Monster movies seem to be all about rules these days. In Bird Box, you can’t look at the monsters. In A Quiet Place, you can’t make a sound. In The Last House, you can’t go outside. Now, there’s a new short horror film featuring a creepy creature who’s going to do unspeakable things to you unless you…remain calm. Collider is proud to exclusively present the new bite-size Halloween treat Remain Calm, starring Nick Swardson, Pauly Shore, and Doug Jones.
In our exclusive first look at the short, Shore (Encino Man) and Swardson (Just Go With It) play Matt and Erwin, a pair of gas station clerks on the night shift who’ve gotten on each other’s last nerves. In walks Jones, the long-limbed thespian behind movie monsters like the Pale Man from Pan’s Labyrinth and Billy Butcherson from Hocus Pocus. Despite his eerily chipper manner and horror-heavy IMDb page, he’s not the threat they have to worry about; he’s a government agent here to warn them about a monstrous creature who’ll devour anyone who shows the slightest hint of stress, fear, or anxiety. So just remain calm, and you’ll be fine: easy, right? Well, it’s not so easy when you’re face-to-face with Mr. Frett (Kevin Keppy, Smile), a twisted abomination (created with practical effects from Gorgazma) who’s freakier than Jessica Chastain in that Other Mommy trailer.
Remain Calm is written and directed by Jake Lewis. He’s written and directed a number of short biographical films, including Robin, about Robin Williams, and The Cowboy and The Samurai, about a meeting between Jack Nicholson and John Belushi. He previously directed Shore in The Court Jester, a short film in which the 1990s comedy legend portrayed late exercise guru Richard Simmons. Remain Calm is a departure for him, but he found the concept irresistible, telling Collider:
“The idea of having to react to truly horrifying situations with aggressive positivity was really funny to me. Right now, it feels like we’re all trying our hardest to be positive, posting selfies and ‘Get Ready With Me’ videos to ignore the fact that the world is on fire. Remain Calm is just a metaphor for our society at large.”
Collider Exclusive · Horror Survival Quiz Which Horror Villain Do You Have the Best Chance of Surviving? Jason Voorhees · Michael Myers · Freddy Krueger · Pennywise · Chucky
Five killers. Five completely different ways to die — if you’re not smart enough, fast enough, or self-aware enough to avoid it. Only one of them is the villain your particular set of instincts gives you a fighting chance against. Eight questions will figure out which one.
🏕️Jason
🔪Michael
💤Freddy
🎈Pennywise
🪆Chucky
01
Something feels wrong. You can’t explain it — you just know. What do you do? First instincts are the difference between the survivor and the first act casualty.
02
Where are you most likely to find yourself when things go wrong? Setting is everything in horror. Where you are determines which rules apply.
03
What is your most reliable survival asset? Every survivor has a quality the villain didn’t account for. What’s yours?
04
What kind of fear is hardest for you to fight through? Knowing your weakness is the first step to not dying because of it.
05
You’re with a group when things start going wrong. What’s your role? Horror movies are brutally clear about who survives group situations and who doesn’t.
06
What’s the horror movie mistake you’re most likely to make? Honest self-assessment is a survival skill. Denial is not.
07
What’s your best weapon against something that can’t be stopped by conventional means? Every horror villain has a weakness. The survivors are always the ones who find it.
08
It’s the final scene. You’re the last one standing. How did you make it? The final survivor always has a reason. What’s yours?
Your Survival Odds Have Been Calculated Your Best Chance Is Against…
Your instincts, your strengths, and your particular way of thinking under pressure point to one villain you actually have a fighting chance against. Everyone else — good luck.
Camp Crystal Lake · Friday the 13th
Jason Voorhees
Jason is relentless, but he is also predictable — and that is the gap you would exploit.
He moves in straight lines toward his target. He doesn’t strategise, doesn’t adapt, doesn’t outsmart. He simply pursues.
Your ability to keep moving, use the environment, and resist the panic that freezes most victims gives you a genuine edge.
The Crystal Lake survivors were always the ones who stopped running in circles and started thinking about terrain, water, and distance.
You think like that. Which means Jason, for all his indestructibility, would face someone who simply refused to be where he expected.
Haddonfield, Illinois · Halloween
Michael Myers
Michael watches before he moves. He is patient, methodical, and almost impossible to detect — until it’s too late for anyone who isn’t paying close enough attention.
But you are paying attention. You notice the shape in the window, the car parked slightly wrong, the silence where there should be sound.
Michael’s power lies in the invisibility of ordinary suburbia — the fact that nothing ever looks wrong until it already is.
Your spatial awareness and instinct to map every room, every exit, and every shadow before you need them is precisely the quality Laurie Strode had.
You are not a victim waiting to happen. You are someone who already suspects something is wrong — and acts on it.
Elm Street · A Nightmare on Elm Street
Freddy Krueger
Freddy wins by getting inside your head — using your own fears, your own memories, your own subconscious as weapons against you. That strategy requires a target who can be destabilised.
You are harder to destabilise than most. You’ve faced uncomfortable truths about yourself and you haven’t looked away.
The survivors on Elm Street were always the ones who understood what was happening and chose to face it rather than flee from it.
Freddy’s greatest weakness is that his power evaporates in the presence of someone who refuses to give him the fear he feeds on.
Your psychological resilience — the ability to stay grounded when reality itself becomes unreliable — is exactly the quality that keeps you alive here.
Derry, Maine · It
Pennywise
Pennywise is ancient, shapeshifting, and feeds on terror — but it has one critical vulnerability: it cannot function against someone who genuinely stops being afraid of it.
The Losers Club didn’t survive because they were braver than everyone else. They survived because they faced their fears together, and faced them honestly.
You ask the questions others avoid. You look directly at what frightens you rather than turning away.
That directness — the refusal to let fear fester in the dark — is Pennywise’s worst nightmare.
It chose the wrong target when it chose you. You are exactly the kind of person whose fear tastes like nothing at all.
Chicago · Child’s Play
Chucky
Chucky’s greatest advantage is that nobody takes him seriously until it’s already too late. He exploits the gap between how something looks and what it actually is.
You don’t have that gap. You take threats seriously regardless of how they present — and you never make the mistake of underestimating something because of its size or appearance.
Chucky relies on surprise, on the delay between recognition and response. You close that delay faster than almost anyone.
Your instinct to treat every unfamiliar thing with appropriate scepticism — rather than dismissing it because it seems absurd — is the exact quality that keeps you breathing.
Against Chucky, not laughing is already winning. You are very good at not laughing.
What Do Pauly Shore and Nick Swardson Have to Say About ‘Remain Calm’?
Shore had a fantastic time working on Remain Calm, and if it should get expanded into a feature, he’s ready to sign up. “I was excited to work with writer & director Jake Lewis again. We had so much fun together on The Court Jester where I played Richard Simmons, and I was equally excited to work alongside Nick Swardson, one of my favorite comedy brothers,” said Shore. “The chemistry between Nick and me was awesome, and I’d love to work with him again if there’s ever a feature version of Remain Calm. Doug Jones and Kevin Keppy were also amazing. I hope everyone enjoys this awesome 13-minute short film.” Count Swardson in, as well, saying, “I was impressed with Jake’s work and have always been a horror fan, so it made sense. Pauly is an old friend, so I wanted to do something challenging for us as actors.”
Remain Calm is available to watch above. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
