John Porter (Jeff Moffitt) is an accountant whose ordinary, methodical life is thrown into disarray when he begins to "notice" that he's being followed everywhere he goes by sullen, shadowy figures while he tries desperately to reach a mysterious woman named Marcie.

Over the course of the film's 28-minute run time, co-writer and director Sy Cody White builds the tension as it seems each of Porter's subsequent human interactions increases with its menace and intensity. When he finally seeks help from a therapist, Dr. Orwell (Timothy J. Cox), an unexpected result only magnifies Porter's paranoia. Just when it appears he may be traveling down a paranoid abyss, Porter learns that just because he's paranoid it doesn't mean that they're not after him.

Director White takes a familiar New York locale and heightens its already inherent drama, a big city that at times seems to be swallowing up Porter and his increasingly fractured mind. White also serves as D.P. for the film, and fills the screen with larger than life imagery that transcends any notion that this is a low-budget short. Calling The Watchers a tip of the hat to Hitchcock seems a bit too obvious and perhaps even an insult to the film maker, whose style may bring to mind the psychological thrills and paranoia often found in Hitchcock's films but whose imagery and sense of atmosphere excels on its own.

Jeff Moffitt excels as Porter, building a powerful image of his fractured psyche' in a way that never reveals too much and avoids unnecessary histrionics. Everything from Moffitt's body language to his vocal work embody a man whose grasp of reality is either slipping away or simply already gone. Timothy J. Cox, Kathleen Boddington and Peter Francis Span are solid supporting players, complementing Porter's paranoia with a quiet intensity that constantly keeps you guessing just how The Watchers is going to wind down.

Currently on the film festival circuit, The Watchers should prove to be a popular addition to the thriller/horror short genre and serves notice that Jeff Moffitt is an actor to watch in the future.