Andrea Ricca is a director who has created a ton of short films, mostly in the genres of science fiction and horror. I found out about his work through our Editor, Head Writer and creator of Red Mango Reviews, Julien Neaves, who thought it would be right up my alley. And with a quick hop skip and a jump across to YouTube (you can also find his films over at andrearicca.it) I decided to give them a go.

While the budget might be small and the films short in runtime, there's a ton of passion and positive energy behind them. I viewed about ten of his movies and even with shifts from sci-fi horror to the more supernatural themes, all of the films have a common thread of having tongue-in-cheek humour mixed with a genuine love of the genre that inspired them. The following are just a few of the movies you can find on his channel and my personal favourites out of the ones I saw.

Aliens Night Parts 1&2

Dang dude. Your super skinny backside is the scariest thing about you

A straightforward tale that caught me off guard with its comedic elements, Aliens Night is your typical invasion tale, but told from the point of view of a single character, a young biologist who has to fend off some "Greys". Even with a modest budget, the special effects and sound designs are pretty solid.

It think the funniest aspect of the two movies are how easily these aliens are dispatched. If you've watched sci-fi movies with this particular alien design (the skinny bodies and big black eyes) you were probably thinking the same thing I was. These little buggers wouldn't be that hard to take down, and Ricca plays with this element to hilarious effect. Check them out yourself and see if you agree.

The Furfangs Parts 1&2

#totesadorbes

Another alien invasion, this time using inspiration from Critters and Gremlins, Furfangs are cute, deadly and not so smart. And they are more like an alien annoyance than an invasion. Our hero (performed by director/creator himself Andrea Ricca) is at home one night when these little buggers invade and try to despatch him. The design for the Furfangs made me think of the Tribbles from Star Trek or bite-sized Critters, and I could totally see myself buying a stuffed version of these little buggers for my collection.

Ricca takes them out in various hilarious ways, once again playing with the trope of how people manage to be killed by something that is only a couple feet tall (to be fair, Critters could get quite large and Gremlins are gross and slimy, so there's no way I would want to touch one). Funny and fast-paced, you can watch both films back-to-back and enjoy them as one whole movie. So if you're a fan of creature features give these two a look.

The Amulet of Fear & The Spirit Board

When you wake up in the middle of the night to get a glass of water

Unlike his other short films, Amulet and Spirit Board sit squarely in the realm of the supernatural and right in one of my favorite sub-genres of horror. Both films feature a female protagonist who inadvertently summons something demonic into their homes. Hilariously trying to despatch said demons with handguns both ladies have to figure out how to win against evil, but my favourite of the two was The Spirit Board. Humour isn't something that always work in a horror setting, but its quite effective here and I laughed out loud at how things were wrapped up in this one.

Spider Danger

Look behind you. BEHIND YOU! Yeah, you're dead

Now this one steps up the horror a bit more than the others on my list as the CGI design of these spiders would creep out anyone, even if you don't have a fear of our eight-legged friends. Ricca returns as the hero here who has a pet spider that mutates into a huge monstrosity after a passing asteroid from a spider planet. Add to that lots of little spiders and this one will definitely crawl under the skin of arachnophobes in a big way!

Short and effective with an ending that totally hit all my gross points, if you only have time to watch one Andrea Ricca short film, Spider Danger is definitely the one to choose.

In Conclusion

Once you don't go into these movies expecting big budget fare, you can find a lot to entertain you with Ricca's films. His love of the genres (classic sci-fi horror especially) is on full display and I could totally picture some of these as full-length features on the SyFy channel.

If you'd like to check out Andrea Ricca Sci-Fi & Horror Short Movies for yourself you can click here. They are sure to put a smile on your face.

And you can check out more great sci-fi/horror comedy content below:

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2755F829-2EEC-4A68-B6F7-F963F48C9D92 Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I'll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.

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