Filmed in Logansport, Indiana by Monticello-based Oak Road MultiMedia, Braamen is a 22-minute paranormal horror short about a woman, Fran Lomax (Ann Tiemann Sayler), who moves to a new city to start a new life but quickly finds out that her seemingly peaceful little house is actually possessed by the entity of a teenage girl, Janet Creely (Aislynn Loggins), whose story reveals a deadly secret left over from the 1940's. 

Braamen is a solid indie effort that puts on full display all the joys and sorrows of working on an ultra-low budget. Having already screened at Decatur, Alabama's River City Film Festival and the World Independent Film Expo in Richmond, Kentucky, Braamen won't necessarily blow you away but it's an overall effective and suspenseful short film that benefits greatly from a simple yet creepy original score and winning performances from the ensemble cast with special kudos going to Natasha Shuck and an appropriately eerie Aislynn Loggins. 

Braamen is held back by its dialogue-heavy plot exposition that mutes the film's ability to leave the viewer with chills and thrills. With a mere 22-minute running time, one wishes we'd had more time to immerse ourselves in the film's supernatural aura.  Instead, Braamen spends a good amount of time giving us the story behind the chills rather than the chills themselves. 

But, oh my, when the chills come it's an awfully fun thing to see. 

While Braamen may not quite fire on all cylinders, it's still a solid effort and a true family project for the Sayler family both onscreen and behind-the-scenes. I'll look forward to their future efforts and seeing what Ann Sayler comes up with next. 

Written by Richard Propes 
The Independent Critic