Halloween is in our rear-view, but that doesn’t mean the horror and mayhem needs to stop. The Buried Alive Film Festival will commence November 14-18 and bring to Atlanta some of the best in horror cinema worldwide.
In this two-part series, I’m taking a look at some of projects I’m most anticipating next week.
Day 1 – The Wednesday Challenge
The festival will kick off with the “Sinema Challenge.” This creative contest gives filmmakers 13 days to create a horror project based on random drawing selection. Each film-making team had to draw two horror sub-genres from a bin and decide on one or choose to combine both themes. Next, the team member would draw from another bin which determines the subject. The subject could be a person, place or thing but must be used in a noticeable way during the film (outside of credits).
I’m a firm believer that creatives can do their best work when forced under tight deadlines. And the Buried Alive team made sure to make foster a collaborative environment by hosting a networking event prior to Halloween for all the filmmakers to share ideas.
Those looking for the horror makers of tomorrow should definitely attend.
Start time at 8 p.m.
Day 2 – Thursday Shorts and Features
This is considered the “official” first day. Beginning at 7pm is the first Short Program block, consisting of 11 films ranging from 5-20 minutes.
The first story that caught my eye was Sarah’s Reimer’s Bitten. The premise finds a dog that has some type of violent encounter with an unknown entity. From there, the canine goes on a “night of adventure.” Outside of Cat’s Eye and the short film from VHS 2, animal lead roles in horror are rare. I’m interested to see how the POVs are handled.
Next is Tyler Marci’s What Comes from a Swamp. The story is a young man who has increasing difficulty caring for a strange creature he’s had living in his crawlspace since childhood. The plot reminds me of the real-life headlines we occasionally get of people’s exotic pets getting out of control and hurting someone. For me, the success of these films depends on the creature’s appearance. The trailer keeps it under wraps, but my curiosity is piqued.
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Speaking of real-life headlines, IIja Rautisi’s Helsinki Mansplaining Massacre caught my eye as having the greatest potential for biting satire. The title makes this one clear to figure out – a woman finds herself in a desperate struggle for survival when she’s beset by a “horde of men with frail egos who just want to explain everything to her.” I’ve grown to have a greater appreciation for horror comedy in recent years, so I’m banking on this one to elicit the biggest laughs of the night. See the trailer HERE.
The final short of the night is Alberto Corredor Marina’s Baghead. A person’s death doesn’t always mean an end to your problems with that individual. What if you had the chance to resurrect that person? Would you relish the chance to interrogate them for the wrong they’ve done to you? I love the idea of the vengeful protagonist in this setting over the usual “gets in over their head” types we see in conjuring flicks
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Our lone feature of the day is Joe Badon’s The God Inside My Ear. It’s been making the rounds at festivals this past year, garnering pendulum of responses such as praise for Linnea Gregg’s performance and being derided for an open-ended story-line of “pretentious” filth from IMDB users. And there’s the added dimension of knowing Badon got this entire project done for a mere $8000. That’s a momentous achievement and seeing how he got it done should make this a worthwhile watch for all budget-conscious filmmakers.
You can find the entire Buried Alive lineup right here http://buriedalivefilmfest.com/schedule/. Check back on Monday for a preview for Days 3-5.