Nightstream Film Festival Recap
Finally, the first Nightstream Film Festival is upon us and will run from October 8th - October 11th via the Eventive platform.
If you’ve been craving the full cinematic horror experience, we totally feel some of that pain. However, this virtual festival is sure to both frighten and entertain horror fans until the theaters reopen by providing genre fans with a few drops of bloody awesomeness. We are pleased to announce that we are bringing you press-accredited coverage of the festival via this article and additional podcasts coming next week!
Nightstream is bringing genre fans the ultimate at-home horror experience. If you’re like me, you are probably tired of watching the same Halloween classics that you watch every year (or all year, like me). The good news is that there is something to look forward to for every genre fan, as the culmination of five genre festivals, Boston Underground, Brooklyn Horror, Overlook, the North Bend Film Festival, and Popcorn Frights, guarantees a diverse palette of films to choose from.
Special events are in place, as well: Candyman director, Nia DaCosta, is set to appear on a virtual fireside chat to discuss her upcoming horror reboot and a 20th Anniversary Celebration of American Psycho is set to take place with filmmaker Mary Harron. But don’t worry, that’s not all — there is a plethora of additional panels and events to attend to, virtually, of course.
This article will be updated daily to include the latest recaps/coverage fresh from the festival until it has finished. And, it isn’t too late to purchase your own pass to the virtual festival: go here for information on how to purchase last-minute passes.
Last Updated: October 13th at 4:58pm CST
And that’s a wrap! We have officially ended our live coverage of the festival. Everything came together smoothly for the first-ever virtual festival. If anything, I’m slightly more hopeful about the future of films in a post COVID-19 world. Eventive’s platform worked very well for hosting the films and ensuring a safe, effective viewing experience. Purchasing tickets to the events and films was simple and self-explanatory — and selecting the times was easy enough, too. I personally can’t wait for more festivals to do this moving forward!
Run is a nail-biting, gripping thriller that you wouldn’t dare turn your attention away from. With remarkable performances from Sarah Paulson and Kiera Allen as mother/daughter duo Diane and Chloe, we follow Chloe on her journey as she discovers that her seemingly typical mother has been hiding sinister secrets from her that forces her to realize that she’s in great danger. Despite the overall predictable plot, director Aneesh Chaganty manages to keep the story very fun and fresh for what it brings to the table. Its adrenaline-inducing scenes gives you the feeling that you’re watching a home invasion, stalker, and action movie all in one flick; not to mention a teenaged female protagonist who is incredibly resourceful and witty — and that you can’t help but root for every step of the way as she holds her own. It is definitely a film to watch if you enjoy having the creep factor up to an 11.
- Linda Marrison
Nina Hoss as a tormented mother in Pelican Blood will have you feeling a certain type of way. The child actors are phenomenal, but it’s Hoss’ tormented performance that steals the entire film. In addition, it subverts the typical expectation of what a horror film can/should do. Calculated hand-held camera work and an eerie countryside setting do make for some haunting imagery, while the de-dramatized and nuanced nature of the script and performances from the adult actors work towards deconstructing the typical tropes of the subgenre.
- Jared Charles
Unfortunately, It Cuts Deep isn’t as captivating as some of the other festival films screened at Nightstream. Much of this was due to the redundancy found laced throughout the script. While I was looking for humor — as that was marketed pretty heavily — I found, instead, a bare-bones plot that did nothing to propel its story or its characters in a satisfying or meaningful way. Its predictability is appalling for a concept that seemed so enticing. However, the performances are surely entertaining on some level and the chemistry between the three leads is present. I just feel as if I was left wanting more.
- Jared Charles
Anthony Scott Burns’ Come True is an exercise of patience. That isn’t a bad thing, though, as the film’s truly horrific atmosphere is explored in tunnels that only go deeper and deeper into the story. Not every scene is blended together perfectly but there is such care in the shot composition from Burns, who is also responsible for the cinematography. Title cards are used effectively and the heavy synths in the scoring create a sense of immediacy and existential dread. Overall, a really solid feature!
- Jared Charles
Aquatic horror is probably the scariest subgenre of all horror films for me. What’s even scarier is thinking about a loved one trapped in dark waters without any real help, and their survival left entirely to my hands. Well, Joachim Hedén’s Breaking Surface gives viewers a taste of what it would be like if this scenario were to happen in your life. In this chilling tale of sisterhood, Ida (Moa Gammel) and Tuva (Madeleine Martin) must endure an accident during a diving trip in Norway that causes one of the sisters to be pinned on the bottom of the ocean. The setting is cold and dreary, but the familial relationships and subtle themes will warm your heart. What the cast and crew is able to accomplish in just 80 minutes is remarkable.
- Jared Charles
May The Devil Take You: Chapter Two seems to be another horror movie that leaves you wondering if we really need sequels. While it does give you a similar whacky, almost zany atmosphere that we enjoyed from Evil Dead, this film had a lot of potential to become another classic, cabin-in-the-woods favorite. So, where did it go wrong? First, the film fell victim to overcomplications; by the time the film ends, you’re left scratching your head still trying to make sense of what just happened due to the clunky patchwork of a plot that deals with witchcraft, hauntings, possession, and kidnappings. The biggest offense was the horrendous inconsistency in quality when it came to the scares and special effects. Using a mix between well-delivered, practical effects and embarrassingly cheap CGI, you’re left feeling ultimately unsatisfied and craving more. The only reason I didn’t fall asleep was because I tried to count all the times they give you an awful first-person POV of a flying buzzsaw.
- Linda Marrison
Still from Dinner in America
Anyone else seem to love Kyle Gallner the more you see him in films? His recent project, Dinner In America, shows off his range and proves why he should be adored as a lead actor. With no real standout plot to follow until almost the last half of the film, we mostly follow sociopathic punk Simon and mousy oddball Patty as Simon teaches her to rock in her own way and stand up for herself. With a dysfunctional cast of supporting characters, you don’t even care if there’s a plot to follow or not because the interactions between everyone are so crazy that you’re left surprisingly pleased. You end up wanting to be a punk rocker yourself and stick it to the man.
- Linda Marrison
Puppetcore has outdone themselves with their latest film, Frank and Zed. Not only is the film endlessly hilarious, but it feels like a guaranteed Halloween classic that I’ll be watching yearly moving forward. In true seasonal fashion, the puppets are lightly frightening and the crew ensures a sufficient amount of unease between both the set decoration and staging. I was surprised by the amount of chiaroscuro and care that went into the design of the film. All of the puppet work and voice acting is spot on, too. Really, the only misstep might have been the pacing in the script. However, the last 30 minutes make up for some of the film’s unevenness. Director Jesse Blanchard had a vision — and it came to life wonderfully. But really, you can feel the amount of love that the entire cast and crew had for this story.
- Jared Charles
Black Bear might seem like a straight-forward thriller, but there is so much more hidden under the surface that the film, itself, doesn’t even dig deep enough to retrieve. And yet, I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Aubrey Plaza and Sarah Gadon are lively, and profound. Though, each actor shows range and versatility in their performances that evolve across each act. The film’s pacing is exhilarating, too — sure to leave you on the edge of your seat. Its laughable insanity is more entertaining than it has any right to be. In addition, the meta-narrative structure is smart in ways that are unexpected. Black Bear twists the expression of an elephant in the room to expose the cruel nature of raw emotion; and also bears.
- Jared Charles
Bleed With Me is a psychological horror that follows a trio - consisting of friends Rowan, Emily, and Emily’s boyfriend, Brendan, as they spend a weekend in Emily’s snowy family cabin. From the beginning of the film, you can already tell that the insecure introvert Rowan is feeling like a third wheel on the trip. However, things really begin to spiral when she begins to suspect that Emily is trying to steal her blood when she finds mysterious cuts on her arm. The film’s main focus is on keeping the tension high as it shows you how Rowan and Emily’s relationship quickly shifts into co-dependency as Emily seems to manipulate Rowan into thinking that she is reverting back to the self-destructive person that she once was. It’s very clear that this film is definitely not for everyone, as it is very slow burning and much of the film is left for your own interpretation; however, it does a decent job of keeping the tension very high throughout the whole movie as you’re left wondering if anyone in the cabin is really trustworthy.
- Linda Marrison
