by Sasha Ravitch, Staff Writer

It’s hard to beat the thrill (and chill) of sitting in rapt attention in a dark theater surrounded by others anticipating a film’s debut! This year’s New York City’s Horror fest showcased shorts and features by seasoned writers, directors, and producers, as well as inaugural work by fresh voices in the scene, here’s a trio of films I caught in the flesh at this year’s fest.

The Woods
Written and Directed by Sarah Lyons

Sarah Lyons’s feature premiere exceeded my expectations for a first time director and screenwriter. The Woods is a beautifully shot and fluidly written rollercoaster of all too believable characters discovering themselves in all too terrifying circumstances. A chilling journey across the forest’s hedge into eco-malevolence which exacerbates latent madness, Lyons proves she understands the nascent but ever-present terror of wild spaces. She also understands how the terror these spaces possess swiftly becomes a possessing terror. The viewer finds themselves constantly asking themselves: can this all just be pathology, or is a supernatural, metaphysical monstrosity afoot? The film leaves you with more questions than it does answers, but this only enriches its story.

There was much to love about The Woods, and one would be remiss to not put director of photography Maddalena de Beni at the top of that list. The cinematography was stunning, and de Beni did a tremendous amount with what she had available. Of additional note were a series of standout performances from: Sean Cole as the ineffably unlikeable podcaster, Mike, an emotionally discomfiting and raw performance from Samantha Evans as Amy, an immeasurably likable Taylor Harris-Butler as Kate, Troy Trippichino with a remarkable grace and groundedness as Sam, Jakob Martinez Cooper embodying the brassy and sharp-mouthed Lucas, and certainly not least, a delightful performance by Todd Jones as the Innkeeper. The haunting, spectral landscape, the natural and measured acting, and the clever writing is all bolstered by a chilling and ethereal original score by House13.

My only criticism for the film is that I feel it would have benefited from an additional fifteen or twenty minutes of time tacked on to its last quarter; however, considering the microbudget the team was working with, that feels more like a wish I had for the film than a criticism worth any weight.

Vampire Zombies…From Space!
Written and Directed by Mike Stasko

It’s rare to sit in the audience of a horror festival feature premiere and find yourself surrounded with constant, delighted laughter, but that’s exactly what Vampire Zombies offers. Shot entirely in black-and-white, the film does a commendable job capturing the felt-sense of the films of which it serves as an homage: those drive-in-theater creature-features of the 1950s, full of characteristic kitsch and a clever, quick gait through hamfisted dialogue. You can feel the affection that went into the creation of Stasko’s film. Everything from the vintage cars to the wardrobe feels consistent and fastidiously tended to. It is absolutely impressive how such a wide scale recreation of 1950s Americana was managed on an indie budget, but that’s part of the magic of projects made with such ardent love and devotion to the genre which they pay tribute to. 

The special effects are over the top, full of quality gore and outrageous humor. I recall the first moment the audience witnesses the vampire-to-bat transformation, replete with cheap rubber bat-toy and the exposed string it was dangling on. The uproarious laughter that flooded the theater at this shameless humor was a vivifying tonic in the midst of heavier and more morbid fare. Other points of delight include Dracula’s own son and heir being named “Dylan”, and a monologue of brotherly affection shared over the protagonist’s “brother”. Vampire Zombies feels like discovering a cult-classic, and it was the film that most surprised me. With noticeable guest appearances by such beloved cult figures as Judith O’Dea from Night of the Living Dead, and Troma’s own Llyod Kaufman, the film proves a worthy addition to its genre. That being said, if The Woods felt just a little too short, Vampire Zombies…from Space! felt just a little too long, and I found that there were some scenes during the middle that lagged more than I had wished.

The Daemon
Written and Directed by Matt Devino and David Michael Yohe

The Daemon is billed as a cosmic horror featuring motifs of grief/psychological horror and Lovecraftian ethos. This type of self-identification made me especially excited, as cosmic horror is certainly my favorite subgenre of horror. Unfortunately, sometimes the way a film chooses to describe itself, its influences, and its intentions, can create an expectation in the viewer which does a disservice to the reality. Had I gone in blind to The Daemon, I believe I would have been pleasantly surprised; however, since I went in with great anticipation, I found my expectations surpassed the deliverables of the film. The film has absolutely stunning cinematography, with some of the most impressive color and saturation I saw in the festival lineup, and absolutely spellbinding art and photography direction. The creature effects are supremely thrilling, even occasionally gruesome, and the performance of Mark by Oscar Wilson was my favorite performance across all three films I covered. 

That being said, the writing felt deeply hollow to me, especially for a film which aspires to make the viewer feel, to plumb some abyssal gate of grief inside our core. The character of Jess was grating and unsympathetic–though I am certain that was not the intention of the writers, or the actress Adriana Isabel, who did her best with the cliched character she was given. As is all too quotidian for a Lovecraftian film, the women end up in service to the belligerence of men: a hysterical woman is a hysterical woman, even if this time she’s a therapist rehabilitating felons and brothers-in-law. All of this, however, I am inclined to forgive for the simple genius of its concluding scene: a breathtaking, utterly original, and absolutely laudable feat. A comprehensible vision of the horrors (and beauty) beyond comprehension. While there was much that disappointed me about The Daemon, there was much to be commended, and I genuinely look forward to what Yohe and Devino bring us next.