Chasing Screams Both Long And Short

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Day Three of Nightmares Film Festival 2024 kicked off at Gateway Film Center with a screening of the wild comedy The Invisible Raptor. I sidestepped that screening in favor of attending the live recording of the Fright Club podcast, the annual panel on the ever-shifting world of film distribution, and a writing workshop with Bram Stoker Award-winning author Jeff Strand. Speaking to attendees who watched it however, it sounds like The Invisible Raptor was a hoot.

The 10^th anniversary screening of Zack Parker’s Proxy was a big hit, with both Parker and star Joe Swanberg in attendance. Parker also brought his latest short, Barista, along with him. Gateway Film Center prides itself on showing movies on film whenever possible, including on 70mm, so it was a nice treat for attendees to get to see Barista projected the way it was shot: on 16mm.

Next came the festival’s awards ceremony (more on that in a bit), followed by another tidal wave of screenings. Melissa LaMartina’s For Sale By Exorcist is an absolutely charming feature debut and Ehrland Hollingsworth’s Dooba Dooba is thrilling slice of cinematic innovation, so be sure to seek both out when they arrive in the future. Carved was another hit with attendees and that is one that you can actually see soon, as it hits Hulu next week as part of their Huluween holiday programming. My Imaginary Life For Someone Else is also not one to miss if you like your movies with a hefty dose of Adult Swim-y weirdness.

As I’ve said before, the pull between deciding whether to catch all of the features or to watch the short blocks is a major catch-22. On the one hand, there’s nothing quite like catching independent horror on the big screen with an audience. All too often those of us who live outside of major metropolitan areas have to wait to see these films at home once they hit VOD, streaming, or physical media. While we love them just the same in those scenarios, there’s just an extra charge that you get when you can watch them on a huge screen in a darkened room that is filled with other horror fans.

On the other hand, how often do you get a chance to see ANY short films on the big screen? Again, if you don’t live in or near a sizable city, the answer is likely “almost never”. So with that in mind, I opted for the short blocks for the remainder of the night. I was not disappointed in my decision. Quite the opposite, in fact. The subgenre-themed blocks that played for the rest of Saturday were among the best that I have ever seen at Nightmares Film Festival. Some of my absolute favorite shorts were When Girls Play Sports, Queen of the Damned, All Kinds of Animals, The Gory Hole, and Dummy. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for those, as well as any others listed below among the Night Mare Award winners.

Screams, laughs, cries, thrills, chills, and awards...

Speaking of which, without further ado, here are this year’s Night Mare recipients…

Film From Hell
Solvent

Overall Feature
Dooba Dooba

Horror Feature
Bystanders

Horror Comedy Feature
Carved

Midnight Feature
My Imaginary Life For Someone

Thriller Feature
The Waves of Madness

Director (Feature)
Melissa LaMartina, For Sale By Exorcist

Cinematography (Feature)
The Waves of Madness

Writing (Feature)
Decibel

Lead Performance (Feature)
Juliette Greenfield, The Matriarch

Supporting Performance (Feature)
Brian Spangler, Replicator

Ohio Film
Please Be Tender

Overall Short
La Petite Mort

Horror Short
Jack

Horror Comedy Short
Too Slow

Midnight Short
Mirthless

Thriller Short
Who Do You Love

Recurring Nightmare
Drug Hole

Director (Short)
Sundowning

Cinematography (Short)
Bath Bomb

Writing (Short)
The First

Lead Performance (Short)
Molly McCluskey, When Girls Play Sports

Supporting Performance (Short)
Mara Marini, Will Helm

Short Screenplay
These Colors Don’t Run

Feature Screenplay
Dog Mom

Gag Reel (FX)
David Greathouse, Replicator

Esprit de Gore
Dusty Austen

Dread Central would like to congratulate all winners and nominees, including our own Mary Beth McAndrews! I’d also like to personally congratulate everyone who has attended the festival this year, as they already won by simply getting to watch a tsunami of stellar indie cinema while hanging out with one of the best horror-loving communities on the planet. There’s simply no better place to be come October.

Nightmares Film Festival 2024 will close out Sunday with screenings of five features, including Mary Beth McAndrews’ Bystanders and Can Evrenol’s Sayara. It will also showcase 17 more short films, with a few accompanying the aforementioned features and the rest filling out the annual shorts block dedicated to Ohio filmmakers. That Ohio shorts block is never one to miss, so if you’re attending this year or if you come to the festival in a future year, make sure that it is on your watchlist!