5 Films To See At Nightstream

Amidst the calamity of 2020, the Nightstream festival was launched as a collaborative online effort by a number of American genre festivals. Running from 7th to 13th October, here are my choices for 5 films worth catching at this year's festival.


1. Cannon Arm and The Arcade Quest



A man of few words, Kim Cannon Arm finds his outlet in the unforgiving 1983 Konami game Gyruss, for which he’s known for playing 49 hours straight with one coin. At 55 years old, he decides to break his own record and go on the quest for the untouchable 100 hours. A Danish feature set in a retro arcade-gaming world, this sounds promising.


2. The Greenhouse


A woman mourning her late mother discovers a way to travel back in time and relive her happiest memories, but that joy comes at a dangerous cost. I previously saw this at this year's BFI Flare festival, and found what Thomas Wilson-White crafted to be an emotionally charged sci-fi drama about siblings working through their unresolved feelings of hurt.


3. Hellbender


Sheltered by her mom from the outside world, Izzy’s daily routine consists of chores and jam sessions for their mother-daughter rock band. As Izzy grows up and starts to break free, her interactions with strangers send her hurtling down a dark path her mom was trying desperately to protect her from. I previously reviewed this for Fantasia Festival, and found it to be one of the festival highlights.


4. Mad God


A work 30 years in the making, SFX creature-maestro Phil Tippett has crafted an animated experimental nightmare unlike anything seen before. I previously reviewed this for Fantasia Festival, and found this impressive labour of love to be worth the try.


5. Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror


Director Kier-La Janisse offers an authoritative deep dive into folk-horror through this exhaustive documentary. Running at 192 minutes, this promises to leave no stone unturned and offer many recommendations for even the most hardcore of horror fans.


Nightstream runs from October 7th to October 13th. Tickets are on-sale now.

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