Can You Handle the Suspense in This Nail-Biting Short Horror Film?

Great Guns director Norton delves into his passion for the dark and surreal with this latest short horror film, The Knocking. Featuring three minutes of masterfully-crafted suspense, the film’s eerie setting and dramatic visuals offers a treat for horror fans.

In the film, a lone woman wakes up to a mysterious knocking sound and decides to investigate. As we follow her making her way through the creaking house towards the noise, the film escalates to a chilling climax… 

The Knocking’s ominous premise is made doubly creepy by the film’s historic setting in the early 1900’s. The only light source - flickering candle-light - barely manages to pierce the endless darkness and claustrophobia-inducing corridors of the grand house. 

A Portuguese native, Norton had the perfect location in mind for his first foray into horror: a 200-year-old house in Ponte de Lima belonging to his family. The filmmaker drapes the house in sinister shadows to craft a deeply disquieting setting. 

Commenting on his inspiration for the film, Norton says: “The short film was shot in Portugal (where I’m from) in a 200-year-old house that belongs to my family. The story is loosely based on an experience that my dad had when he was young. It’s my first foray into the horror genre and the crew and I had a blast shooting it. We know it was going to be special when we arrived at the old house on a rainy night and found the front door ajar. Soon after a cat jumped out from behind a curtain, scaring us all. Turns out these horror clichés do happen in real life.”