Short Horror Film 'Culpa' Puts Printing at the Center of the Story

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in 2023 when the short film was available on streaming services. 

If you're looking for the perfect printing industry entertainment to watch this Halloween, look no further than "Culpa," a 2020 short film directed by Miguel A. Ferrer. 

I might be a few years late to the game with this one, but I just happened upon it a few weeks ago when looking for a horror movie to watch. The short film's description caught my eye: "A print shop worker stuck in a monotonous routine realizes that if you let it, guilt will kill you." The reviews on Letterboxd weren't stellar, but I figured that even if it wasn't the best, it's only seven minutes long.

It opens with the main character, Luis, cutting out some cards in what is obviously a small print shop. What is assumed to be his co-worker comes up to speak with him (in a mixture of English and Spanish dialogue), and leaves him with a job to print 100 copies of what seems to be some ancient text. As he begins to run the pages through the press, things start to get creepy. Luis is forced to face his choices and deal with the consequences with horrific results.

Overall, I thought it was a fun short film. The plotline was a little cloudy, but with a second watch I followed it a little more clearly. There are some things lacking that could have made it stronger, but, I'm not going to complain since we don't often get printing industry entertainment.

Warning: Some jump scares, harsh language and content. Watch at your own risk and Happy Halloween!