Exclusives
The Nightmares Film Festival Kicks Off October 18th and These Short Nightmares Will Terrorize You
Featured image from “The Thousand Legged Terror”
The horror film festival season is upon us and I couldn’t be more excited! It’s a time when us fans of the dark, morbid, and extreme are introduced to a new group of fright flicks ripe with the potential to wet our bloody whistle. One such festival that has really bombarded the independent scene in the past few years is the Nightmares Film Festival in Columbus, OH. Attracting some of the edgiest and scariest stuff out there, Nightmares is not only an entertaining event to be a part of, but from a filmmaker’s standpoint, a beneficial one as well. Nightmares does a fantastic job of making filmmakers feel welcome and promotes a friendly environment filled with the potential for networking. “A real community is forming. People know each other and want to work together. I just want to help make sure that happens, and people aren’t left behind.” says festival organizer Jason Tostevin about the atmosphere he and his co-founder Chris Hamel have created. After being a part of the festival last year, I can certainly agree that these gentlemen have done a wonderful job of bringing us indie horror filmmakers together to rub elbows and collaborate.
Bloody Disgusting’s own short film series, World of Death has been an official sponsor of the Nightmares Film Festival for the past two years and we are stoked to see such a wide array of talent and craziness in this year’s short film categories. Horrifying imagery from shorts such as “The Thousand Legged Terror” and “Blondie” promise to keep us up late into the evening clutching at our bed sheets while the lighter side of the genre is going to have us rolling in the theater with titles like “Attack of Potato Clock”, “Alien Death Fuck”, “The Bloody Ballad of Squirt Reynolds”, and “Shit… They’re All Vampires!” And with over 100 short films programmed for the weekend, there will literally be something for everyone. WOD producers Ben Lewandowski and myself will be in attendance and are looking forward to hanging out with filmmakers and checking out all these twisted tales. And with a little luck, all of you out there will be seeing some of these shorts as part of World of Death in the near future!
Nightmares Film Festival runs from Thursday, October 18th to Sunday, October 21st at the Gateway Film Center in Columbus, OH. For more info and a full schedule of the 2018 festival, click HERE.
See you there!
“Beyond Repair”
“The Cat”
“The Mare”
“Proceeds of Crime”
“Blondie”
“Bathroom Troll”
Exclusives
‘The Haunting of Pennhurst’ Exclusive Clip Trains Scare Actors For Historic Haunt in Tribeca Doc
The past and present collide in haunting, poignant ways in the genre documentary The Haunting of Pennhurst, which sees a Halloween haunt serve as a reclamation of true historic horrors.
Ahead of its world premiere at the 25th Tribeca Film Festival, we have an exclusive clip that sees scare actors in training for the Halloween season. The catch? This haunt is opening at the historic Pennhurst State School & Hospital site, a facility that caused immense harm to its disabled patients over decades of its operation.
In the documentary, “For over seventy years, Pennhurst State School & Hospital was called a place of care. What happened inside killed over half its population. It closed in 1987, leaving behind unmarked graves and an unresolved history. Today, on those same grounds, disabled performers – many living with the same conditions that once sent people to Pennhurst – put on their makeup, pull on their costumes, and prepare to scare people for a living.
“Through grit, compassion, and buckets of blood, the eclectic performers of the Pennhurst Asylum haunted attraction are wrestling with a space that is at once a lucrative business and a gravesite.”
The upcoming documentary hails from directing trio Nathan Stenberg, Mike Attie, and Katarina Poljak, who explore their socially-relevant subject through archival footage, first-hand accounts, and an immersive verité.
“Pennhurst has haunted us since we first passed through its dragon-tooth gates; the horrors of the institution echo through the site today. We are so grateful to bring this film to the Tribeca Festival, particularly the Escape from Tribeca section, which feels right for a story where past and present bleed together. We hope audiences leave unnerved and asking the same uncomfortable questions we did,” Attie, Stenberg, and Poljak said in a statement.
Watch the clip below that sees disabled and neurodivergent scare actors learning the ropes of a Halloween haunt, reclaiming the site’s grim history in the process.
Tribeca Screenings:
- Public 1 (Premiere) Screening – Friday, June 5 at 9:15PM at Village East by Angelika
- Public 2 Screening – Sunday, June 7 at 3:15PM at Village East by Angelika
- Public 3 Screening – Tuesday, June 9 at 6:15PM at Village East by Angelika
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