Rating: 3/5 stars

Oswego Film Club hosted its annual “Panic Film Festival,” presenting nine horror-themed student films, all produced over 48 hours. Panic made for a fun and fitting seasonal treat, with every screened film bringing some spooky enjoyment. 

“Geranium, I Am So Sorry”

Evelyn Winston’s seven-minute solo effort opened Panic on an eerie high note. “Geranium, I Am So Sorry” focuses on the unique relationship between a fictionalized version of Winston and the eponymous Geranium, an enigmatic, childlike entity. The premise speaks to the film’s strongest asset, its tone: surreal, disquieting, almost Lynchian, with Geranium evoking the baby from “Eraserhead” or any childlike gremlins from Tool music videos. Winston’s solid performance helps, as do serviceable special effects, particularly the final scene’s live millipede. The cinematography and sound are certainly amateurish, but that occasionally works in the former’s favor, with claustrophobic angles and harsh saturation contributing to said eerie tone.

“Ryan’s Diary”

The winner of Panic’s 3rd Place award is a worthy effort from Wonjae Shin and Jin Park, known together as Raw Materials. Park’s beautiful cinematography features prominently, particularly in the film’s first two sequences (both filmed on Hewitt Quad), classic framing rules make for striking shots. The self-aware shift to an amateurish, obviously handheld style in the film’s third sequence is effective as well, contributing to a wider theme of different layers of reality: base reality, memories, nightmares, even films — Shin’s script makes for heady stuff. Perhaps too heady, as despite multiple throughlines (the eponymous voiceover and a fanged, bloodied man), this entry never executes on a particularly satisfying arc, delivering only a confusing anticlimax. Otherwise, the film is wonderfully shot, well-performed, technically competent and deserving of its award.

“The Disappearance of Mark Corbin”

This production from The Strangers (Dylan Keyes, Miles Hedderman, Temisan Bazunu and Amelia Paige) won Best Writing, for good reason. Over the course of its seven-minute runtime, the film delivers a well-rounded, satisfying plot with strong dialogue, forward momentum and a subtly disturbing cyclical element, all revolving around films-within-the-film and a villain (“The Upstate Strangler”) in the classic slasher mold. A humorous undercurrent runs through the short as well, considering much of the dialogue between Corbin and his unnamed associate, the “Upstate Strangler’s” abbreviated use of a chainsaw (contrary to his name) and quite possibly the aforementioned cyclical element. However, neither the horror nor humor is exceptionally implemented, despite the strength of the script; that and occasional technical failings drag down this otherwise entertaining, well-written and well-acted entry.

“Paid in Blood”

Quinn Galuski, Ashly Ramirez Corado, Claire Jackson and Michael Wruck’s film fails to compensate for its shortcomings. Corado’s central performance is commendable – embodying a range of emotions – but also limited, with two brief lines of dialogue throughout the four-minute piece. This lack of dialogue also contributes to a vague plot: Corado’s character engages in a mysterious ritual, eventually paying for it with her life, but what did she stand to gain from engaging in this ritual in the first place? This ambiguity results in an ineffective climax and a generally confusing viewing experience, but it does not make “Paid in Blood” an altogether poor entry. Competent camerawork features throughout, as do some fun uses of sound, occasionally clever editing and impressive special effects (a door locking by itself, dripping blood, a mysterious shadow discoloring a room) – the latter earning the short Panic’s “Best Special Effects” award, but still not elevating the production past its thin, incoherent plot. Ultimately, a middling but noteworthy student film.

“VHS#3”

From writing/directing duo Liz2 (Elizabeth Kobylak and Elizabeth O’Brien) and Emmet Jensen, was Panic’s most decorated entry. Three rock-solid performances, some truly disturbing imagery and a familiar, but potent plot come together here to make a short and sweet visual horror. Its most notable feature is the titular VHS segment, shot on Super 8 mm film; this stands in sharp contrast to the otherwise digital film, offering a classic, creepy quality reminiscent of “The Ring” – before its horror bleeds over into digital “reality,” making for both an exemplary horror scream and a confusing ending. Said ending and a few other minor issues are insignificant in the face of those performances and cinematography (even aside from the VHS sequence, excellent photography abounds), however. “VHS #3” deserves its myriad awards (Best Cinematography, Best Direction, 1st Place, Audience Choice), as a standout Panic entry and great student film in general.

“The Nomad”

Dawn of the Dread (Sean Campbell, David Lefkowitz and Andrew Valderrama) produced this tense 12-minute short, focusing on a contentious marriage and a stranger who complicates it even further. Impressively acted from a mostly great (if expletive-heavy and occasionally repetitive) script, “The Nomad” is also mostly well-shot and solidly constructed, especially considering its length; however, the second half does introduce issues with focus and hard-to-follow editing, particularly in the final action scene. Most problematic of all may be the film’s genre: between its tone, subject matter and structure, “The Nomad” feels less like a psychological horror movie and more of a tense drama with a thrilling conclusion. Its overall quality remains, though, making for a dramatic and entertaining Panic entry worthy of the “Best Acting” and 2nd Place awards.

“He-Man: 10/25/84”

An effective, disturbing slice of analog horror from Aidan Trusz’s one-man production Mead, “He-Man: 10/12/1984”’s four minutes are a unique and creepy experiment gone right. Consisting of still images bookended by footage from the titular cartoon, this entry relies entirely on editing to convey its horror; namely, a Soviet invasion of Oregon in the mid-1980s. Juxtaposing increasingly ominous public service announcements with brief flashes of disconcerting imagery and Russian propaganda, it accomplishes that goal of editing as the be-all and end-all and deserves some measure of commendation because of it – yet the film went unawarded at Panic. 

“Miniature Model”

Though lacking in plot and character, “Miniature Model” is bolstered by excellent cinematography and an original concept that The Vee (Via Perretto, Ethann Browne and Eunee Na) does well to deliver on. Shots are masterfully framed throughout, especially early ones inside an elevator and recurring ones of an interior balcony and the concept of “playing God” through figurines with seeming lives of their own is a fun one, even if it goes relatively unexplored. The “Best Editing” award may be better deserved elsewhere, but there are also worse candidates than this style-over-substance entry.

“The Gloaming”

Solo ventures bookended Panic, with Bart Safavizadeh’s brief, apocalyptic “The Gloaming” closing out this year’s festival. Only a minute in length, “The Gloaming” nonetheless impresses with its surreal, chaotic vision of Armageddon (afforded by memorable special effects) and laugh-out-loud ending; however, those strengths just make its incredibly short length that much more disappointing, as it would have been nice to see more of this unique take.

Image from The Oswego Film Club