This year’s edition of Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival was their first and from the online reactions to it, it should be back next year bigger and better.
As this is one of the festivals Cinema Crazed could not attend, I managed to snag some coverage anyway (yeah!).
Without further ado, here are the links to the 5 features I was lucky enough to be able to see.
This year’s edition of Horrible Imaginings Film Festival saw the festival grow from 3 days to 5 days and include more features, documentaries, shorts, live literature readings (as well as a dance showcase). The fest does not feature a gallery anymore, but it has been about more than films since its inception. This year’s highlights were some truly great short films and the campfire story readings with David Agranoff, Laura Lee Bahr, John Skipp, and Cody Goodfellow amongst others.
In writer/director Benjamin R. Moody’s film, the lead character is one hell of a fighter, but her trauma may be having the best of her as she sees signs of her attacker throughout her life and can’t quite let go. Camryn, the only survivor of a massacre in the woods is trying to live with PTSD and survivor’s guilt. As she is taken in by a new group of friends, the killer from her past may be haunting her. The lead character he creates here is a strong young woman but she does not have much of a back story outside of being the only survivor from a massacre during a camping trip to the woods. The other characters, her new friend and potential love interest Nick and his roommates have more set up than she does almost. They are presented and explained quickly but it gives them connections and personalities.
From The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society and Andrew Leman comes the excellent “The Call of Cthulhu,” a short film I was lucky enough to experience years ago and was lucky enough to re-visit. From 2005, the independent effort channels the horror and sheer terror of HP Lovecraft’s mythology so well, the time manages to fly by without a hitch. “The Call of Cthulhu” is a brilliant throwback to the silent film era channeling the likes of Val Lewton to bring audiences a love letter to a time in film when horror meant the twang of the score, and focusing on the horror of our actors.
Another film festival had its first edition this year and it had a great line up. This fest had it all: films, scary stories, trivia, et al. The fest had some great films, features and shorts. Some of my favorites among many were The Master Cleanse and Child Eater for features and for shorts there was Shorty, Pigskin, and The Man Who Caught a Mermaid.
They also had films we reviewed as part of other festivals like Let Her Out, Therapy, La Rage du Demon, The Puppet Man, The Stylist, Disco Inferno, and Mute.
Cinema Crazed’s coverage was limited but here are the few films I reviewed here for the Festival if you missed the updates:
In the small town of Cranberry Lake, a wannabe witch and her succubus assistant attempt to summon a demon, when this goes badly, an army of zombie evil babies is unleashed on the town for which the only hope if a group of teenagers who have seen the evil and want to survive. Writer/director Jeremiah Morehouse has some good ideas in the script that he tries his best to put on screen but the script may have been a bit too ambitious for its super micro budget. This budget is estimated at $10,000 and this unfortunately shows a lot in the film. The story is ambitious and wants to achieve a lot which is lost a bit due to the effects and other issues in the film that are mostly blamed on the budget and a bit on a lack of experience. However, the film’s ambition and love for its genre shows and this helps it greatly.
So you’re getting ready for a Halloween party and don’t have time for a feature but would like to watch something to set the atmosphere for yourself or you just want to watch some bite-size entertainment. So, in that spirit, here are a few great shorts for the season.