We announce the Official Selections of the category BEST FEATURE FILM of DarkVeins Horror Fest 2021, a festival dedicated to horror cinema and now in its fifth year.
DarkVeins Horror Fest is an international event dedicated to horror, dark, gothic, extreme genre cinematography and is curated by the Dark Circle Cultural Association.
Jurors for this fifth edition include. Erica Salvatore and Tara Jabul of the page Celluloid Nightmares. The edition is held in collaboration with Davide D'Andrea and Caroline Darko of Horror Über Alles, community dedicated to horror cinema.
To these was added Davide Pesca (Suffering Bible, Grand Guignol Madness), an extreme Italian director and effects artist known in independent horror film circles. The collaboration also embraces the partnership with Splatter Point, a video channel where Davide Pesca himself delves into independent films in the horror/splatter genre.
The following feature films were selected from the competition films:
- Arthur - Second Season (Switzerland - 2021) by Nick Rusconi;
- Duyster (Belgium - 2021) by Thomas Vanbrabant and Jordi Ostir;
- Trans (South Korea - 2021) by Naeri Do;
- Entropy (USA - 2020) by Kameron Hale;
- Black Secret (Italy - 2021) by David Petrucci;
- My Inner Demon: A Geraldson Tale (Canada - 2021) by Gerald Varga
- Fear Frequency (USA - 2021) - Laura Russo
Below is more info on the finalist feature films competing for the award BEST FEATURE FILM:
- Written by Chloe De Souza and directed by Nick Rusconi Arthur - Second season (Switzerland - 2021) is a thriller/noir web series.
The cast includes Ettore Ricoletti, Vanessa Compagnucci, Marco Balbi, Massimo Viafora and Alessandro Cremona.
Plot: Two serial killers on the run. A woman scorned, eager for revenge. An FBI agent on the hunt for a lifetime. A dwarf who knows far too much. Amid car chases, love and torture, secrets and life-changing revelations, Arthur's story continues: will he follow Zed's example and resume his life as the lovable killer next door? Or will he finally succeed in freeing himself from his "unsavory hobby"?
Trailer:
– Duyster (Belgium - 2021) is a found footage horror film directed by Thomas Vanbrabant and Jordi Ostir.
The cast includes Maïmouna Badjie, Tristan FeytenKey, Charles De Meester, Louise Bergez, Sven De Ridder and Stefaan Degand.
The screenplay is by Thomas Vanbrabant himself.
Plot: ghe students Nora, Bas and Milan are making a documentary for school about Johannes Duyster, the former executioner of the city of Antwerp. Learning about some aspects of his dark life, the children will come across strange incidents.
Trailer:
– Trans (South Korea - 2021) is written and directed by Naeri Do. It stars Jeongin Hwang, Kyungho Yoon, and Taeyoung Kim, Trans is a sci-fi horror film about the structure of the human brain and some effects unleashed on it with the use of a tesla coil.
Plot: Minyoung Go is a girl who dreams of becoming a transhuman by transmitting electric shocks to her brain. After being attacked by Taeyong Ma's gang, Minyoung Go plans revenge for the boys who bully her for having an eating disorder.
After a high-voltage electric shock, the transhuman girl attempts a journey through time and space using the tesla coil to discover the identity of the murderer who killed Taeyong.
Trailer:
https://player.vimeo.com/video/500868822?h=fd4ca00fb2
- Horror Entropy (USA - 2020) is directed by Kameron Hale on a screenplay by his brother Scott Hale. The film is inspired by the films of John Carpenter and Dario Argento.
The cast includes Miranda NiemanKey, Hayley Sunshine, Scott Hale, William E. Newton, Tyler Joseph Campbell, Kristen Lopez, and Robert Lopez.
Plot: On the same day that Abbey is diagnosed with ovarian cancer, she and her girlfriend Miranda are invited to dinner by the latter's former self-help group to celebrate the return of their former friend Scott, who left to discover the origins of their practices. During the night, Abbey realizes that all is not as it seems and that Scott and the others have their own sinister methods by which they intend to cure her cancer-ravaged body.
Trailer:
- Produced, written and directed by David Petrucci, Black Secret (Italy - 2021) is a psychological thriller/horror starring Diego Riace (Barbarians), Francesco Ferdinandi (The Roads of Crime), Mirko Faro (Suburra) and Jennifer Mischiati.
Black Secret is the first chapter of a horror trilogy conceived by David Petrucci himself.
Plot: In a world abused by words, characters decide not to speak and their crazy ideals will take over their lives.
Trailer:
– My Inner Demon: A Geraldson Tale (Canada - 2021) is a horror film written, directed and starring Gerald Varga (Murder Box). The screenplay is by the director himself in collaboration with Darren Andrichuk.
In the cast: Gerald James Varga (Subhuman), Darren Andrichuk (3 Hours Till Dead), Magdalena Fekete, Jimmy Gannon (Murder Box) and David Quast (Murder Box).
The film offers the only clues as to what really happened to Gerald Varga, and his two friends, actor David Quast and collaborator Darren Andrichuk, who disappeared in November 2020 without a trace. In the spring of 2021, an anonymous colleague of Gerald Varga received a package containing all the raw footage of "My Inner Demon: A Geraldson Tale" that could unravel the mystery...
Trailer:
https://player.vimeo.com/video/625739876?h=138838fb31
– Fear Frequency (USA - 2021) is a psychological thriller/horror film directed by Laura Russo on a script she co-wrote with Tim Huddleston.
In the cast: Julienne Davis (Eyes Wide Shut) and Jennifer Khoe.
Fear Frequency was conceived, written, and shot entirely during the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, the main themes of the film reflect the circumstances and emotional states that many of us were experiencing at the time: fear, isolation, paranoia, and denial, to name a few.
Plot: when a global blackout occurs, the line between reality and illusion blurs for an online conspiracy theory that believes it has become the target of a powerful secret society determined to dominate the world.
Trailer:
Official palmettes:
