Dreadrock festival aims to fill local horror gap

Halloween is just around the corner, which means leaves will soon be turning golden brown, houses are turning haunted and children are turning into goblins and ghouls.

For me personally, it means that I’m blaring my spooky music playlist in the car, banging my head to the groovy tune “Monsters Rule OK” by The Viewers, stocking up on bags of miniature candy bars — against my doctor’s orders — and my streaming queues are filled wall-to-wall with horror movies. It’s a time of year to be scared, and it’s a time to celebrate the fact that we can be scared. And on Saturday at The Studio Theater there is going to be a celebration of the macabre, a good old-fashioned monster party with tricks and treats and spooky movies as the Dreadrock International Horror Film Festival comes to life.

As a filmmaker who specializes in horror, I know there are tons of genre festivals across the nation focusing on science fiction and scary movies, which makes it quite odd that out of the dozen or so film festivals in the state of Arkansas there are currently no festivals in Little Rock that focus specifically on these genres. And that’s a shame considering how many horror filmmakers we have in Central Arkansas. The only festival that comes close is the Hot Springs Horror Fest, which is put on yearly by “Halloween 5” actor and Hot Springs native Tamara Glynn. But Hot Springs is still quite the trek for most people in Central Arkansas.

Back in the days when the Little Rock Film Festival (LRFF) was still in operation, they had a secondary event called The Little Rock Picture Show that was run by Justin Nickels. They would screen movies that the LRFF might have overlooked, bring in guests for Q&A’s, and hold workshops for aspiring filmmakers. One of my earlier short films, “Of Hope and Futility,” even screened at its 2014 event. But after the LRFF closed its doors, The Picture Show hung on for a couple more years until Nickels moved out west and no one was left to pick up the mantle. After a year or two with

out a horror festival, local film guru Tony Taylor started up Fantastic Cinema, which had the extra gimmick of having a craft beer component to it. It was a nice mix of indie horror features and local short films and booze. But again, unfortunately, it only lasted a few years as well.

This year another local filmmaker, Jimmy Westmoreland, has decided to throw his hat in the ring and bring the folks of Little Rock a day full of scary movies. Jimmy is a lifelong horror fan, claiming that “The Exorcist” used to scare him as a kid. But in January, as the pandemic was winding down, he suddenly had an itch to start a festival and fill Little Rock’s horror-less void. Like Kevin Costner in “Field of Dreams,” Westmoreland had this vision and he went to his family, his kids and grandkids. He pitched them the idea for Dreadrock — and the entire family was on board to make this festival happen.

Being a first-time festival operator, Westmoreland had his fair share of concerns starting things. Finding a suitable location was difficult, as the month of October is quite busy. The Fayetteville Film Fest and the Hot Springs Documentary all start later in the month. Luckily, Westmoreland was able to lock down Saturday at The Studio Theater, a venue that, over the years, has been rather generous to the local film community. And he was able to find funding rather easily from local businesses that also share a love of all things spooky.

Westmoreland has been around the Little Rock film scene for the past several decades. He’s primarily a writer and a director of shorts and features such as “Tuckerman” and “The Devil Lives in Hot Springs.” And as a well-connected member of the local film community, he has had no trouble calling in favors from his friends and colleagues to help run the festival. The whole event will be a family and friends affair.

Westmoreland stated that it was important that the festival have two main components: the “films” and then the “celebration.” He’ll be screening films from local filmmakers as well as shorts from all over the word, including films from Italy and Iran. The night will conclude with a local feature film, “Voorhees: Night of the Beast,” directed by Jason Pitts.

“Voorhees” is a “Friday the 13th” fan film where the undead hockey masked serial killer takes on a 7-foot tall Sasquatch.

There will also be panels with local filmmakers Johnnie Brannon and Kelly Griffin, and special effects makeup artist Stacy Newman. And as far as the celebration side of things go, there will be an old-fashioned costume contest, tarot card readings, and music. This early Halloween party is slated to last from noon till midnight.

You can find out more about the Dreadrock International Film Festival by visiting dreadrockfilmfest.com.