Welcome to Dead by Dawn!

DEAD BY DAWN
Saturday 9th October 2010
All screenings in Cinema One
Bye Bye Sally + THE DIRECTOR’S CUT
Programme starts 1215
Short Film Programme: “Horror Shorts with Happy(ish) Endings”
Danse Macabre, The Basket Case, The Pool, Life After Beth,
Void, Tufty, Sunshower, Tropezones
Programme starts 1430
CROPSEYProgramme starts 1630
Short Film Programme: “It Can Always Get Worse”
Knife Point, Chloe & Attie, Hatch, Jardin Dead End,
Sinkhole, Excision
Programme starts 1830
Rite + 5150, RUE DES ORMES
Programme starts 2045
RED VELVET Programme starts 2315
Welcome to Dead by Dawn!
Welcome to Dead by Dawn’s One Day UnHallowe’en Special!
The leaves are turning - first the colour of bruises, then of blood. The sky may be blue but the air is graveyard cold and it’s
hard to remember warmth on your skin. To me, that means it’s almost the best time of year, and today we’ll celebrate by
going underground with bogeymen, rejoicing at a maniac in bunny ears, making mental notes to learn to play better chess and
getting final, irrefutable proof that our furry friends are evil to their fuzzy cores.
Dead by Dawn exists not only to showcase potential and vibrant emerging talent, but also to provide the widest possible
range of what can be desribed as horror.
It remains a joy to programme for an audience who appreciate those film-makers who can make the familiar seem fresh,
reinvigorated and profoundly unsettling.
I hope you have a great festival!
Adèle
Adèle Hartley
Festival Director
Red
Velvet
Red Velvet is a refreshingly funny,
intelligently shot, independent gem.
Aaron (Henry Thomas) meets his
neighbour Linda (Kelli Garner) in a
launderette. Although he’s nothing
but verbally aggressive towards her, she
convinces him to tell her a story. It’s
a story of the weekend up at the cabin
she can’t get to and a killer (Lateef
Crowder) bumping off the people
that did make it there. They decide
together what the killer should look
like, and the film cuts back and forth
between Aaron’s cabin story and their
launderette conversations.
The extreme comic book violence
comes in the story segments, which
are shot in a style that I’d call a
note-perfect homage to Suspiria and
Creepshow…but it’s not just homage
for its own sake. There’s an 80’s feel
layered into the story parts, not just
in the direction and cinematography,
but in the writing, music, and acting
as well. While Red Velvet is telling
a serious story, half of it is filtered
through a cracked mind obsessed with
Eighties horror.
The kills are anything but clichéd, with
a deranged brilliance to the killer. It’s
macabre, yes, but in such a ridiculous
way as to feel inspired. I feel sure that
some people will prefer it to be purely
a spoof, but if you love films that don’t
hand you all the answers and take
their time saying what they need to,
I’m sure you’d agree with me that the
pacing of the film is just perfect.
Red Velvet – Bruce Dickson’s
directorial debut - is deranged and
inspired in equal measures, sometimes
both at once.
Taken from a review by Plagiarize at Dread
Central / www.dreadcentral.com
USA / 2009 / 87 mins
Director: Bruce Dickson
Producers: Sean Fernald, Ari Citak, Jim
McConville, Joe Moe
Writers: Anthony Burns, Joe Moe
DoP: Jim Dickson
Editors: Jonathan Alvord, Michael Mees
F/X: Kevin Kirkpatrick, Mark Bourque,
Jeff Colbert, Richard Courte, Ian
Goodwin, MPFX Studios
Cast: Henry Thomas, Kelli Garner,
Forrest J Ackerman, Natalia Baron,
Cristen Coppen, Lateef Crowder, Ryan
Doom, S.A. Griffin, Jordan Hagan,
Eric Jungmann, Dina Lynne Morishita,
Michele Nordin, Bret Roberts, Earl
Roesel, Steven Skyler, Carol Ann Susi,
Lewis Tan, Carlie Westerman, Kevin
Wheatley, Austin Whitlock
Danse Macabre
In this exquisitely shot and effortlessly elegant short, a cold, lonely death sets the
stage for a dark choreography in which lifeless flesh responds, stirs and contorts in
a final macabre ballet.
Canada / 2009 / 9 mins
Director: Pedro Pires
The Basket Case
Ambrose is a man on a mission as his wife waits at home while he builds her…
what? It’s a surprise. Soon enough, Josephine and Ambrose can embark on a blissful future together.
Ireland / 2007 / 17 mins
Director: Owen O’Neill
The Pool
Three teenage boys break into their school swimming pool one night to stage a
macho breath-holding contest. But teasing soon kicks in and tensions escalate
when they are joined by a girl they all fancy.
Ireland / 2010 / 12 mins
Director: Thomas Hefferon
Life After Beth
Come home, hang up your coat, check messages…the daily life of a couple subsisting in a London flat continues, disrupted but not destroyed. With tenderness,
they adapt to their changing roles.
UK / 2010 / 5 mins
Director: Mysterious Al
Void
When Special Agent Liz Metera investigates a series of grisly murders in a small
town, she uncovers a little boy’s powerful and chilling secret – one that will change
her life, and the town, forever.
USA / 2009 / 20 mins
Director: Meredith Ann Berg
Tufty
Ok, it’s time to take a swing at heart-strings! How many of us still have a cute
teddy bear we got as a baby? Maybe if you knew where he really came from, you
wouldn’t want to hold him quite so close.
Ireland / 2009 / 9 mins
Directors: Brendan Butler, Jason Butler
Sunshower
Driving home from a party, still drunk from the night before, a girl hits an old man
walking by the side of the road. When he won’t wake up and the car won’t start, it
seems all she can do is bury him.
Ireland / 2009 / 13 mins
Director: Liam Gavin
Tropezones
He’s crazy about food and she’ll do anything to please him. Plate after plate is
devoured while she delights in his enormous appetite. A perfect romance...as long
as something is left in the fridge.
Spain / 2009 / 6 mins
Directors: David Macián, Eduardo Molinari
Bye Bye Sally
Mike is the director. He’s also a
bully and an idiot. Bobby is his longsuffering producer who watches him
demolish actresses at audition until he
casts the tall blond. Can she act? Who
cares? She’s hot!
Driving in convoy, the cast and crew
head out to a farm in the back of
beyond for their two-week shoot. No
phone reception and no people for
miles around, it’s a location that’s
perfect for focussing the creative mind
and getting this damn film made.
Unfortunately for all concerned, there’s
someone who doesn’t want this film to
happen out here and in the dust and
the heat, things start going horribly
wrong. Given that Mike has pissed off
just about everybody in getting to this
stage, it could be anyone. Actually,
after hearing the excruciating first line
of scripted dialogue, it’s most likely to
be a disgruntled film critic.
Inventive, gruesome, sick, daft…this
film is all of those things. With a pile
of bodies to deal with and with filming
ground to a halt, it’s down to Mike to
decide what’s most important to him.
You can try asking, but all you’ll get is
his mantra: Pain is Temporary, Film is
Forever!
Australia / 2009 / 87 mins
Director: Paul Komadina
Producer: Paul Komadina
Writer: Paul Komadina
DoP: Ivan Davidov
Editor: Noah Joseph James
Music: Christopher de Groot
F/X: David Emeny
Cast: Jonathan Wood, Mollie King, David
Maguire, Renato Fabretti, Jennieka
Chattelle, Martin Williams, Shaun
Martindale, Melanie Munt, Sam Barrett,
Timothy Solly, James Helm
Sally is having a bad day. Ok, a bad
life. Deciding to end it all, she visits
Mr Vincent who appears to be a suicide
counsellor. Well he is, but he’s also an
opportunist and he’s about to make
Sally an extraordinary offer
USA / 2009 / 16 mins
Director: Paul Leyden
Producers: Anne Clements, Jamie
Feldman, Paul Leyden, Chris Panizzon
Writer: Paul Leyden based on the short
story by Lisa Mannetti
DoP: Joseph White
Editor: David Maurice Gil
Music: J. Peter Robinson
Cast: Malin Åkerman, Pia Akerman,
Mario Pagliarulo, Troy Ruptash, Paolo
Seganti, Stella Seganti, Roberto Zincone
CROPSEY
An excellent true-crime doc that
actually managed to scare me one or
two times while filmmakers Barbara
Brancaccio and Joshua Zeman search
the woods of Staten Island (the
borough that time forgot) for clues
to the mystery of a handful of mostly
special needs children gone missing
over the decades near an abandoned
mental hospital.
unreliable witnesses. The entire film
is genuinely creepy and disturbing,
especially the unsubstantiated belief
that former mental patients still roam
the woods and live in the underground
catacombs beneath the hospital, or
that a seemingly limitless number
of Satanists live in Staten Island.
(Actually, looking at all the tracksuits
in play here, I could believe the latter).
The film examines the elements that
make up an urban myth about a childkidnapping creepy old guy, and turn
the myth into a reality that got him
locked up for decades with absolutely
no evidence beyond circumstantial and
The bottom line on CROPSEY is
that it works as both a mystery that
can never be solved and a profile
of a community shaped by its own
collective fears. And the cast of
characters is so colourful and ridiculous
that you couldn’t cast actors to play
them any better than they play
themselves. This is a great little movie.
Taken from a review by Capone at Ain’t It
Cool News / www.aintitcoolnews.com
USA / 2009 / 84 mins
Directors: Barbara Brancaccio, Joshua
Zeman
Producers: Barbara Brancaccio, Joshua
Zeman
Writer: Joshua Zeman
DoP: Chad Davidson
Editors: Anita Gabrosek, Todd Holmes,
Tom Patterson
Music: Alex Lasarenko
5150
Yannick is a film student out
documenting his new neighbourhood,
riding around unfamiliar streets when
a black cat streaks out of nowhere and
causes him to crash his bike.
When he knocks on the door of
5150 Elm’s Way to ask for help he
meets Jacques, a local taxi driver and
sometime vigilante. See, Jacques
knows there are bad people in the
world and he knows that he’s on a
mission to punish the unrighteous.
Trouble is, Yannick seems like a good
guy and so Jacques has no idea what to
do with him other than lock him in an
upstairs room.
Jacques, his wife and children try to
function as normal, but Yannick bothers
Jacques and the increased tension in
the house leads to an unravelling of a
family already pushed to the edge.
Although the family provide us
with interesting context and a solid
background, the film gradually evolves
into a prolonged strategic face-off as
RUE
DES ORMES
Jacques – a fanatical chess player –
offers Yannick his freedom if he can
win just one game. A complete novice,
Yannick sees not only an opportunity to
learn more about his captor, but also to
buy time and hopefully find a weakness
to exploit.
RITE
A young girl is about to undergo
a ritual. Like all tribal rituals, it
seems perfectly normal to this
small community and it’s a day for
celebration and joy. Odd, unusual,
inexplicable things are often done in
the name of tradition.
This is an accomplished psychological
thriller, and although Yannick is the
only one locked away, every member
of Jacques’ family is trapped in a
domestic nightmare over which he is
slowly but surely losing control.
Canada / 2009 / 111 mins
Director: Éric Tessier
Producers: Pierre Even, Josée Vallée
Writer: Patrick Senécal
DoP: François Dutil
Editor: Alain Baril
F/X: Erik Gosselin, Edwina Voda, JeanMichel Rossignol, Vincent Brabant,
Mokko Studio
Cast: Marc-André Grondin, Normand
D’Amour, Sonia Vachon, Mylène StSauveur, Élodie Larivière, Catherine
Bérubé, Normand Chouinard, Louise
Bombardier, Pierre-Luc Lafontaine,
René-Daniel Dubois
USA / 2009 / 9 mins
Director: Alicia Conway
Producers: Aaron Goldstein, Ben Rock
Writer: Alicia Conway
DoP: Stephanie Martin
Editor: Ben Rock
Music: Kays Al-Atrakchi
F/X: Jason Collins, Thomas D. Moser
Cast: Tabitha Morella, Kelly Holden,
Lauren Belle, Mia Fairgood, Linda A.
Smith, Megan Soule, Emma Messenger,
Lena Bouton, Toni Perkins, Jay
Bogdanowitsch, David Bickford, Jon
Hughes, Luke Epperson, Josh Feldman
Knife Point
A family offers a travelling knife salesman a ride on their way through upstate New
York. They are clearly delighted to be helping a fellow man, but too much time
spent together brings tensions to a head.
USA / 2009 / 27 mins
Director: Carlo Mirabella-Davis
Chloe & Attie
There’s a secret, and it’s best kept in the dark, away from prying eyes. But one
Autumn day, Chloe and Attie have something special planned. They both know
that secrets have a way of getting out.
Canada / 2009 / 9 mins
Director: Scooter Corkle
Hatch
A man relaxes in the bath, letting everything, and I mean everything go slack.
What appears in the water is something of a shock, but with patience and care,
maybe he’ll figure out what it means.
Ireland / 2009 / 10 mins
Director: Damian McCarthy
Jardin Dead End
A guy meets a girl in a club, she seems pretty and normal. She confesses to one
little failing, but it’s so hard to meet people that our hero figures he can cope with
her imperfection.
Canada / 2009 / 12 mins
Director: Stephane Lapointe
Sinkhole
A salesman approaches a mysterious, reclusive landowner with an offer to buy the
man’s smouldering abandoned coal mines but finds that there is more at stake
than the land.
USA / 2009 / 14 mins
Director: Eric Scherbarth
Excision
Pauline is a high school senior, a geek, obsessed with just one thing. A near-total
loner, she helps look after her sister and spends her days thinking of new ways to
infuriate her mother who just doesn’t seem to see Pauline’s potential.
USA / 2008 / 18 mins
Director: Richard Bates Jr
My thanks to all those without whom...
Richard Bates Jr, Meredith Ann Berg, Ali Blaikie, David Boyd, Barbara Brancaccio, Brendan Butler, Jason Butler, Ali Clark,
Alicia Conway, Scooter Corkle, Paul Cranefield, Mark Crossan, Bruce Dickson, Craig Docherty, Daniel Domachowski, Sean
Fernald, Jayne Fortescue, Thomas Hefferon, Robert Howie, Paul Komadina, Stephane Lapointe, Jenny Leask, Danny Lennon,
Paul Leyden, Andy Lobban, Maria Elena Lopez-Frank, Seth McAnespie, Damian McCarthy, Ally McCrum, James McKenzie,
David Macián, Allan Macraild, Lara Matthews, Carlo Mirabella-Davis, Richard Moore, Sadhbh Murphy, Mysterious Al, Derry
O’Brien, Owen O’Neill, Pedro Pires, James Rice, Eric Scherbarth, Alan Simpson, Deanne Sowter, Éric Tessier, Theresa Valtin,
Rod White, Jonathan Whiteside, Joshua Zeman and the SB, of course.
We’d like to thank all the producers, distributors and sales agents for their assistance in putting this year’s programme
together. Thanks also to all the Front of House and Bar staff at Filmhouse cos they are just magic. And thanks to you for
making the effort to be here. To anyone I’ve missed out – your help and support does not go unnoticed or unappreciated.
Cover image by flickr.com/photos/heroethic/