A woman (Eva Hamilton – Mutilator 2, 2024’s Hellhounds) finds herself stuck inside of a seemingly defective MRI machine while something potentially more threatening begins to unfold just outside. This is the premise of MRI, a new short from filmmaker Timothy Vandenberg. Long-time readers of this site may remember that Vandenberg, who has worked in cinematography and editing on a number of other film and television projects, is also the writer/director of the 2016 short film Agatha, which I praised on this site upon its release. MRI debuted on FearPix on YouTube about a month ago and is still available to watch as of this writing.

MRI is really quite simple in premise and execution, taking place entirely inside the machine, while events taking place outside are conveyed through sounds occurring within the confined examination area, as well as through the voices of the technicians performing the exam coming through the built-in communications device. At its core, the film is really quite like the ages-old cliche of “hiding in the closet while the killer wanders around the house” that has been presented in countless horror films and tales, but adds the simple notion that something just as scary and harmful may be taking place in that closet.

As people usually don’t have MRIs performed for “good” reasons, it’s understandable that the character would be apprehensive and worried, and Hamilton does well at selling that notion, as well as the sense of claustrophobia. However, as events progress, the character does somewhat devolve into a state of hysterics. Again, Hamilton does a solid job, with the character believably frightened by their situation and their lack of given options on what to do in that moment.

At just six minutes long, MRI is a fairly straightforward, albeit not overly unique, exercise in the fear of the unknown. There are no twists and no major surprises. Although there is no real mystery as to what is taking place just outside the confined space of cylindrical tube housing of the MRI machine, not a lot is actually shown, leaving the details (particularly the “how’s” and “why’s”) to the viewers imagination. While I may not praise the film as much as I did (and still do) with Agatha, MRI is still a fun watch and worth the few minutes of your time. That said, you can judge the film for yourself by watching it below.

MRI is also slated to hit the film festival circuit this spring. No dates were available for listing as of the time of this writing, but I will try to keep you updated on those as I become aware of them.