Horror film fest calls it a wrap

The fifth annual Hot Springs International Horror Film Festival wrapped up Sunday night, after successfully showing more than 40 hours of footage featuring thrills and chills for all ages.

The festival was hosted at the Central Theater, 1008 Central Ave., by the Hot Springs Arts and Film Institute under the command of director and producer Bill Volland and filmmaker and actress Tamara Glynn.

"The festival was absolutely great. We look forward to many more years of featuring international films," Glynn said.

"Whether (patrons) are returning to Hot Springs, or if this is their first time, being able to share our town and show off the creative talents featured from around the world is always great," she said.

A wide variety of feature-length, documentary, science fiction and short films were shown during the four-day festival. Several people involved in creating the films featured also attended the festival to host question-and-answer sessions and view their film's premiere, giving those in attendance unique access to the creation process and ideas behind the very films they were watching.

"I thoroughly enjoyed the authenticity and originality of the filmmakers. They seemed like really chill people," festivalgoer Earle Rousseau said.

Many of the films shown were the director's first attempt at filmmaking, including the film "The Rake," written and directed by Charlie Sheen's 8-year-old son, Bob Sheen. Two of the featured films were submitted by local filmmakers.

Festival organizers decided they wanted to bring in more nonfiction based films this year by featuring documentaries about real-life crimes and inviting a forensic professional to highlight the darker, mentally pressing aspects many ignore.

Joseph Scott Morgan, an associate professor of applied forensics at Jacksonville University in Alabama, made an appearance following the screening of "Forensic Science Perceptions and Interpretations," to speak openly about death and the grim reality of real-life cases versus Hollywood portrayals.

Morgan formerly worked as a medicolegal death investigator, but left his job after experiencing a severe series of panic attacks induced by the nature of his work.

His interview is just one installation in "The After Hours Club," a multipart series delving into the lives of people dealing with death on a daily basis. The series was created and produced by journalist Keith Schulenberg.

"People want to hear all about the decapitations and impalements, but they don't want to hear about the mother with decomposition fluid on her face after she fell to the floor to hug their dead child," Morgan said.

Attendance varied throughout the festival. Some films were only viewed by small audiences, while other screenings exceeded 50 people. Next year, the festival directors plan on condensing the nearly 12 straight hours of screenings down to increase the number of patrons at each screening.

"We have people each year driving pretty far just to come see this," Volland said. "It went really well, and it continues to grow each year."

Volland and Glynn have a short window of opportunity to wind down before they begin preparations for next year's festival. Volland said they will begin taking submissions for films within the next few weeks, starting the process of sifting through over a thousand submissions for next year's festival a little early.

Local on 09/28/2017

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