Dead Northern Short Cuts – The Tenant, Rock Paper Scissors Death and The Binding

Some horror characters desperately want to escape the situation they’ve found themselves in. Others have already tried escaping and discovered they’re right back where they started. And sometimes the worst has already happened before the story even begins.

For this edition of Dead Northern Short Cuts, we’re checking into an Airbnb with something monstrous lurking inside in The Tenant, playing an exceptionally unforgiving version of a childhood game in Rock Paper Scissors Death, and confronting the devastating aftermath of a failed exorcism in The Binding.

Ahead of their Dead Northern 2026 screenings, we spoke to Ollie Hilton, Dayle Saunders and Ryan Kennedy about bringing their respective nightmares to the festival.

Ollie Hilton – The Tenant

Getting away from everything proves considerably harder than expected in The Tenant, a claustrophobic horror following Amy as she retreats to a secluded Airbnb after an argument with her partner.

The property’s overbearing host, oppressive silence and mysterious locked room are unsettling enough, but nightfall brings something far worse: a grotesque, towering creature that moves whenever it isn’t being watched. Trapped and injured, Amy must use reflective surfaces to keep her relentless pursuer in sight if she has any hope of surviving until morning.

Who are you and why are you heading to Dead Northern 2026?

I’m Ollie Hilton, director of the short film The Tenant. I’m heading to Dead Northern to finally see a crowd watch my film.

It’s been to a few festivals but, for one reason or another, I’ve never been able to make it! So I’m really looking forward to that.

Also, there are a few features I’d like to go and see while I’m there.

Tell us about what it was like to be part of this production.

It was amazing, from the first idea to the final film. I’m so happy with how it turned out and the things I learned along the way.

What part of seeing your film at Dead Northern are you looking forward to most?

Seeing the reaction it gets. Whether it’s good or bad, I just want to be a part of the experience of seeing it in a crowd.

Dayle Saunders – Rock Paper Scissors Death

Rock, paper, scissors. Three choices, one winner and, under normal circumstances, very little chance of anybody losing their life.

Rock Paper Scissors Death makes a few adjustments to those rules. Its unfortunate protagonist wakes up trapped in a deadly version of the familiar game, except he’s been here before and is thoroughly sick of it. While everyone else desperately wants to survive, he just wants to lose and finally bring the whole thing to an end. Unfortunately, persuading his fellow players to cooperate proves easier said than done.

Who are you and why are you heading to Dead Northern 2026?

Hello! I’m Dayle, a director based in Salford and I make short films about lovable try-hards overestimating their own importance through comedy, horror, or comedy/horror.

I tell stories that are absurdist, funny, silly and gory, but I like to squeeze in some home truths, making the audience confront something uncomfortable while wrapping them up in a blanket of levity to get them through!

My film that Dead Northern are screening, which I’m so chuffed to be a part of, is Rock Paper Scissors Death, a short comedy horror about a fella stuck in a game of rock paper scissors with deadly consequences, but our charming protagonist is sick of the loop and would like to call it a day.

I directed and produced this short. It’s my second of now a five-film slate and it’s remained a fast favourite as it is short, funny and gory! What more could you want?

Tell us about what it was like to be part of this production.

I’ll start with the lows of shooting, as then we can only go up!

This was shot on a cold and long night inside a run-down paper mill in the middle of Garstang. No signal, no heating, no end in sight.

As dreary as I make it sound, it was actually a fab night. The mill owner let us use his personal property to warm up and take a midnight lunch break and I felt extremely lucky to get a location like that.

The massive high was looking around the assembled cast and crew and knowing that they’d come together on this blustery night to make this short happen, and they were all extremely passionate about making the brains look juuuust right.

The most memorable part for me was looking at the first set-up on the monitor and seeing what we’d brought to life, and that it really did look like what I’d imagined.

This project was a turning point for me as a director so it had a huge impact, and still does as I’ve not stopped since! And on top of that, people seem to love this four-minute short, which warms my icy heart!

What part of seeing your film at Dead Northern are you looking forward to most?

This is completely self-indulgent, but I’m really looking forward to watching people watch my film. I love the moments where they wince/laugh/scream!

But I’m also really looking forward to watching the slate of films as the line-up looks insane and horror is my beloved genre, so it’s a perfect event!

Ryan Kennedy – The Binding

Most exorcism films build towards the moment when good and evil finally collide. The Binding begins with the devastating knowledge that the battle has already been lost.

Set in the aftermath of a failed exorcism, the supernatural thriller follows a grieving father determined to destroy the entity that took his daughter. With time running out and grief turning into desperation, his pursuit of revenge pushes him towards an act that may prove every bit as unforgivable as the evil he’s attempting to defeat.

Who are you and why are you heading to Dead Northern 2026?

I’m Ryan Kennedy and I’m the New York-based writer, director and producer of The Binding.

The idea for the film came out of the torrent of new emotions and fears I experienced when I became a father several years ago. After a frightening close call with a reckless driver while walking my son around our neighbourhood, I found myself thinking about the sometimes futile lengths a parent will go to trying to protect a child, and how they might lose themselves in rage and despair if they failed.

That experience combined with my love of exorcism and possession movies to create the frightening question at the heart of The Binding: What can you do when the monster has already won?

Tell us about what it was like to be part of this production.

It’s a bit cliché to call an independent film a labour of love, but that’s really what this was.

On a practical level, the project grew out of the current state of the film business in the US. After COVID and strikes and industry contraction, so many of my extremely talented colleagues and friends were available and just hungry to work on a project that we could all feel passionate about.

It was an opportunity to have a positive, creative and collaborative experience for our entire team, and so it felt like the perfect time to put over a decade of experience as a film worker to use as a film maker.

I was also unbelievably fortunate to have two incredible producing partners in Tina Yeh and Ashley Kennedy. Getting to make my first film as a director with my wife, Ashley, and one of our best friends, Tina, was truly a gift that I’ll never get over.

Their support throughout the project brought confidence and creativity and fun at every turn, and hardly ever let me feel the stress of classic indie film boogiemen like budget or schedule restrictions.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention my amazing cast. Watching Mike Houston, Hudson Yang, Mel House and Miranda Poett bring the script to life was like watching a magic trick whenever the camera was rolling.

What part of seeing your film at Dead Northern are you looking forward to most?

Dead Northern is our UK premiere and our first screening outside of the US. I’m gutted that we won’t be able to attend in person, but the fact that our work is crossing an ocean to connect with a new audience is so surreal and thrilling.

And to be a part of a festival as well programmed and well regarded as Dead Northern is a real honour. The whole weekend line-up looks so good.

As for the screening itself, I think the film has a pretty killer cut-to-black moment that audiences always enthusiastically react to. It’s my favourite beat whenever I’m in the crowd.

I may not be there in person this time, but hopefully someone in the theatre will reach out to let me know if it gave them the jolt that I hope it does.

Three films, three particularly unpleasant situations and three protagonists for whom simply walking away isn’t much of an option.

The Tenant turns watching into an act of survival, Rock Paper Scissors Death takes one of the simplest games imaginable and traps its characters inside it, while The Binding asks what remains when the traditional battle between a family and a supernatural force has already ended in tragedy.

If this does prove to be our final batch of Dead Northern Short Cuts, it’s an appropriately varied trio to finish on. Across the series we’ve encountered monsters, murderers, folklore, body horror, social horror, dark comedy, grief, technology and more than a few quantities of fake blood, all packed into films that prove just how much horror can accomplish in a short space of time.

Now there’s only one thing left to do: see them with an audience at Dead Northern 2026.