In the midst of the good times over the weekend, people had to know it was going to come to an end. Thankfully, Greg Lamberson made it a point to mention that there will be another Buffalo Screams next year for sure. Buffalo now has a yearly counterculture outlet for its horror lust to be quelled.
Opening the day was Jay Mager’s bloody biker drama, Born to Die. It was previously covered in Buffalo Rising during the Buffalo International Film Festival here. Only now it was presented to a bigger and more appreciative audience.
Next was Brett Kelly’s campy superhero film, Avenging Force: The Scarab. The film centered on a small team of heroes that must do battle with a vicious crime boss, The Sphinx, who was in search of a mysterious, but powerful relic. People used to Christopher Nolan’s dark Batman films will likely be turned off by this film due to its intentions being more aligned with the old Adam West Batman TV show. Kelly stated in the Q&A: “You never saw the Joker stab a pencil in someone’s eye in the show.”
The humor of the film was intentional, despite the popular misconception that it isn’t. According to Kelly, “The best humor is when you try to play it seriously.” You don’t have to look much further than the fact that the Sphinx’s base of operations is a mattress warehouse. Fans of the previously screened Werewolf Fever will recognize the actor who played Co-op, Mark Courneyea, as the lead role in Avenging Force. While Iron Soldier may be my personal favorite Kelly film, this one is really good in its own right.
The second short of the day was Sam Qualiana’s No Road Out. The plot of the film can be summarized in the only memorable line from Godfather III: “Just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in.” A man try to escape from his past is thrown right back into it with one phone call from a desperate friend.
For a film that looked amateurish at first actually showed some complexities the more it was analyzed. The fight choreography was well-timed and organized. The camera set-ups were simple, but effective. It had its share of blood and violence. Once you got past the fact that no weathered crime boss is as young as the one in this film, it becomes enjoyable. Now that Qualiana has got his name out there in the local film community, expect to see him involved in bigger local productions.
The Black Cat, directed by Carl Caprino, was the next short of the day. The plot, which was very loosely based on Poe’s famed short story, tells of a man terrorized by a cat on Halloween. Only this cat planned to remind him of the numerous skeletons that were hidden in his closet. He faced with his hidden crimes and pay the consequences for them.
The film started out great. It was well-shot and had some great camera angles. The cat that was used was convincing, given that it was the pet of the director. It started off as a great Halloween ghost story that turned into an overindulgence of visual effects. This was a case where the “less is more” approach would have been a major benefit. The extensive effects shots really halted the momentum the film built up in its first ten minutes.
The next feature was Michael DiCerto’s Triptosane, my personal favorite film of the day and probably the deepest film of the entire festival. The premiere was at the Buffalo Screams Horror Festival. Kudos to Lamberson and Novak for putting this film into the schedule.
Rupert Graham (J. Paul Nicolas) is haunted by dreams of his medicine man grandfather and seeks any help to stop them. Dr. Rennet (Larry Block) seeks to help him out with his unorthodox methods of infusing technology with hallucinogenic drugs. At the same time, Tina (Laura DiCerto) seeks to use Rupert to help expose a CIA conspiracy to read people’s minds with satellites. To be honest, there is no description that will give justice to the contents of the film. Despite the goofy premise, this was a deep film that will be appreciated by fans of Nolan’s Inception and the films of Stanley Kubrick.
What first drew me into seeing this was Trace Beaulieu’s name on the poster. Being a diehard Mistie, I wanted to see this film just for his voice-over performance as the AI named Syd. Hearing the voice of Crow T. Robot and Dr. Clayton Forrester applied to a HAL 9000-type sentient robot drew me in. It opened my eyes to this gem waiting to be a given a just release. Fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 will also recognize the voice of Pearl herself, Mary Jo Pehl, who had a brief vocal cameo in the film as Dr. Rennet’s wife.
The last short was Gitchy, directed by Lenny Rivera and Thomas Norman. If a movie like Killer Klowns from Outer Space scared you or Tim Curry’s performance as Pennywise from It scarred you for life, then you might want to stay away from this film. The film tells the story of a man who believes his parents were killed (by being tickled to death) by a six foot five, 400 pound clown. It was scary and funny and it worked. This got a great reaction from the crowd of the screening.
The final film of the festival was the Cole Brothers’ feature, M. Don’t mistake this for the Fritz Lang masterpiece with Peter Lorre. This home invasion film is very much along the lines of Funny Games and The Strangers. It deals with a killer seeking vengeance on the people who wronged him and cost him someone dear to him. The film’s torture scenes take some notes from Saw and Hostel. Probably not since Driller Killer has the power drill being used so sadistically.
While I couldn’t get past the fact that I’ve seen movies with this same premise on numerous occasions, it was a sharp looking film. The camera movements were fluid and smooth. It was very well acted and the two leads (Stephen Twardokus and Sabrina Carmichael) have great chemistry between them. Plus, it was really building some great suspense at the end. And there is also the depraved gore littered throughout the film’s gut-wrenching torture scenes.
Overall, the films were good. This day had three really strong days to follow after and it must have been intimidating for some of the filmmakers present. It was not easy, but there were some good films on display Sunday. In the end, the festival succeeded in its intentions to help expose new filmmakers to a bigger audience and give the people of Buffalo the alternative cinema its been clamoring for.