The Maiden

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Michael Chaves directs. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Tight 9-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
• 2Released 10 years ago.
• 3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
• 4Alia Raelynn and Penny Orloff and Brian Knudson carry the top of the cast.
• 5IMDB entry: tt5192436 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 6Only 14 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Runtime

9 min · 0h 9m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

EN

IMDB

The Maiden (2016) ↗

Also by

Michael Chaves

• 
  The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It

  2021 · ★ 7.3
• 
  The Conjuring: Last Rites

  2025 · ★ 6.9
• 
  The Nun II

  2023 · ★ 6.6
• 
  The Curse of La Llorona

  2019 · ★ 5.6
• 
  Regen

  2010

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Dsnake12018-10-14
  ★ 8/10

  The Maiden is a tale about a house, the thing that haunts it, and what ties them all together. Haunted house? Sure. Haunted jewelry? That's more like it. The film starts off with a 43-second scene that sets the mood for the rest of the nine minutes. A little girl wearing a notable necklace is running from what looks to be a mean, old nanny. When the girl leaves through the front doors, we realize the old crone is much more than a nanny. A large amount of time later, the house is now dilapidated, but real estate agent Lucy, played wonderfully by Alia Raelynn, only sees it as a commission check. She sets off into the house to begin taking the top layer of grime off before she shows the house to potential buyers. It doesn't take long for her to find a familiar necklace, and that's when our old friend begins to show up. Now, Lucy isn't one to run and hide from just a little supernatural activity, at least not once she finds out that a prospective buyer wants to take a look at the house in an hour. Lucy begins to clean up the mess of a ritual ring when she hears a sound from a water bucket. As anyone in a supernatural horror film would do, she takes a look over the edge of the bucket. Of course, the evil spawn within tries to drown the real estate agent by pulling her into the bucket. As Lucy pulls her head from the water, the creature within rips the necklace from her neck. After laying down a rug to cover the water, we cut to the potential buyer ripping on the house. Lucy does her best to complete the sale, and after a bit of haggling, they come to an agreement. That's when the buyer's daughter comes out from around back. The man sends his young daughter into the house without a second thought, and after a moment of hesitation, Lucy decides not to intervene. Just before she's about to walk through the doors, she sees a necklace on the ground, picks it up, and is pulled into the house before anyone can react. While the story itself is solid for a 9-minute film, it's not even the best part of the movie. The special effects and lighting are both utterly smooth and seamless, and they're still not the top part, either. The cinematography and the editing in The Maiden are just that. The quick cuts are well balanced with long, developing shots, creating a wonderfully creepy effect. The Maiden is one of the better short films I've seen in a while, and I recommend making time for this one.

  Read full review ↓

Key crew

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• haunted house
• short film

Release history · US

When it landed

• Digital2016-04-18