Nights of fright highlight Dark Carnival Film Festival

The season for thrills and chills gave Bloomington a start as the Dark Carnival Film Festival concluded its third year this weekend at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.

The week-long festival featured a horror play, along with screenings at Dunn Meadow and The Bishop. Awards were given in several categories, including Best Special Effects and Best Kiss.

The film festival began as a series of events to promote independent filmmaking, and eventually the festival became the main focus.

“It generates most of the crowds, and we can have fun with it,” Festival Director David Pruett said.

About 40 films from filmmakers who live as far away as the Czech Republic were shown Saturday and Sunday at the Buskirk. Pruett said he believes the festival offers variety within the horror genre.

“It’s not all slasher,” Pruett said. “We try to program so that there is something for everybody.”

Volunteer Elizabeth Hadley said she was not initially a horror film fan, but became involved after her roommate talked her into attending the festival. She said she viewed quality horror films.

“I’m a horror nerd,” Bloomington resident Samantha Miller said. “It’s the suspense and the characters.”

She also added she liked Special Effects winner “The Tower.”

The festival also offered experience with actors Michael Berryman and John Dugan, known respectively for their 1970s versions of “The Hills Have Eyes” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” as special guests, along with filmmakers who traveled to Bloomington to see the audience response.

“What makes this festival unique is that usually it would be a part of a convention in a hotel,” Pruett said. “This one is in an actual theater. When you make a movie, you want to see it on the big screen.”

Though the films are independent endeavors, the festival emphasized that it does not interfere with the overall quality of the experience.

“We try to illustrate that these films are low-budget, not low-quality,” Pruett said.