As Hulu’s annual “Huluween” celebration continues on, we’re taking this moment to highlight the second annual Huluween Film Festival and the brand new shorts hailing from several up-and-coming filmmakers.
Collaboratively curated with the Sundance Film Institute, we spoke to the filmmakers behind the short films – including Hidden Mother, Ride, Swiped to Death, Flagged, Undo, The Dunes, and The Ripper – and asked them about their go-to Halloween films, their horror inspirations, and what they’d like viewers to take away from their shorts.
The filmmaker with the highest level of engagement on Hulu and Hulu’s YouTube channel will win $50,000 towards production of their feature length film. To view all of Huluween short films, visit the special Huluween category on Hulu, click over to www.youtube.com/hulu, or just continue on below!
THE DUNES
Directed by Jennifer Reeder (@JenniferReeder)
“A young couple’s romantic beach date turns dark when they encounter a mysterious seaside stranger. Could the last day of summer be their last day ever?”
Who is your Horror inspiration?
“The literary masterpiece Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” combined with another literary masterpiece, Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.”
What are your go-to Halloween films?
“The original Carrie … with Eyes of Laura Mars, if it’s a double feature.”
What do you want viewers to take from your film?
“The Dunes is styled after vintage crime magazines…I set out to make a tiny scary movie that embraces and celebrates the visual and psychological sensation of classic horror films. Additionally, the predator is a woman which I would argue is a feminist gesture.”
FLAGGED
Directed by Chelsea Lupkin (@ChelseaLupkin)
“When a young woman takes a new position as a moderator for a major social media platform, she quickly realizes the job description may have left out some deadly details.”
Who is your Horror inspiration?
“The obvious answer to give as a ‘horror inspiration’ is a specific director, but I’ve been more influenced by the characters that redefined the ‘final girl’. Sigourney Weaver in Alien was the first time I saw an already realistic female character become a badass. I want to create real roles for women that allow them to lean into their insecurities or hardships with determination to overcome them.”
What are your go-to Halloween films?
“My go-to Halloween movies are The Craft, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Evil Dead!”
What do you want viewers to take from your film?
“What I want viewers to take away from Flagged is that being a content moderator can be a traumatic experience and that real people are behind the twisted videos that appear online. While there may not be any axe murderers after anyone, the nightmares remain.”
HIDDEN MOTHER
Directed by Joshua Erkman (@Joshua_Erkman)
“A recently-widowed mother is gifted an antique photo that happens to harbor the presence of a sinister spirit within its frame.”
Who is your Horror inspiration?
“H.P Lovecraft, David Cronenberg, and Dave Vanian.”
What are your go-to Halloween films?
“The Shining, Suspiria, Night of the Demon, and Rosemary’s Baby.“
What do you want viewers to take from your film?
“Never trust a goth, they can be real shady folks.”
RIDE
Directed by Meredith Alloway (@ATWwAlloway)
“Spin classes can be a bit intimidating. But for Brit, the fear is real when her first class turns into a ride for her life.”
Who is your Horror inspiration?
“Oh man, should I go by decade? There are so many! I find I love artists who challenge the genre and what “horror” is as we know it, that really ground the absurd and the terrifying in human emotion and societal commentary. Filmmakers like Yorgos Lanthimos, Bong Joon-ho, Brian De Palma, Hitchcock. And I think four filmmakers who’ve really blown me away in the last few years are Coralie Fargeat, Julia Ducournau, Ari Aster, and Jennifer Kent. They tell truly horrific and emotional stories in films that feel fresh and relevant.”
What are your go-to Halloween films?
I kick off the season always with The Lost Boys, Rosemary’s Baby and Hocus Pocus – they’re classics! This year, I’ve been watching a lot of ’70s horror like Black Christmas, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, some Abel Ferrara films, [and also] The Changeling. The Shining is a yearly re-watch because it’s so layered and it’s Stephen King + Kubrick, so yes.”
What do you want viewers to take from your film?
“That any situation you’re in, where you feel like the “other” or unwelcome or anxious, can be a horror film. I think as a society we’re taught to swallow our fears in everyday life, and that just leads to panic attacks and emotional issues. With Ride, I hope people can see that, yes, walking into a work out class or a spin class can be horrific. And what people can manipulate you to do or not to adds to that. I hope people can experience the film and be able to laugh at it, and themselves a little, and on the other side of that, feel a bit more brave the next time around. Face your fear, that whole thing.”
THE RIPPER
Directed by Calvin Reeder (@CalvinLeeReeder)
“When the rhythm guitarist of a band is pushed to attempt a solo, he instead starts to reveal some haunting hidden talents.”
Who is your Horror inspiration?
“If I had to pick one I’d say Nicholas Roeg, but mostly I just like that anything can happen in a horror film. That’s the most inspiring thing for me.”
What are your go-to Halloween films?
“The Blob, Messiah of Evil, Phantasm, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Creepshow.”
What do you want viewers to take from your film?
“Anything they get from it. But we laughed a lot while making it so if the humor comes through that’d be cool.”
SWIPED TO DEATH
Directed by Elaine Mongeon
“Dating can be hell. When Olivia “swipes right” on a handsome stranger, her world collides with some serious hidden danger.”
Who is your Horror inspiration?
“Kathryn Bigelow (Near Dark), Ridley Scott (Alien), Stanley Kubrick (The Shining), William Friedkin (The Exorcist), George Romero (Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead), Mary Harron (American Psycho), John Carpenter (The Thing).
“Richard Wenk (Vamp) and Tom Holland (Fright Night) are the specific influences for Swiped to Death!”
What are your go-to Halloween films?
In addition to all of the films previously mentioned: Psycho, 28 Days Later, Let the Right One In, Ghostbusters, A Quiet Place, It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978).
What do you want viewers to take from your film?
“’Maybe you’re a serial killer’ jokes are almost perfunctory in the first five minutes after matching with someone on a dating app. We thought we could have a lot of fun leaning into the terrifying horrors that might very well await on the other side of a match. So, in other words, stay off of Tinder, people!“
UNDO
Directed by Nicole Perlman (@Uncannygirl)
“A physicist celebrates a breakthrough in reversing the flow of time… until a haunting figure pays him a visit.”
Who is your Horror inspiration?
“My mother! She took murder-mystery parties to an extreme when I was growing up. She wouldn’t just stash dummy-corpses all over the house, she’d force party guests to insert their hands into a dead fish, or reach past a bushel of chicken-feet scattered under my bed in order to retrieve a clue. One time she hosted a murder mystery party in Malibu Creek State Park and placed a dummy dead body in a drainage ditch for the ten-year-olds to find. Then a jogger discovered it instead and my family got permanently banned from the park! (But on the upside, the production values were sky-high as the kids followed their clues to what turned into an active crime scene.)
“However, if we’re talking directors, I’d say Cronenberg is a personal favorite of mine, for his mix of body-horror, bio-technology, and psycho-sexuality. The Brood, Dead Ringers, and Videodrome are some favorites. …Come to think of it, my mom might actually be Cronenberg in a dress.”
What are your go-to Halloween films?
“I don’t have horror films I return to again and again. Instead, I’m compulsively seeking out new ones to watch. I recently saw Under the Shadow by Babak Anvari – which has the sort of slow-burn dread that speaks to a larger underlying fear, a la It Follows. I also enjoy discovering new films in genre festivals, as so many great ones don’t get wide distribution. For example, I just watched The Deeper You Dig at the Sitges Film Festival, which was directed, produced, written, shot, and performed by one very talented family!”
What do you want viewers to take from your film?
“That even well-intentioned choices can ripple forward in ways that are difficult to predict. And that if we were to live long enough to understand the repercussions of our actions, we too might be horrified — desperate to undo what we’ve done.”