Horror Films Overtake Square

Oct. 11 to 15 marks the fifth anniversary of the Boston Fantastic Film Festival, held at the Brattle Theatre. The brainchild of Ned Hinkle, the Theatre’s Creative Director, the genre-based film festival was created to screen films that may not otherwise be shown in the Boston area. In the past, it has been an early venue for national mega-hits, and this year’s fest promises to offer at least one film that’s likely to make viewers’ skin crawl with terror.

“[The festival] presents a combination of horror, sci-fi, fantasy, action and cult movies—films people often do not consider in a serious way,” says Hinkle. Hinkle co-founded the festival and, along with a team of advisors, selects the films each year.

The flavor of the festival changes annually, according to screenings that excite audiences in other film festivals.

“We feature ahead of the curve and cutting edge films—that’s the nature of the festival,” Hinkle explains. “Our goal is to present different perspectives of how people are making these kinds of movies all over the world.”

Such films range from high-minded art films with large resources to independent productions on a shoestring budget. Previous films screened at the festival have gone on to become high-profile movies distributed nationwide, including “Saw” and the original, Japanese-made “Grudge.”

This year, nine films will screen at the festival, including action-horror-thriller “The Signal,” animated comedy “The District,” and the bloody “Murder Party.”

GOING GOTHIC

The festival kicks off with the gothic anthology “Trapped Ashes” on opening night. In four segments, it follows a group of strangers on a Hollywood studio tour who find themselves caught inside the decaying set of an infamous old horror film. In order to get out alive, they must tell their strangest and most twisted stories.

Writer and producer Dennis Bartok left his position as head programmer at the art house American Cinematheque in Los Angeles to work on the film.

“It’s about the grotesque, the surreal and the erotic, the weird intersection between real life and the fantastic,” Bartok says of his movie.

All segments of “Trapped Ashes” are based on real-life events. The “Jibaku” segment was inspired by one of Bartok’s traveling experiences—a particularly horrifying one.

“While in Kyoto in March 2002, my wife and I found the body of a man who’d just hanged himself,” Bartok recalls. “We had to find the nearest police box and lead the police back to where the body was. That night we both had the same nightmare: that the soul of the man was trying to crawl through the window of our hotel room.”

A collaborative effort of respected industry veterans, the film was directed by Sean Cunningham (“Friday the 13th”), Joe Gaeta (“The Matrix”), Ken Russell (“Lair of the White Worm”) and Joe Dante (“Gremlins”).

Oscar-winning Visual Effects Supervisor Robert Skotak (“Aliens” and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”) worked on the special effects.

Hellman’s segment of “Trapped Ashes” screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2006. John Saxon, veteran of such classics as “Enter the Dragon” and “Nightmare on Elm Street” stars in the film.

“Hopefully people will be entertained and provoked and disturbed as well,” says Bartok.