Sacramento Horror Film Festival

By Fringe Staff

A Wrap Up

By Brandon Caylor

If you’re like me and you consider yourself a true fan of horror films, then you probably agree that 95% of the horror flicks Hollywood puts out are garbage. Seriously, lately they are either trying to remake an old classic, poorly, creating movies based on video games, or ripping off talent from overseas. Thank goodness for independent film, and thank goodness for the first annual Sacramento Horror Film Festival.

The three-day event was held at the Colonial Theater in Sacramento, and featured over forty independent horror films and shorts, live music, a few celebrities, and some other assorted fun and games. Tim Meunier, the festival director, stated he wanted to create “a place to escape the world and relax in the world of pretend. Enjoy the films, meet a celebrity, and enjoy a small concert. Mostly enjoy films you don’t find in the mainstream and possibly get a chance to talk to the filmmakers who made them.”

Glancing at the festival guide, I knew I just had to be present for the 6:00 PM “Vomit Show,” a series of films that promised to make us happy attendees use our complimentary barf bags.

The main film in this segment, the feature-length “Neighborhood Watch” was promised by host, The Queen of Trash, to be the most disturbing, disgusting movie out there. While the film did make me grit my teeth and wince just a couple of times, my barf bag remained untouched. I did keep it handy for other films though, just in case.

The film I found myself totally amused by was the innocently titled “Cannibal Flesh Riot,” a happy little short by the one and only Gris Grimley. This little gem was obviously made on a very limited budget (and doesn’t pretend not to have been), but had some of the greatest atmosphere, storyline and dialogue ever. Not only was it fun as all heck, but educational as well. For example, do you know what a ghoul really is? You see, a ghoul is the exact opposite of a zombie. A zombie is a corpse that feeds on the living. A ghoul is a living person that feeds on corpses. Fun stuff, right? I know you’re probably kicking yourself in the shins for missing this. I don’t blame you.

Some of the other intriguing films I unfortunately missed were Night of the Hell Hamsters, yeah, that’s right, a film about possessed hamsters, Zombie Diaries, Methodic, and a host of others that looked interesting. A g a i n , most of these films are low-budget, but that doesn’t matter. You see, we were here to be entertained by some actual creativity… something we don’t see very often.

I met with a few fellow horror fans in attendance at the festival. I noticed one particular gruesomely charming couple, Rosalinda Castro and Adrian Simons, that were present from the beginning ’till the end – the full three days. I asked if the cost of the pass was worth it.

“Yes, definitely,” Rosalinda answered. “I enjoyed the whole experience – the bands, the movies, the guests, especially Tony Todd (Candyman). I like that some of the people that made these movies were actually here.”

And their favorite films?

“My favorite short was ‘The Pool’,” Adrian said. “So far the best movie was ‘Beneath the Surface’. I hope they do this again next year.”

I asked Tim, the director, about the event’s success, and if indeed this will become an annual thing.

“We had over 1,500 people attend this weekend, and the responses I have received have been wonderful. Not many have heard of the films we had scheduled, so the fact that they paid their hard-earned money to support something new is very endearing to me. I want to enhance what worked well, and correct what didn’t, and definitely announce the dates for year number two soon!”

And what would he hope to change? “We only had one film from Sacramento. Borrowing the idea from other festivals, I hope to organize a filmmaker challenge. Perhaps a 5-minute zombie short contest, and encourage Sacramento filmmakers to participate.”

So there’s your challenge. Now go bust out your movie cameras and put your mind to work. I’ll tell you what. I’ll hold on to my barf bag and bring it next year. If your film actually causes me to use it, I’ll buy you a hot dog or something. Deal? Get all the information you need at www.sachorrorfilmfest. com.