Salem Horror Fest 2023

 aka April Monthly Media Recap, Part II 

 

For the past five years, Salem has been hosting an annual Horror Fest that's two weekends of independent horror films and shorts along with a few special events and celebrity appearances. They get hundreds of submissions from around the world, somehow narrow them down, and squeeze them into two weekends. 

 

The festival organizer is an amazing trans woman and Salem is super LGBTQ+ friendly so a lot of the selections feature themes and/or creators that are LGBTQ+. Part of what I love about SHF is that it gives me the chance to see things that wouldn't usually hit my radar and that are usually very different from what the big studios are putting out.

 

Prior years have been virtual which is great because you can watch the movies on demand on your own schedule. It's not as easy to sit in a theater for several movies a day, especially when the movies you want to see are back to back and don't leave time to duck out for a bite. But I have to say, it's so much more fun to see these movies with an actual audience and to have the chance to chat with other like minded folk!

 

 Cinema Salem is a small three theater place that works with SHF year round to show spooky stuff. They usually do up the "headboards" over the theater doors to show what's playing but they went all out and put art on the doors themselves.

Thursday night kicked off the festivities with a screening of Candyman with Tony Todd in attendance. These celebrity screenings are separate ticket events not included with my weekend pass and I didn't attend them. Friday night had a midnight screening of Night of the Demons with Linnea Quigley and Amelia Kinkade.The following Friday had Fright Night with William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse, and Stephen Geoffreys.

The Saturdays after the screenings, SHF hosted a party at Salem's bar-cade, Bit Bar. In addition to the bar's classic arcade and pinball games (I got high score on Tapper, thank you very much), there was a DJ and the celebs where available for autographs. Night of the Demons is pretty good but Return of the Living Dead is one of my all time favorite horror flicks so I had to meet Linnea! She was a total sweetheart and I found out we have the same favorite Universal Monster, the Creature!

Let's go to the movies!

Because these projects aren't done by major studios and are showing at festivals, I don't have links for where you can purchase them or info on where you can see them. In some cases, I couldn't find a trailer but there are definitely some to keep an eye out for! 

 

In addition to the below movies, I also caught a handful of short features. This one in particular grabbed me so give it a look if you've got 12 minutes.

 

 

And now for our feature presentations...

 

Satan Wants You (2023)

Being a young teen in the 80s, I was very aware of the Satanic Panic but until now, had no idea about this part of it. This documentary just gets crazier as you get into the life of a woman who "survived Satanic cult abuse" as a child. You can read about her book, that just about started the Panic, here.

The Pied Piper (1986)

It's like Rankin-Bass and Tim Burton got drunk and created a nightmare fairy tale prime time special. The stop motion is fantastic and every character has...well, character. It's not quite the story you might remember from childhood!

Rating: 8/10

Pendulum (2023)

A witch anthology. A young girl, Olivia, seeks out Miss Rosewood, an infamous local witch, for training. Before Olivia can join the coven, Miss Rosewood shares the story of each member of her evil sisterhood.

This was definitely a fun one to see with a crowd. This anthology has a good mix of stories in it and even some humor here and there. Several members of the cast and crew were on hand for a Q&A afterward.

Rating: 6/10

Summoners (2022)

Jessica Whitman isn’t a witch. Not anymore, at least. She left it behind when she left her hometown almost ten years ago. But when a childhood friend needs her help performing a dark spell, she finds herself questioning her sense of right and wrong, and grappling with her late mother’s secrets.

Absolutely one of the standouts of the entire event for me. The spooky stuff is used sparingly and to great effect. A lot of the focus is on the character drama of the lead women who were fantastic in their roles. 

 

Rating: 8/10

 

In a Dark, Dark Room (2020)

In a small town, misfit teens discover an ominous site of pagans, awakening a dark force that is fought by a mysterious biker – a history teacher by day and a witch hunter by night.

The subtitle translations lead to some, I'm guessing, unintentional chuckles at the screen. The story is told non-linearly and it can get a little confusing until you catch up. But movies like this are why I always recommend foreign horror to people because you never know what to expect.

Rating: 6/10

T Blockers (2023)

Ancient parasites that thrive on hatred rise from beneath a small town and take the most fearful and susceptible as hosts. A young trans filmmaker, who is struggling to transition in increasingly hostile times for LGBTQ+ people, realizes that only she can sense the possessed and must rally the resistance before the horror escapes and spreads.

I really enjoyed this director's first film, So Vam (now on Shudder), from a couple years ago and this one is just as much fun. This is Alice Maio Mackay's third film and she's only 18! She's got quite the future ahead of her and I can't wait to see what else she does.

Rating: 7/10, better review on Dread Central

The Weird Kidz (2022)

It's got a quirky animation style and a sense of humor strongly inspired by Beavis and Butthead. This was a really good time, funny, and surprisingly heartwarming. The creators were there and said it took him and his wife 8 years to complete the animation, which they worked on in spare time. This deserves to blow up and I'm hoping the Kidz will have more adventures.

Rating: 8/10

Mahakaal, aka The Monster (1994)

This was the one movie I was really excited for and I wanted to go in completely cold for it. A Bollywood knockoff of Nightmare on Elm Street? I'm all in! I'm not going to lie, the movie is a mess from the editing to the foley work, more facial close-ups than your favorite telenovela, and a "comic" relief character that I have no words for. Nightmare fans will no doubt recognize the ripoff scenes and probably have questions as to why this "evil magician" is using a Freddy glove. And don't get me started on why/how he was disfigured before he was killed (by being "buried" alive). Apparently by the end of the movie, his kills give him enough power to just show up in the waking world when he feels like it. And yes, this is a Bollywood film....there are song and dance numbers!

It's available on YouTube, although the formatting isn't quite right. I strongly advise not going it alone so you have someone to MST3k it alongside. At least you'll have the luxury of pausing it and not be stuck in a theater with it til the end.

 

Rating: 3/10 but you have to see it to believe it

Bliss of Evil (2022)

A pretty good slasher with some decent moments of tension and an actual story behind what's happening. I have to applaud them for what they managed to do while keeping most of the movie in a small location.

Rating: 6/10

HeBGB TV (2022)

It's like a Halloween/horror UHF skit anthology that's got a WNUF vibe to it! One of those weird and wonderful things that once you see it, you want to share it with your friends to bring them into the madness.

 

Rating: 7/10, better review on Bloody Disgusting.

Month Total Part II

New: 19   Rewatch: 1

Year to Date Total

New: 43   Rewatch: 4