Dark Carnival finds thrills in independent horror film

The third annual Dark Carnival Film Festival, dedicated to independent horror films, will thrill viewers beginning at 6 p.m. today with a free screening of “Night of the Living Dead” in Dunn Meadow.

The festival began as a filmmaking co-operative run by students, festival director David Pruett said. It has since progressed to one of the top 25 indie film festivals in the nation, as ranked by MovieMaker Magazine, he said.

“Indie films are not typically represented in Indiana,” Pruett said. “Dark Carnival is the only independent horror festival in the state.”

The first festival took place in early August, Pruett said, and the planners have moved it later each year to be closer to Halloween.

“People are in the mood for these kinds of films around that time,” he said.

One problem planners of the Dark Carnival festival have run into is scheduling the event around other major events at IU, Pruett said. The first year, the festival occurred during move-in weekend, he said, and did not gather many student viewers.

“Last year, at least half the audience was students,” he said. “The movies are geared toward that demographic, people between the ages of 18 and 35.”

The week-long festival will show a total of 40 films – nine feature-length films and 31 short films, said Marv Blauvelt, a local indie film actor, writer and producer.

Pruett said the festival began accepting submissions in January with the deadline at the end of July.

In previous years, a screening committee viewed all submissions, but because of the overload of films this year, Pruett said the committee split into groups. It took the committee nearly six weeks to narrow down the selection to the final films, he said.

Pruett said festival submissions are high quality, adding that they received the best films this year.

Blauvelt said of the four films he submitted, two were chosen. One, a feature-length film entitled “Sculpture,” tells the story of a young woman acting out against memories of abuse from her father. She begins killing bodybuilders to use in her artwork, Blauvelt said.

“Most films show big guys in ski masks killing typical college girls,” he said. “This film turns it around and has such a small girl killing these big men.”

Blauvelt said his parents have seen one or two of his horror films and will be attending the festival for the first time this year.

“My parents always thought I would grow up to be a serial killer because I loved horror so much,” he said. “I don’t know if they can sit through it.”

Anna Siri, co-writer and producer of “Caution Sign,” said she will attend Dark Carnival for the first time this year. “Caution Sign” is a 12-minute film adapted from a short story, she said.

“It can be really hard or really easy to make a short film,” she said. “The material was already there so this one was pretty easy.”

Dark Carnival gives filmmakers exposure they may not have received otherwise, Pruett said.

“Our mission is to promote indie filmmaking,” he said. “A lot of times filmmakers can accomplish a lot on a very small budget.”

Screenings will take place Friday, Saturday and Sunday at different venues around Bloomington. Students can buy a weekend pass at a discount for $14, which will get them into all screenings.