When doing our initial go through of flicks to pick from the Salem Horror Fest we look for descriptions that appeal to our Horror tastes (Which is pretty broad already), a kickass trailer if available, and sometimes just the press pic or poster associated within the blurb over on the SHF page (The one for My Mother’s Eyes right now has us similarly curious and creeped out). With Faceless After Dark from director Raymond Wood (1st Summoning, Cells) it was all three that did it for us and we can’t think of a better feature in the “Official Selection” category to kick off our coverage of Salem Horror Fest in 2024.
We gravitated toward Faceless After Dark as it seemed like a clever Slasher with the official synopsis focusing on a final girl in a killer clown franchise struggling to sustain success following the breakout performance when a crazed fan in a clown mask looks to recreate the film in real life. That’s the Cliffs Notes version of the description anyway. And just barely brushes the surface of what’s awaiting in Faceless After Dark because half the fun of the film is when viewers realize what’s about to happen.
Terrifier‘s own Jenna Kanell (“Tara”) stars as Bowie who, following a Pop in Flesh-Eating Freaks, struggles to maintain the momentum as she navigates the world of auditioning, awkward fan convention conversations, even more awkward social media interactions, pay disparity among men and women, filming Cameo clips, and more. Add in a “girlfriend” who has just scored a coveted spot in the next big superhero franchise (Danielle Lyn as “Jessica Jennings”) and close friend Ryan (Danny Kang) whose Dad is bankrolling a project that he won’t even cast Bowie in on top of the invasive Horror fandom and it’s not looking good for our heroine. As a co-writer on the project, Kanell (With Todd Jacobs) brings a truly fresh behind the scenes perspective to the Horror genre in a way that Scream would never touch on with FAD bringing some masterful macabre Meta to the masses.
As a whole, Faceless After Dark is a win and we’re doing our very best not to spoil anything here (Same with the rest of our SHF coverage) but will reveal this: Surprisingly, this is not our first “killer with hedge clippers” film of the few Salem Horror Fest 2024 entries we’ve screened so far! Beyond that we will say that the initial set up is creepy in the Michael Myers always lurking vibe that the original Halloween depicted. Also at the onset of FAD is a disturbing intensity that’s just as much from the visuals as it is the psychological component of the film. Kanell is a knockout in the role portraying the struggling actor (“I don’t know why I’m not enough”) with a nuanced vulnerability one moment, switching to a drunk “Fuck it all!” attitude the next with ease and then eventually into a different kind of “final girl” with a real Hitchcock-ian flair at times (An interaction with Kang’s Ryan later in the film especially brings this to mind). Another scene close to the conclusion of the film sees Kanell’s Bowie run the gamut of emotions in just a few minutes of visually stunning cinematography from Randall Blizzard under Wood’s direction that is undeniably jarring but something that viewers will not be able to turn away from.
Surrounding Kanell’s brilliant performance throughout is a harrowing score from Greg Levitt (And a seriously killer soundtrack to boot) inserted exquisitely into the movie by sound designer Harper W. Harris (And Sound mixer’s Justin Corn, Isaac Horner, and Lou Rosado) to accent this descent into madness of not only the kill scenes but also the “fake” ones (There’s some movie within the movie moments with Production Designer Erin Day cameoing as the “director”) quite brilliantly. And if that wasn’t enough to enthrall you like Faceless After Dark surely will upon viewing, keep yer peepers peeled for another Terrifier alum to turn up early on and during a post-credits sequence.
Faceless After Dark makes its’ Salem Horror Fest debut at Die With Your Boots On during Weekend 1 happening from April 26th through the 28th with director Raymond Wood scheduled to appear. For more details on that and the rest of the “Official Selection” flicks, head here. For more from Salem Horror Fest, including info on all the screenings and events happening this year, be sure to follow the socials by heading here, here, and here. Can’t make Faceless After Dark during SHF? Well, the film lands in select theaters and on digital on May 17th through Dark Sky Films but you can also keep in touch via the interwebs to see where it might be screening ahead of that by clicking here, here, or here.