A Stiff Dose of Reality

It's every film maker's worst nightmare.  The lights go up, an uncomfortable silence envelopes the theater.  A moderator walks to the front, microphone in hand.  "Let's talk about the film you've just seen" he says, innocently enough, and unleashes from the audience a chain reaction of hate-filled vitriol, all aimed squarely at your baby - your carefully crafted, defenseless little speck of a film.

And yet, the cruel reality of any artist is that any art they manage to make, be it a painting, sculpture, novel, or film, no longer belongs to them once they share it with the world.  It is now out of their hands.  It has a life of its own. Whatever ideas they were actually trying to represent have no relevance to the effects that the art actually has on an audience.

And the reactions that it may elicit from an audience are wide, varied, and entirely dependent on a seemingly chaotic range of variables specific to each and every person: do they even like horror movies; does the lead actor remind them of someone they hate; are they hungry, tired, hot, at the time of viewing; did they just get in a fight with their boyfriend; did they once have an idea similar to yours and now hate you for having finished this movie?  Who knows.  Somehow, all these variables get wrapped up into a hazy glob of something called "taste". 

Two people, sitting right next to each other see the same movie - one says, "I thought it was very clever and effective.  It really drew me into the story.  I was engaged throughout and was shocked by the ending - very well done."  The next person says, "I thought it was cliched and boring - totally obvious and had no sense of what it wanted to be.  I hated it."

It's easy for an artist to want to go around defending their work - "yeah, but that's not what I intended...", "I originally wanted to do that, but we ran out of time...", "no, I wasn't trying to rip that off - what, no I've never even seen that film!"  For me, with Enter the Dark, the most obvious bit of criticism is that it's a rip off of Paranormal Activity.  The cruel reality is that I had my idea before PA was ever released and had to watch in horror as accolades were showered upon a film that closely matched many of my ideas.  I knew that most people would assume that my short was just a reaction to PA, but I didn't care - I did it anyway, knowing that at least some folks would be able to discern the difference.
 
And so, I bring to you, actual unfiltered reactions to my defenseless baby, Enter the Dark after a screening at Toronto's WILDsound Film Festival this past April.  These are some responses from your average film fans - not particularly horror fans mind you.  And some of the reactions are quite brutal.  If I had watched this soon after I finished the project, I might have been quite crushed, but having some distance of almost two years, and many successes later, I can take a (somewhat) more objective viewpoint.  Still, it does sting a bit.  Thank goodness however, for the ever astute viewer that shows up around 4:30 in the video - finally someone who was actually paying attention!!  Oh thank you, thank you Mr. Dreadlocked Dude - you actually make film making worth doing!



Well, what's a film maker supposed to do, given these types of reactions by seemingly equally intelligent and reasonable folks.  How do you judge if your ideas are coming across to an audience?  How can you tell if you are an effective film maker?

Well for me, before I finished Enter the Dark, I was very careful to show it to a group of people whose opinions I trust.  These were friends and family from a wide variety of backgrounds.  Some who love horror films, some who never watch them.  Some who are also film makers, and some who have never created anything close to "art" in their lifetime.  I asked them to be brutally honest.  I asked specific questions pertaining to what was working and what wasn't.  I asked them specifically about the ending of my film, as I was unsure whether I was giving enough information to explain it.

After the screening, we talked about the film in general, but I also handed out response sheets so I could look over their reactions at a later time and sift through the data.  What I realized is that you can never take one single piece of criticism at face value.  Never ever take a note from one individual and assume that it is correct.  Each and every person has such a unique take on things, that to try to please everyone is a fool's game.  You will end up with a film that has no relation to the personal insights you originally intended.  You must ignore any criticism that isn't corroborated by multiple people's responses.

If one person says they don't understand the ending of your film, then fine, take a note - but do nothing.  If THE MAJORITY of people get and like your ending, you are golden - don't mess with it!  However, if you continually get the feedback that folks are having issues with your ending YOU MUST FIX IT!

Always keep in mind that you will never get 100% of your audience to like what you are doing - nor should you even want that.  Any idea worth doing is going to piss some people off - if you're not offending someone, then you're not trying hard enough!

Top Horror Flicks of 2011... sort of

Since it's February, I thought now would be the perfect time to post my year-end best of list.  You know, to beat out all the competition from the rest of those other bloggers and get my list out first to show how smart I am and stuff.

Oops.

Truth be told, it's just too dang difficult to get my arse out to the theaters and see new flicks as they premiere.  With two young kids in my house, I'm lucky if I can get to the movies once a month to see the latest singing chipmunk flick.

And so, I'm left with waiting around until Netflix or On Demand can provide me with the movie that everyone was buzzing about.

Five months ago.

So, since I'm finally sort of caught up with what the cool crowd was into, I can now present you with my definitive list of the

BEST HORROR FILMS OF 2011

Wow.. ok... Well, I'd love to to that, but just between you and me, here's the deal.

This year kinda sucked for horror.  I mean, really.  There was not one single horror movie that really blew me away this year - no Let the Right One In, no The Ring, no The Devil's Backbone.  There was some kinda good stuff and lots of not so good stuff. And as usual, the best stuff wasn't even produced by Hollywood.

So, I've had to expand my horizons a bit and open up the list to thrillers, sci-fi and grindhouse movies as well to be able to field a proper team.  So here we go:

BEST HORROR/THRILLER/SCI-FI/GRINDHOUSE FILMS OF 2011

- I Saw The Devil  Ji-woon Kim's masterful ultimate revenge flick.  I don't know what it is about the South Koreans, but they love themselves some revenge!  Please tell me you've seen OldBoy.

- 13 Assassins  ok, I know this isn't even a horror/thriller/sci-fi/grindhouse film, it's a samurai action flick, but it was still better than most anything I watched last year, so it makes the list.  It's my list dammit! 

- Troll Hunter  A hilarious mockumentary that brings storybook trolls to life.  What's cooler than hunting a 200 foot mountain troll with a UV gun to try to turn it into stone?  Nothing.

 - Stake Land  Yes, I know, technically this came out in 2010, but I've had stuff to do you know - so gimmie a break.  A great post-apocalyptic zomie-ish vampire western road movie.  With tremendous attention to character development and tone.

- Super 8   The first big ol' Hollywood film on this list.  A great premise and it absolutely nailed the late 70's early 80's vibe of running around with your buds with a Super 8 camera.  I was there.  I was that kid running around. I should know.
I loved the first 2/3rds of this movie but then it kinda fell apart at the end.  Too bad.
Do I really need to mention all the gratuitous lens flares that J.J. Abrams has fallen in love with?

- Grave Encounters  I almost saw this low-budget indie film in Chicago in 2010 when Enter the Dark premiered there.  But then the festival was running way late and we had to bail.  This is one of the better found-footage horror flicks out there.  A predictable setup of a tv ghost hunting team spending the night in a spooky location is handled well with some nasty twists and turns. 

 - Tucker & Dale vs Evil  A very funny entry in the now well-established horror/comedy genre.  Best one since Shawn of the Dead and Slither.

- Rise of the Planet of the Apes  For a big tent-pole summer blockbuster, I thought it was very entertaining.

- Black Death  Well-done medieval-witch-hunting flick.  'nuf said.

- The Woman  Lucky McKee, the deranged director of cult favorite, May, brings you this very sick and twisted tale of a family man and the feral woman pet he keeps in his basement.  And shares with his family. Pretty standard setup... right?

- The Rite  Well-crafted, serious take on demonic possession and one man's faith.  Oh yeah, and Anthony Hopkins is his usual awesome self.  A lot of people didn't seem to like this film.  I think they've burned out their retinas and brains with too many episodes of The Kardashians and Jersey Shore.  Settle in and watch a mature and thoughtful movie every once in a while, willya?

- YellowBrickRoad  Another cool indie film that leads a team of investigators into the woods to research the mysterious deaths of an entire small town.  Another great setup that slowly builds its tale of madness gets under your skin.  It may take a wrong turn here or there and you may not like the ending, but it sure sticks with you days afterwards.

 - Attack the Block  The darling of last year's SXSW festival is a hyperactive tale of British street kids duking it out with space monsters.  Think Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels meets, oh I don't know, any alien invasion flick. 

- Dead Hooker in a Trunk  Yes, yes, once again this little gem actually came out in 2009, but it didn't get its wide release until this year.  If you haven't heard of this film yet - where the hell have you been??  The Soska sisters' loving tribute to all that is grindhouse-y, Dead Hooker makes up for its no-budget shortcomings by being relentlessly entertaining.

- Hobo With a Shotgun  Speaking of grindhouse... With a little more budget, a pissed-off Rutger Hauer and lots of colorful lighting, Hobo more than delivers on it's exploitation promise.

- Paranormal Activity 3  The problem with these PA flicks is they all fit the same pattern - slowly establish weird goings-on, give the doofus guy a reason to relentlessly videotape everything, ramp up the thrills and then give us a little twist at the end.  This installment works because of the clever use of the oscillating fan-o-cam and it's Wicker Man-esque finish.
  

- Insidious  I know I ripped on this film when it first came out, but I've changed my mind.  No... not really.  After seeing it again however, I really like the film up until the stupid ghost busters show up.  So I'm recommending the first half of the film. Then turn it off and go do something useful with your life.

What I learned from the festival circuit

After more than a year and almost 40 festival screenings, Enter the Dark's World Tour 2010 - 2011 is finally at an end.  It's been a great experience and I've learned quite a few things that will help me as I move forward with new projects.  I figured I might as well pass along some of these hard-earned nuggets to anyone who dares venture forth into the world of indie filmmaking.

First, in order to keep track of all the festivals I submitted to, I created a big-ole spreadsheet, including festival name, date of upcoming deadline, cost of entry, dates of the festival, location of festival, date when they would notify filmmakers of their decisions, whether I got in or not, and if we won any awards.

From these magic columns I can extrude the following data:

TOTAL SUBMISSIONS:  88
YES:  40
NO:    42
TO BE DETERMINED:  6

Almost a 50% batting average - not too bad.  I can tell you this - in the future I would not submit to as many festivals.  Since this was my first time, my main goal was getting as much exposure as possible and finding out which festivals were worth the entry fee.  Having submitted to that many festivals, I now have a pretty good idea which are the good ones, and which are the shady ones.

Enter the Dark's FREE Online Halloween Premiere

It's been a great run.

My little horror film which started out originally as a simple exercise in micro-budget filmmaking has now played in over 30 film festivals worldwide, garnered 6 awards, and introduced me to a whole new family of horror and indie film enthusiasts.

Along the way, I've traveled with the film from it's premiere in Chicago last year, to screenings in Sacramento and San Francisco.  I've made connections with fellow filmmakers and fans that I hope to nurture into collaborators and evangelists for my future work.

As I look back on the past year, it has been much more than I would have hoped.  I am deeply grateful for all the help I received along the way - mostly from my tremendous group of friends that just happened to be my cast and crew, and also from the numerous horror fans, bloggers and festival directors that championed our cause.

Heartfelt thanks to all!

And now, as the festivals wind down, in recognition of the great year we've just had, I'd like to offer you something for free...

Yes, that's right kiddos, Enter the Dark will be going live on the big bad worldwide web this Halloween!

See what all the fuss has been about.  See why folks much smarter than me have been saying things like:

…Enter the Dark, ladies and gentlemen, is what independent film making is all about.
The suspense was built up so finely that it almost started making me have a claustrophobic reaction in my room.  HORROR SOCIETY

Miro's story works like a good horror tale should, suckering us in with one hand while it's preparing to pop up and scare us with the other.  There's a command here that can't be taught, and Miro shows a natural gift for creating tension.  FROM MIDNIGHT, WITH LOVE

…a very surreal, scary and realistic depiction of a universal fear that all of us have…
...a sonic achievement of style and horror, but in a very psychological way.  SCARY FILM REVIEW

…Enter the Dark proves once again a good ghost story simply needs to put emphasis on the story and not flashy effects or big budgets in order to provide some fun and scares … delivers everything I look for in a horror short.   ALL THINGS HORROR

Halloween - Monday night, Oct. 31, 2011 at 5PM Pacific Time, Enter the Dark will me made available for free for the first time ever on YouTube and Vimeo.   And there it shall live - for all to see whenever you dang well please, in the comfort of your very own home.  Copy it - send the link around worldwide - make fun of it - argue about it - I don't care, the more the merrier!

So now there's no excuses - you cheappos who won't pony up $1.95 to watch a 30-day stream from IndieFlix.  Or you lazy types who couldn't bother to travel to one of the more than 30 festivals worldwide where it has already screened. No, that's fine - just stay right there.  Yeah, don't move hardly a muscle - just click your little mousy-thingy and flood your computer with 17 minutes of spooky good times.
Be my guest.

Really.

Did I mention that it will now be FREEEEE!??!?!?

(good - just checking...)

My gift to you.

Enjoy!

Enter the Dark summer updates

So, it's been a while since I posted about my little bundle of cinematic chills - or about anything for that matter.  Seems like "real life" has been taking most of my time lately. My day job as freelance video editor has finally picked up again and since I've been quite slow the past two years, it's been time to simply bear down and bank some coin.

This is good since it means I can continue to do the little things like pay my mortgage and keep our house.  But it's also quite draining so there's been little time for much else.

However, the 2011 Enter the Dark World Tour continues with or without me!  It's been doing tremendously, making the rounds and picking up awards along the way.  Here's some spots our short film has screened since last we met:

- Seattle True Independent Film Festival
- Fright Night Film Fest - Louisville, KY
- Pittsburgh Horror Film Fest
- Motor City Nightmares - Michigan
- Tumbleweed Film Festival - Washington
- Action On Film International Film Festival - Pasadena

In addition, we will be screening at a number of upcoming festivals:

New York City International Film Festival

Tuesday, Aug 23, 4pm - Abington Theater, NYC

Dragon*Con Independent Short Film Festival

Friday, Sept 2,  10pm - Atlanta, Georgia

Toronto Independent Film Festival

Sept. 8 -17 - Toronto, Ontario

Atlanta Horror Film Festival

Thursday, Sept 15, 10:30pm  - Atlanta Georgia

Tulsa International Film Festival

Friday, Sept 23, 11pm - Tulsa, Oklahoma

Fear Fete Horror Film Festival

Saturday, Oct 29 - Baton Rouge, Louisiana

If you're within spittin' distance of any of these events, please come on out and show your support!

We were also fortunate to have won a few awards, so I now have a growing collection of sharp-edged acrylic monoliths and other cool momentos:

Best Horror Short - Indie Spirit Film Festival:

Best Short Thriller - Bare Bones Film Festival:

Best Scare - Famous Monsters of Filmland Imagi-Movies:

Now that's really cool - I got a BANNER for that baby!

Best Paranormal Short - Fear Fete Horror Film Festival:

Now I haven't actually received this lil' shirt-ripping dude yet, but I hope they'll send me one.  How sweet is that!

In June we also screened in my neck of the woods at Another Hole in the Head Film Fest at the Roxie in San Francisco.  This was especially rewarding as I attended film school at S.F. State, so it felt like a homecoming celebration for film finals.  Most of the cast and crew (as well as many friends and family) were able to attend the screenings, and actor Charles Yoakum and I were able to do a Q&A session afterwards.  All in all, a tremendous time and one of those moments that makes it all worthwhile.

Outside the Roxie with Alaina Yoakum (Charles' wife) and hey, there's my dad too on the right!

Yep, that's me with Kristin Nelder - Assistant Camera, Gaffer, and all-around great person.

Charles and I gabbin' it up.

As Enter the Dark nears the end of it's festival run, I am starting to gather the inspiration for the next short film.  Once I get a little downtime, I'll jump on that baby and hopefully start shooting spring of 2012.  Can't talk much about that one yet, but I'll leave you with this little visual nugget to chew on:

Exclusive Interview with Chauntal Lewis, Star of Toolbox Murders 2

You probably haven't heard of Chauntal Lewis yet.  Hopefully, that will soon change. I was lucky enough to work with her on the indie film, The Commune. She recently took some time off her busy schedule to do this interview with me for Horror Society.  Take a sec to read about her inspirational story:

The Next One...

I've been so fortunate with the success that Enter the Dark has had so far: screenings around the world, great reviews and multiple awards.  More importantly, people really seem to respond to it and have encouraged me to keep going.  And therein lies the problem.  That dreaded sophomore slump.  It's time to start writing the next one.

With Enter the Dark, my main goal was simply to finally finish something.  I've been very good at coming up with ideas in my lifetime, and horrible at actually finishing any one of them.  I purposely made this goal embarrassingly easy to accomplish - shooting it in my own house, with my friends, with gear we already owned.  No excuses.  If I couldn't complete a short film under those circumstances, I never would and I should just accept that fact.  Fortunately with the great help of my friends, we did indeed steam forward and not only finished the project, but made a pretty darn good one as well.

 

But now, things are different.  This time, there can be no excuses - no conditions.  It's not enough to say, "Hey, isn't this pretty good considering we did this with no money and it was just me and my buddies?"  No, this time it has to stand on its own.  This short film has to be good enough that it could be shown to anyone and they would assume it was a Hollywood-produced film.  The story, acting, camerawork, lighting, art direction, sound design and everything else all have to be top-notch.  It has to be seamless - no excuses.

And why is that - you may ask.  Well, it's simple - this has to be my calling card.  There's no more goofing around.  If I'm to ever make it in this industry - to actually fulfill my little ol' BA in Cinema from S.F. State University, then the time is now.  This project has to be good enough for someone to look at and say, "Wow, this guy's good - let's give him a couple million and see what he can do with an actual budget.  Let's give him a feature film to direct."

There, I said it - that's what I ultimately want to do.

So, you tell me, how can anyone actually produce good art under those pressures?  You see, I have to play a game with myself - to forget what my goals are and just concentrate on the task at hand - writing a great story.  But it has to be a story that not only speaks to me, but that enables me to showcase my talents as a writer/director.  It has to be small enough so it is do-able (considering I still will have almost no budget), but big enough to explore inventive ideas. 

In short, I need to produce a tiny, perfect gem of a story that will be the seed to my future.  No pressure there…

UGH!!!

I'm stuffing myself with movies, pouring over M.C. Escher prints and reading Borges' Labyrinths to hopefully have all this wash over me so that some of its brilliance may somehow seep into my pores.  But I know I need to find my own true voice - I cannot allow myself to try to write to please others.  Only by making the story personal will it connect with others on a deeper level.  The things that work in Enter the Dark work because they feel authentic.  I must focus on that.

The good news is I think I've found the story - the architecture around which I may be able to create my film.  I still need to flesh out the details, breathe life into the characters, find the heart - but I think I've found the vessel.  Now, if I can just make the damned thing float!

Insidious - An Empty Shell of a Movie

I was worried.

You see - with all the buzz surrounding the new film by James Wan (Saw), I thought maybe someone had made the new classic haunted house/demonic possession movie before I could.

Turns out I needn't have worried.

Insidious is an empty shell of a movie, adrift in a nether nether land, with other nasty, scary movies forcing their way into it's lifeless corpse. Hey... that also happens to be the film's premise - what a coincidence!

It has its moments of great jump-scares, but never really develops the undercurrent of dread necessary to make a movie like this really get under your skin.

And why is that?

Well, it's simple.  It seems like James Wan has made a scary movie about other scary movies - kinda like Scream, but without all the fun.  Starting with the blood red embossed lettering of the title (a la Suspiria), Insidious follows the predictable path of The Exorcist, Poltergeist, The Entity (nice casting of Barbara Hershey by the way) and eventually all the way to Carnival of Souls (stumbling white-faced ghoulies anyone?) and back to Suspiria (bright red lighting) once again.

Wan even throws in a sketch of his Saw puppet on the blackboard behind one of the characters just in case we're not getting the hint- THIS IS A MOVIE ABOUT MOVIES!

Now, the whole thing actually almost works because he's borrowing from some really great films, so moments of the film hold your attention, draw you in and elicit some real nice scares, but you find yourself counting the references (a drinking game for sure) more than actually caring about any of the characters.

I did however, like his attempt to stay away from digital effects and go with mostly old-school costume, makeup and lighting, but while this works fine in the buildup phase of the movie it kinda left me wanting more when we enter the third act and we're supposed to accept the fact that this amazing, limitless astral-projecting reality we're entering is just a dark old house with red lights and a dude who look like Tim Curry.

I'm starting to understand why certain horror movies work for me and some don't.  This quote from William Friedkin sums it up nicely:

“The only way I could have made ‘The Exorcist’ the way I did, is if I believed it.  If you look at the film, it’s a film made by people who believe this – we’re not kidding.  The guy who wrote it and the guy who directed it, accept demonic possession and exorcism as a possibility.”
 
This is exactly why Insidious only works on a superficial level.  These dudes don't believe any of it, and they never expect the audience will either.  Everything is done with a wink and a nod.  The only things that ever terrified James Wan as a kid were obviously other horror movies. If you were ever a kid with night terrors, you would never present them like they are in this film - trust me, I should know.

Real horror comes from tapping those deep lurking fears within us and expressing them for others to see.  Not because it seems like a fun thing to do, or to make the next hit movie, but because you have to.

Because you are compelled.

Wait for my next movie... then you'll see what I'm talking about.

New Horror Society Review - Kill Devil Hill

A nasty little satanic horror short to check out:

What is a Horror Movie?

Ok  kiddos, hate to go on a rant here, but let me make this perfectly clear...

BLACK SWAN IS NOT A HORROR MOVIE!!!!

(phew... glad to finally get that off my chest)

It is psychological thriller that examines a young woman's descent into madness.

Is it scary?  Yes.
Is it disturbing?  Yes
Is it a horror movie?  No.

Just because a film is scary, suspenseful, disturbing, even terrifying, that does NOT make it a horror movie.

Let me tell you a little secret...   Are you ready?  Ok, here goes...

Jaws is not a horror movie either.  (uh oh, I can hear the masses grumbling)
Neither is Psycho. (ducks head, awaiting flying cookingware)
Silence of the Lambs? ...forget about it - it's a straight up thriller (hey, put that pitchfork down willya? lemme explain!)

Stop looking at me like that, Lecter, lemme explain

I tend to be protective of the term "horror".  To me, it represents a very specific type of movie, and in this age of inclusiveness, I feel people have tagged many films as "horror" in order to justify the genre.  They want to say, "Hey look!  Look at all the "horror" films that have won Oscars!  We're legit!  We're not the grade-B low-budget degenerate shlockfest that people think we are.  Please like us..."

Well EFF THAT!  Horror does not need justification or legitimacy.  It's just fine as it is, thank you very much - in all its bloody, subversive, thought-provoking glory.

Therefore, I think a little clarification is in order.  A comprehensive definition of what a horror film is, so these constant mis-classifications can stop.  If a term like "horror film" is used incorrectly, eventually it loses its meaning and has no value anymore.

Once we have a solid definition we can use that as a filter to pass a bunch of movies through it and see how it stands up under scrutiny.

I'll take the first stab - here's my definition.  A horror movie has to have the following elements:

- it has to have an element of the supernatural (witches, ghosts, demons, alternate realities, etc)
or
- it has to have a monster (some creature that does not actually exist)
AND
- its primary aim has to be to elicit fear, horror, disgust or suspense.

This means that many of the most famous movies that you see on those best horror films lists, ARE NOT EVEN HORROR FILMS!

Ok, let's go back to the films already mentioned and pass them through my filter.

Watch Enter the Dark for FREE

Watch Enter the Dark for FREE and help us win a spot at the FirstGlance Film Festival!

Friends, family, fans and horror freaks - now is your opportunity to watch our award-winning horror short, Enter the Dark for free in the comfort of your own home.  But be sure to hurry, this event only lasts until May 13th.

Simply bounce on over to the FirstGlance Online Competition website - http://fgff.openfilm.com , click "Join" and enter your info to create an account.

Then click on the picture for Enter the Dark, press play, click the full-screen icon, settle down and get ready for spooky fun.

Oh, and please, be sure to watch it at night…  alone… with the lights out… for full effect!

But wait… there's more!  We would really appreciate it if you would take a moment to vote for our movie and help us win prizes and a spot at the FirstGlance Film Fest in Philly (try saying that three times fast!)  Once you've watched the film to the end you will have an opportunity to vote (look for the stars above the film - wow, wouldn't FIVE RED STARS look really cool?!?!  I'm not trying to influence your vote or anything… just sayin')

Now, in order for your vote to actually count, the official rules state that you must watch THREE films in their entirety and vote on them (I guess they don't want anybody stuffing the vote or somethin'), so browse through the list of other equally entertaining nominees and pick out two others to watch and vote for. 

That's it - you're done!  You've watched some really cool short indie films AND you've helped us tremendously!

If you don't have the time to watch three short films and just want to check out Enter the Dark, that's totally fine as well.  Thanks so much for your interest, and I hope you enjoy it.

The Feed Review

Check out my review of the indie horror movie, The Feed at Horror Society: