Ginger Nuts of Horror is thrilled to be heading to the Nightmares Film Fest 2024, to provide our readers with early access coverage and reviews of the most spine-chilling and thought-provoking horror movies on display. As we embark on this terrifying journey, we aim to delve into the depths of the festival’s lineup and unearth the most thrilling and bone-chilling cinematic experiences. Join us as we venture into the world of Nightmares Film Festival to uncover the next wave of horror cinema that will leave audiences trembling in fear and delight. Check out our reviews of Hunting Matthew Nichols, Ba and My Imaginary Life for Someone

Nightmares Film Fest 2024 Review Round-Up Part 1

Hunting Matthew Nichols

20 years ago, Tara Nichols’ brother, Matthew, went missing on the north end of Vancouver Island. He was never found. Last winter, Tara made a documentary about her search to find her brother. This website chronicles her journey.

Directed by Markian Tarasiuk

A Horror Movie Review by George Wolf

Is this a faux documentary? A true crime thriller? Found footage horror? It’s all of that, at least some of the time.

You know what, just don’t worry about it and enjoy the clever way Hunting Matthew Nichols tips its hat to a variety of genre influences.

Director and co-writer Markian Tarasiuk plays himself as a documentary filmmaker out to solve an over-two-decades-old missing persons case. Canadian teens Matthew and Jordan went missing on Halloween night of 2001, and now Matthew’s sister Tara (Tara Nichols) is teaming with Markian to get to the bottom of what really happened.

Early on, we come along on an engaging hunt for clues. A succession of solid supporting performances bring welcome authenticity to Tara’s fact-finding interviews, until a surprise discovery turns the film on its found footage ear.

The missing kids were big fans of the Blair Witch Project, and took a camcorder into Black Bear Forest to uncover the local legend of Roy McKenzie. This turns out to be a slyly organic way of acknowledging the big comparisons that will follow, and to setup the type of in-your-face finale that more than a few BWP naysayers may have preferred.

The ride is well-paced and impressively assembled, and the payoff is satisfying enough to make you forget about who’s manning the camera or why we’re watching reactions to a shocking videotape instead of the tape itself.

But this Hunt is a fun one, and it comes complete with a mid-credits stinger that flirts with the possibility of another chapter.

If so, count me in.

Ba

A single father deceived into a treacherous career as the grim reaper, while his precocious daughter Collette (Cech) grows increasingly suspicious of his whereabouts.

Directed by Benjamin Wong

A Horror Movie Review by Adam Barney

I’m a sucker for Faustian bargain films, so I knew I was likely in the bag for writer/director Benjamin Wong’s debut feature film, Ba. I wasn’t expecting a movie that would also be so touching and endearing.

What would you do to ensure a good life for your child? That is the question facing Daniel (Lawrence Kao, Walker: Independence), a single dad struggling to raise his daughter, Collette (Kai Cech). Daniel tries to hustle with side gigs and other menial jobs, but the pair faces eviction and family doesn’t seem willing to take them in. This is where the Faustian deal comes into play. Daniel finds a bag of money with a simple note – take the money and you will receive an eternal occupation.

That turns out to be a heavy price. Daniel is transformed into a reaper and must take souls for his end of the bargain. He was also unfortunately transformed, now burdened with a skull for a face and the power to kill anything and everything he touches. Collette doesn’t understand why her dad suddenly hides from her and keeps his distance. To make matters worse, social services are coming around to investigate. Money really doesn’t solve everything.

BA may not be an original tale. However, the film truly excels at delivering a heart-breaking and ultimately human story. Kao and Cech have excellent chemistry, which really drives us to root for them.

BA thoughtfully deals with the Asian American experience of existing on the fringe of society. As it opens, Daniel is one of many unseen workers taking unwanted night jobs and any other work that he can find. After his transformation, he must remain unseen so he can continue to provide for and protect Collette. In interviews, Wong has discussed wanting to blur reality and fantasy in his film but still deal with the real issues of single parenthood, social invisibility, and poverty.

BA also happens to look fantastic. The nightlife of Los Angeles pops, the dark alleys and basements are dreary, and the supernatural elements seamlessly fit right in. If you like a good devil’s tale, you will find a lot to love in BA.

My Imaginary Life for Someone

In an abstracted Los Angeles, five women live in a dreamlike labyrinth of mysterious mansions. One discovers an unexpected guest in her home as she celebrates her husband’s hundredth birthday. One has meticulously constructed the so-called “House That Infinity Built.”

Directed by Molly Wurwand and Ryan McGlade

A Horror Movie Review by Adam Barney

I hope this isn’t viewed as a cop out, but it is hard to explain My Imaginary Life for Someone. It must be experienced. It’s a film that is clearly not for everyone. For those who can match its wavelength, they will find a lot to like. Everyone else will walk out and be perplexed by what they just witnessed. This is precisely the type of film that we are always searching for to showcase in our Midnight programming branch of Nightmares Film Festival.

My Imaginary Life for Someone takes aim at Real Housewives or any of the other similar reality shows and does its best to take down the whole genre and the people in front of the cameras. It’s clear that writers / directors Molly Wurwand and Ryan McGlade have a real disdain for reality television and if you are of the same mindset, you are going to enjoy this broadside assault.

Filmed in a mockumentary style, the film dumps you right into a “labyrinth” of Los Angeles McMansions where the denizens get stranger and stranger. The reality stars are living in excess but probably aren’t fully sure how they got to where they are in life. They have nothing to worry about financially, but they also aren’t sure what they should be doing with their lives, so they spend their time collecting Princess Diana memorabilia, getting extreme plastic surgery, or listening to their own voices on tape.

There’s a lot of dream-like logic at play as the various homeowners show you around, tell you odd stories, or otherwise fill the silence of the void by endlessly talking. If you have ever caught the late-night programming of Adult Swim on Cartoon Network, you will quickly adapt to the vibe. It feels like a dry mix of Christopher Guest (Best in Show) and Jim Hosking (The Greasy Strangler, although this film is not gross).

My Imaginary Life for Someone will make you cringe, hate the characters, and wish for it to be over. And that is the whole point. It wants to show you that reality television is vapid, vacuous, and ultimately pointless and it does so by holding up a mirror to the genre.

Nightmares Film Fest 2024 Review Round-Up Part 1