Don’t Tell Your Mom Review – Blood, Hustle, and a Dash of Humor

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

What’s scarier than a hungry vampire at your door? Not a lot of things or beings, but an angry mom might come close in the competition. And short horror film ‘Don’t Tell Your Mom’ taps into both fears.

Written and directed by Christopher Andrew Graham, the short film follows Kyle (Mark Elliot), who is hired by older cousin Jax (Jesse Inocalla) to help out with a shady new venture – selling blood bags to vampires. It’s a business that runs on real blood and metaphorical sweat. So, ‘Don’t Tell Your Mom’ is among Jax’s first few rules for Kyle, but the young man doesn’t realize it’s a warning drenched in blood and bad decisions.

When Kyle arrives and asks, “Can I come in?”, Jax replies with a deadpan, “I don’t know. Can you?” It’s a sly test to check if his cousin’s human, a neat nod to the vampire lore that bloodsuckers can’t enter uninvited. Even the sign on Jax’s door reads, ‘Not Welcome‘, a creative detail that sets the tone for the offbeat horror-comedy to follow.

In just seven minutes, ‘Don’t Tell Your Mom’ runs through hustle culture, moral compromise, and classic horror gore. Beneath its supernatural premise lies a satirical take on modern entrepreneurship, and what happens when people are so desperate for quick cash that even the undead become potential clients.

Mark Elliott’s Kyle feels like the kind of kid who gets dragged into trouble by sheer bad luck, the naïve everyman you can’t help but root for. And in her brief but memorable cameo, Ariel Hansen steals the spotlight as the hungry vampire who shows up at Jax’s door. Her blood-smeared shirt and fiery red eyes scream menace and mischief.

‘Don’t Tell Your Mom’ is a compact short with gritty visuals that complement its dark humor. The only weak spot? The background score overpowers the story and is somewhat distracting.

Still, Graham’s short succeeds in creating an original vampire tale that’s gruesome and oddly relatable. It’s about shady deals, family bonds, and the kind of business that always ends badly. In just a few minutes, ‘Don’t Tell Your Mom’ delivers a bloody little story that’s clever, funny, and sharp.

Watch the trailer on YouTube.

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