Nightmares Film Festival, FilmFreeway’s #1-ranked genre fest, today revealed its 2024 program of #BetterHorror, including one-of-a-kind live experiences and workshops alongside its heralded film and screenplay slate.
The four-day Nightmare program once again delivers a must-see feature lineup collected from new and beloved genre voices around the world, with highlights including the genre-smashing martial arts/horror-revenge actioner Sayara from Can Evrenol (Baskin); gruesome remote-town thriller The Soul Eater from Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury (Inside, Leatherface); the world premiere of Jason Trost (The FP)’s The Waves of Madness, the first-ever side-scrolling horror film; the North American premiere of attendee favorite Johannes Grenzfurthner’s POV nightmare Solvent; and the world premiere of Ohio-made body horror feature Replicator from Mark Hamer (Helen Hunt-starrer I See You).
The fest will also host anniversary screenings of two brutal baby-horror classics: a 50th anniversary 4K restoration screening of bizarro creature feature It’s Alive, and a 10th anniversary cast-and-crew reunion screening of Zack Parker’s Proxy, with Zack’s brand new short Barista presented on 16mm film.
In all, the NFF will present 19 feature films and more than 135 horror, thriller, midnight, horror comedy and documentary shorts – including themed blocks like the horrors-of-writing shorts hour Paper Cuts and the alumni Recurring Nightmares blocks – while honoring 26 feature and short script finalists and returning its anticipated annual interactive panel, The New Distribution.
But even with that film program, it was important to continue to provide more opportunities for filmmakers and fans to connect in unique experiences, according to NFF co-founders Jason Tostevin and Chris Hamel.
“Nightmares is a celebration of the most exciting genre work in the world,” they said in a statement. “But we think the best part is the experience, which someone told us feels like a combination of Christmas morning and summer camp for horror fans, and we wanted to give people even more presents to open.”
That includes continuing Nightmares’s tradition as “the best festival networking opportunity for filmmakers, bar none” (The Film Coterie) with talkbacks and workshops with leading genre auteurs. Attending live to share new work and insights on the industry are: Jenn Wexler (The Ranger), Joe Swanberg (V/H/S) presenting a 15-min first-look preview of his feature Kenneled, Jennifer Reeder (Knives and Skin) and Bram Stoker Award-winning author Jeff Strand, who will pull back the curtain on screenwriting for studios and adaptations.
Live experiences also include a screening of L’Inferno (1913), likely the first horror feature ever released, with a creepy, immersive live score accompaniment by Montopolis, as well as a live taping of the award-winning horror podcast Fright Club.
All NFF live experiences are free to badgeholders. A complete initial schedule (subject to minor changes) and list of selections and screenplays is available here, and a complete program list with individual tickets lives on the Gateway Film Center website.
The festival is proudly partnered with bold, legendary genre distributor Dark Sky Films (The House of the Devil) and sponsored by Good Deed Entertainment and the Columbus Film Commission. Films and screenplays will be scouted for acquisitions by Good Deed, Scream Team Releasing, Crypt TV and more.
The festival once again takes place at the legendary independent Gateway Film Center, a top five North American art house (Sundance) featuring one of the last dedicated projection teams in the country. Upgrading the already standout on-site experience this year is the film center’s remodeled and expanded overlook festival lounge, where VIP badge holders can hang out with creators while enjoying a private bar and restrooms, a new kitchen menu and private entrance to both festival auditoriums.
Competition films and screenplays vie for a coveted Night Mare statuette, representing the dark horses of genre. The Night Mare is sculpted and painted by renowned toy and figure creator Tony Simione (Marvel, Star Wars, Godzilla, Alien).
A limited set of VIP badges is now available for purchase through Gateway Film Center’s website while they last.
