Collage by Chloe Leeson

Women in Horror Month aims to showcase and carve out a space for women in the horror genre. Whether this be behind the scenes, writing, directing, producing or on-screen badass-ery. A true celebration of everything bloody and brilliant. During the month of February, here at Screenqueens we’re going to be showing off masses of female talent in our showcase, this could be anything from amateur experimental shorts to festival circulating features so keep your eyes peeled. 

Taylor Shedd is a 16 year old sophomore at Gregory-Portland High School. This is the first short film she has ever made, and believed it was quite exciting and her crew had a great time creating it. They spent about six weeks filming and editing, and even took a little time out of their Christmas break to work. Her cast consisted of three football players, a track star, a cheerleader, a band girl, and a weight lifter. The weight lifter, Lilly, broke her ankle in the making of this video and even though it threw off the continuity a little bit, they still managed. The football players had bleached their hair for play-offs and wanted to cut it and re-film, but Taylor wouldn’t let them which caused them to be a little testy. Being the only sophomore there and in control of two seniors and five juniors, you can see how difficult they were to handle, but they ended up finishing after all of the little disagreements and were all delighted with the results. The film starts out a little slow, due to the fact that the crew were a little inexperienced, but by the end of the film they were all moving quickly and knew exactly what to do. So during this project they learned so much more about the film-making process and a lot about each other.

 

Tracy Smith is 41 years old and from Lancashire, UK. She writes, directs, assists in editing, does FX makeup and occasionally appears in the short horror/thriller movies she makes with her husband, friends and family. So far the film making has just been a hobby for her but the pair are currently working on their first feature film with the hope of getting it distributed in the future.

Wrong Move is the tale of a young couple who move from the city to a quaint village in the country only to find the cottage they now call home has a dark secret to share.

Kimberly Taylor and her partner, Carter Barber are from Southern California and are both pursuing degrees, and ultimately, careers in film. Kimberly met Carter in high school, and it was not until after she started attending college that they became close friends and ultimately partners, sharing a common goal of being an imperative woman figure in the entertainment industry. Her main emphasis is screen writing, editing, and dabbles of sound design. Carter enjoys being behind the camera, as well as sound design and cinematography. Together, they utilize their best skills to create real life versions of ideas floating in their heads to the best of their abilities.

Scream Queens of Cheese had the potential of being terrifying, but as filming progressed, the team all agreed that the cheesiness factor being captured on camera was far more interesting to the party than the previous plan. The film does chronicle Kimberly’s biggest fears: someone approaching her car when she’s alone, someone hiding behind the shower curtain, overly creepy pizza boys, and a cause of death stemming from a roller coaster accident; but its main emphasis is on the idea of being submerged into a girl’s world.

 

Sydni Lazarus is a young aspiring writer/director with a passion for intersectional feminism, horror, and zodiacs. Sydni’s film ‘Chapter 7’ draws strong influences from the cinematography of Lars Von Trier and mumblecore dialogue pieces. ‘Chapter 7’ explores a moment in the life of Girl as her Boyfriend’s room-mate urges her to try something unusual.