Image via Twisted Dreams Film Festival
Last year, the Twisted Dreams Film Festival, Milwaukee’s showcase of cinematic horror, went video in light of the actual horror that overtook the world. This year, Twisted Dream sticks to the virtual format, while expanding into a 10-day event, June 4-13.
For the awards given in this year’s festival, Twisted Dreams recruited a panel of judges including onetime Milwaukee actors Mark Metcalf (Animal House) and R. Michael Gull (Cactus Jack) along directors Manolo Munguia (HOus3) and Kevin McTurk , comedian Nate Ford and screenwriters Jason and Chris Thornton.
To purchase passes for the online event, view ticket information here.
Twisted Dream’s director Christopher House responded to some questions.
How was the virtual turnout last year compared to the real turnout in 2019?
While not as good as we would have expected for a live event, the turnout for the virtual festival was better than we had expected. The ability to talk to filmmakers from across the globe was a huge bonus to doing it virtually.
How has the pandemic impacted the content of horror films? Are you screening anything that was shot during the pandemic?
As far as content goes, we are seeing more horror films dealing with isolation and how being isolated affects people. While some might have figured that disease would be a big topic, it’s really isolation that seems to be a recurring theme in pandemic films. We also expected to see more Zoom horror films so we were pleasantly surprised that we didn’t see many of those.
There are some movies that were shot during the pandemic. Contaminated by Milwaukee Filmmaker Brian Klewen was made for a special quarantine filmmaker challenge done by Camp Blood Film Festival based in Madison. There are some that address it directly. Others (like Possession) that were made prior to the pandemic seem to have anticipated the isolated feeling of quarantine.
Are you planning to return to a live event next year?
Yes, we are planning a return to a live festival next year. We are already in the early planning stage and we definitely plan on making up for lost time with some great events. Also, we plan to move the festival from spring to fall so we can offer fans great horror films for the Halloween season.
