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 10th 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.
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!
Categorized:Editorials News
