Frightening Stop-Motion Films

The Operator short film is a disturbing science fiction piece told through stop motion-style animation. The short piece has no dialogue and minimal use of music and sound effects, but tells a frightening story with eerie and uncanny visuals. The Operator short film tells the story of a man named Bob, a worker at a factory who does battle with a parasitic insect that latched onto the bob and tries to take control of his mind.

The filmmaker Sam Barnett took his inspiration from a parasitic fungus -- the cordyceps fungus seen in the renowned video game The Last of Us -- as the cause of an infestation the turns humans into violent mutants. Barnett was also influenced by parasitic ideas, the sort used by cult leaders to control and manipulate members. This last idea is best seen in the the short’s twist ending. The Operator Short Film is an unnerving, but thought-provoking animation.