by Jenika McCrayer, Staff Writer

The ninth annual Brooklyn Horror Film Festival ran from October 17 until October 24 and absolutely delivered on its promise to provide nightmare fuel and push boundaries on what’s considered a part of the genre. Horror fanatics and those who tend to shy away from the genre will benefit from adding these films to their watchlist. I’m already counting down the days until the next festival!

Dead Mail
Written and Directed by Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy
Runtime 1 hour and 46 minutes
New York Premiere

Dead Mail is a synth-heavy thriller that follows two seemingly unconnected groups of people that ultimately collide in the climax. The title is a clever double meaning and refers to mail that cannot be delivered to its intended recipient or returned to the sender. We meet those in charge of dead mail when we meet the workers at a quaint Midwestern postal office as they receive a mysterious blood-stained note begging for help. The “Dead Mail” clerk and his coworkers attempt to track down where the note came from and uncover something sinister. Meanwhile, a synthesizer engineer begins a partnership with an increasingly demanding and obsessive investor who will do just about anything win over the engineer’s affection. It’s thrilling to see how these two stories connect. Dead Mail perfectly captures that eighties aesthetic and soundscape. I also have a newfound appreciation for postal service workers now. Thank you for your service!

Psychonaut
Written and Directed by Thijs Meuwese
Runtime 1 hour and 27 minutes
World Premiere

Psychonaut writer and director Thijs Meuwese introduced the movie at the film festival by admitting that he considered it more science fiction than horror “unless you consider trying to live up to your parents’ expectations to be horror.” The exploration of familial trauma is what makes these overlapping genres so impactful, and Psychonaut found the perfect festival to debut at. Psychonaut follows Maxime (Julia Batelaan), a young woman who is on a mission to save her girlfriend, Dylan (Yasmine Blake), who is suffering from severe head trauma. As a last resort, Maxime turns to her estranged mother Samantha (Fiona Douriff), a mob doctor for help. Samantha has a futuristic machine that allows her and Maxime to dive into Dylan’s memories in order to find the “foundational memory” that could save her life. The mostly black-and-white film has stunning gothic imagery, powerful performances, and tender moments. I was left hoping we can both save Dylan and Maxime’s relationship with her mother.

Gazer
Directed by Ryan J. Sloan
Written by Ariella Mastroianni and Ryan J. Sloan
Runtime 1 hour and 54 minutes
New York Premiere

In Gazer, Frankie (Ariella Mastroianni) is a young mother with a brain disorder that makes it hard to perceive time and hold down a job. She is trying to save up enough money for her daughter before her inevitable hospice care. Frankie meets a mysterious woman who offers her a risky job with a huge payoff. She takes the job, which proves not to be anything like what she was led to believe, and inevitably suffers the grim consequences. I loved the film’s moody atmosphere and how it felt suspended in time due to Frankie’s reliance on cassette tapes to keep her focused. Gazer feels like an old-school neo-noir thriller. Ariella Mastroianni co-wrote this film with director Ryan J. Sloan, and it was awarded Best Screenplay in the Head Trips category at Brooklyn Horror Film Festival.

The next trio of short films was featured in Brooklyn Horror’s Shorts: Slayed block, a celebration of the LGBTQ community’s contributions to the genre.

Rat!
Written and Directed by Neal Mulani
Runtime 16 minutes

Rat! is a hilarious send-up of toxic fandom culture with writing reminiscent of the great Scream franchise screenwriter Kevin Williamson. In Rat!, queer music journalist Navin (Neal Mulani) accuses singer Wally Max (Jacob Berger) of queer baiting in a TikTok that goes viral. As Navin begins to write an article based on his viral TikTok, he suddenly has to fight for his life as crazed Wally Max fans take the fight offline to terrorize him at his aunt’s home. As a pop culture journalist who’s been bullied online going on 10 years now, this one hits close to home.

Lady Parts
Written and Directed by Ariel McCleese
Runtime 15 minutes

Lady Parts is a surprisingly sweet coming-of-age horror about Iris (Ava Hase), a teenager who is self-conscious of how wet she gets when she’s turned on. Her body issues could be dismissed as typical teenage insecurity if it weren’t for the fact that people are literally drowning in her pussy. Lady Parts is beautifully shot and Ava Hase gives a moving performance as Iris. In the Q&A session at Brooklyn Horror, writer and director Ariel McCleese commented that she hopes to expand on Iris’s journey to self acceptance in a feature length film. Yes, please!

Girls
Directed by Julien Hosmalin
Written by Julien Hosmalin and Olivier Torres
Runtime 20 minutes

Girls is a French short film about couple Romane (Natacha Krief) and Ally (Carmen Kassovitz), two lovers traveling a desolate landscape in search a place to settle down and live peacefully. The two women are targeted by a sex trafficking organization that sells girls to the highest bidder, and they are forced to seek vengeance on their journey to peace. Girls is a stylist revenge film that effectively uses a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” to set the mood. It’s no wonder that French extremity is such a popular subgenre because they do violence and revenge so, so well.

Find the rest of MovieJawn’s Brooklyn Horror Film Festival coverage here.