, and better yet, it is free.

Nikhail Asnani is a filmmaker breaking into the world of supernatural and horror storytelling. With Seed, Asnani is doing precisely what we at Film Threat tell all emerging filmmakers to do: make your movie, no matter what. Asnani does an incredible job piecing together a story with a tiny budget. Keep telling your stories.