2008 FRIGHT NIGHT FILM FEST

Louisville, KY.

              It’s a return to the Dark Side.  Oh yeah, baby, that time of year again.  The 2008, Fright Night Film Festival in Louisville KY.  That’s right; it’s Kentucky in the middle of August, its 98 degrees and everybody is in black…scary.  This marks the fourth year of this juried film festival and my 3rd year to attend.  It’s always gt’s (good times) in Louisville during Fright Night; I have had a blast every year.  But the real reason for this festival is to create a forum for aspiring independent film makers to submit their work so it can be; screened by judges, seen by the public, and reviewed by the media. At the end of the week - films, cast, and crews are nominated for various awards to be announced at the end of the festival.  The bar continues to rise with this festival each year.  Film makers are working harder and harder, the competition gets tougher and tougher and the films get better and better.   With high caliber films, an impressive celebrity showing, and several surprisingly in-depth and helpful panel discussions this film festival/convention’s attendance level of fans, increases every year as well. This is great news but unfortunately this swelling has also created huge amounts of pressure on the festival prompters and staff.  Some of the challenges facing this year’s festival ranged from projector problems, to last minute film schedule changes, to cramped spacing issues in the vender halls. Film projectors were especially aggravating for audience members, including myself.  From the first film I saw to the last, something went wrong every time with each projector.  I spoke with a young director who said that the technology the film makers were using to make and copy their films was more modern, and therefore not compatible with festival projectors.  All of these things caused me to originally berate and complain about the Fright Night film Fest promoters, but instead I have found a more compassionate take on the situation.  These folks are trying to do a cool thing not just for independent film makers (who face a multitude of obstacles trying to get their films seen) but also for a genre of film that has never been taken seriously by critics, audiences, or Hollywood elitists. I’m not gonna get on my soap box for long, but come on, think about it …a juried independent film festival,… for horror films, in…KENTUCKY… That’s about as many obstacles as you can get trying to get a film seen, let alone promote it!  I discovered that the host hotel in Louisville had to be changed at the last minute and the scheduling changes were caused by discussion panels going on for too long because aspiring local film makers kept asking good questions.  And lastly, the reason the film projectors are so old and crappy and don’t work properly, is because; there is no money out here! Not out in BFE…independent horror film world. OK…zero dinero.  Sponsorship only goes so far, and probably barely covers costs.  I’m sure there is hardly any money left over to even pay the staff’s wages let alone buy 4 new “state of the art” film projectors. So I will not slam the promoters of this festival, I will save my bashing for the ones that deserve it, *raising middle finger* the ones that create an environment which makes it virtually impossible for independent film makers survive, create, and prosper, those “Big Dogs” who would rather make a buck, than support independent films; especially independent horror films. Instead I will applaud the staff and promoters of the Fight Night Film Festival and their efforts to do something important for some extremely talented and tenacious independent film makers. Through the hot ass August heat, navigating cramped spaces, trying to ignore broken projectors, and enduring the ever present smarmy factor that is always in attendance…here are my selections from the Fright Night Film Festival, 2008.  Enjoy!

Gypsytishy