‘Panic Attack!’ Remastered – Watch the Short Film That Launched Fede Alvarez’s Career

Before Evil Dead, Don’t Breathe and this year’s upcoming Alien: Romulus, Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez kicked the doors of Hollywood wide open for himself with the short film Panic Attack! (Ataque de Pánico!) back in 2009, a 5-minute short depicting the carnage of a giant robot attack that showed what Alvarez was capable of behind the camera.

Fourteen years later, Alvarez has uploaded the brand new remastered, upscaled version of the 2009 short film, and you can watch his Panic Attack! unfold in all its remastered glory below!

Fede Alvarez tweets, “14 years ago I made a short movie with $300 and a lot of help from friends and colleagues. It forever changed my life and opened the Hollywood doors.”

Giant Robots invade Montevideo in Panic Attack!, which features extensive visual effects from Alvarez as well as modeling and rigging work from Mauro Rondan. The short pairs explosive visuals with the intense theme from 28 Days Later, with Alvarez bringing to the screen an all-out war between humans and invading robots that’s guaranteed to get your pulse pounding.

How many insane visual effects can you cram into one low-budget short? Well, let’s just say it’s no big mystery why Panic Attack! impressed Hollywood and launched Alvarez’s career!

The short was produced Alvarez, Emilano Mazza and SNAKE, with Pedro Luque serving as Director of Photography. Panic Attack! also features animation by Mauro Rondan and Alvarez, with editing by Alvarez and robot design by Alvarez, Mauro Rondan and Pablo Turcatti.