Author: Edward Mugarian

Providence, Rhode Island. One of America’s oldest cities, boasting a flourishing cultural and academic community enmeshed in the arts and American folklore, with city-lined streets guarded by amazing 18th and 19^th century Victorian homes. But to fans of the macabre, we know Providence by its most famous resident: Howard Phillip Lovecraft (H.P. Lovecraft).

The Lovecraft-ian influence is well represented in literature, games, music, religion, and even occultism. What’s unknown to many, however, is that Providence boasts a small production house (Horrifically Amateur Productions) of ghastly amateur horror filmmakers that have been making their own brand of creepy and creative master works of the macabre. What’s more, these five filmmakers (Matt & Thomas Moran, Chris & Jamie Tirrell, and Alayna Benedetti) are anything but “amateur.” In fact, these self-proclaimed “backyard” auteurs wield their own special grade of influential bluescreen art; a family dynamic that is thirteen years in the making.

HAP has made several outstanding blood-chilling and spine-tingling film shorts such as In the Basement, The Witch Lives Here and Who’s There? But there latest short (below), Hit & Run, is yet another installment of their creative genius. A short about Werewolves. And what horror fan wouldn’t like that? Like their other shorts, the acting’s top notch, the cinematography compliments and enhances the story, and the script moves the piece along and keeps the audience engaged…and the special effects are pretty darn good too.

In the art of the film, horror film making breaks off into its own tangent, and has its own brand of brilliant, yet often misunderstood creativity.  The good folks at Horrifically Amateur Productions understand this. They “get it.” They are passionate about what they do, and are excited about what their future holds…and they should be.

So…turn out your lights. Pull down the shade. Draw the drapes. Cuddle in your favorite spot; and glue your eyes to the screen. Your about to witness their latest tale of terror. Enjoy.

Visit their Youtube page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtI6gbP3Zh0gwlxxPxG1VnQ

It’s hard to forget the infamous clown sightings of 2016 that caused a fever pitch in America and across the globe, where reports of people disguised as evil clowns in incongruous settings, such as near forests and schools were reported all over the world. 

These evil clowns sightings spawned the proliferation of videos and images that ripped through the cyber-world and social media via posts and viral sharing, in which some of these creepy and not so jolly jokers were cited or arrested for making violent threats to schools, and some incidents involved robberies and assaults on children and adults.

The first of these reported sightings were in Green Bay, Wisconsin in what has turned out to be the inspiration behind the recently released horror film, Gags. Presented by Bloody Disgusting and directed by film maker Adam Krause, Gags was filmed entirely on location and caused quite a buzz in and around Green Bay, and stirred up creepy flashbacks of the eerie 2016 sightings.

The movie takes place over a single night in Green Bay. The villain, referred to as Gags the Clown, a cryptic and creepy character holding a string of black balloons, emerges from the darkness to grip the town in total terror. As reports start circling of his strange appearances, a local news reporter scrambles to investigate Gags’ true identity. Meanwhile, the police attempt to maintain civil obedience as the city starts to go clown crazy. So much so in fact, a group of local high school students get in on the action, using the clown phenomenon as an excuse to cause a little copycat clown trouble of their own.

Some the town folk take to social media at the request of a popular right-wing podcast host and begin a live stream “clown hunt” in order to bring Gags to justice. Gripped to their streaming feeds, the world tunes in as the horror unfolds.