Another incredible year has come and gone. Last night marked the end of the 7th Annual Horror Movie Freaks Film Festival, and we want to extend our deepest gratitude to every filmmaker, cast and crew member, and all the horror enthusiasts who attended the live show. The entire HMF team is immensely thankful for each one of you. Your support allows us to host such a fun event and meet so many talented individuals. From the bottoms of our hearts, thank you all!

We also want to congratulate all of the Official Selection films and Award Winners from this year's festival. The selection process was incredibly tough this year, with so many fantastic productions submitted. It pained us not to be able to showcase them all. Deciding the awards was equally challenging, taking nearly a month of deliberation. So, without further ado, here are the winners for the 2024 Horror Movie Freaks Film Fest:

Best Feature Film - "FRAGMENT"
Best Short Film - "POV"
Best Super-Short - "EMBRACE"
Best NC Film - "IN THE MATCHBOX"
Best Foreign Film - "TURNO DE NOCHE: THE WRONG PLACE"
Best Actor - "ERIC JOHNSON - HAVE A GOOD DAY"
Best Actress - "HAILEE LIPSCOMB - FRAGMENT"
Best Director - "NICHOLAS GYENEY - THE ACTIVATED MAN"
Best Writer - "LISA SOPER - HAVE A GOOD DAY"
Best Cinematography - "AND THEN THE GRAVE"
Best Special Effects - "FRAGMENT"

Congratulations to all the winners!

P.S. A huge thanks to Tony Olson for his outstanding cosplay of everyone's favorite chainsaw-wielding killer. With outfit changes each night and enduring the heat under a mask, he truly entertained the crowd!

Awards & Prizes

The Official Selections for the event will be unveiled on September 1st, 2024.
These selections will be actively promoted across the extensive HMF network leading up to the festival, scheduled for Friday, October 18th and Saturday, October 19th, 2024.

Awards will be presented for the following categories:

Best Feature Film
Best Short Film
Best Super Short Film
Best North Carolina (NC) Film
Best Foreign Film
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Director
Best Screenwriter
Best Cinematography
Best Special Effects (SFX)
Best Short Screenplay
Best Feature Screenplay

Rules & Terms

Film Categories:
Super Shorts: Any film with a runtime of under 5 minutes.
Shorts: Any film with a runtime of under 45 minutes.
Feature: Any film with a runtime exceeding 45 minutes.

Genre Requirement:
All submitted films must fall within the horror genre. Sci-fi, Thrillers, and suspense are welcome as long as they lean on the side of horror.

Language and Accessibility:
For international submissions, films must include English subtitles or English dubbed to ensure accessibility to a broader audience.

23 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Lisa Soper

    An absolutely fabulous festival! From submitting our film all the way to receiving our awards this year, we were treated like horror royalty. Every level of communication and inclusion was top noch. Even popping on to leave this review we saw our film updated on their page here on Film Freeway. Highly recommend this festival as a unique and kick a** genre fest for film makers and horror buffs! Long live the Freaks! and always remember to HAVE A GOOD DAY!

    November 2024
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  • Daniele De Muro

    Honoured to have my short film"Horizon" at this beautiful Festival. I hope to submit a new project next year.

    October 2023
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    Response from festival:

    We can't wait to see more of your work. Thank you!

  • Matt Webb

    Great event with great people.

    October 2023
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you!

  • Levi Morris

    Honestly, I’m still buzzing from the fun of this weekend! Josh and Tony have done such a fantastic job curating a wide variety of horror films for the Horror Movie Freaks Film Festival! My 15 year old niece watched more than one film through her fingers including my own! (Which was so fun to witness.) This is an intimate festival, which I enjoyed. I also appreciated how consistent the audience was. Sometimes you attend a fest and people only show up for one film. This audience was IN IT for the weekend! The venue is genuinely beautiful. Everyone in my group loved it and the hospitality from everyone was above and beyond. I absolutely recommend this fest and am excited to see how they grow. There is no doubt in my mind in a few years they will be a sought after horror fest for genre lovers! Thank you all for such a great weekend!

    October 2023
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you so much!

  • Jaysen Buterin

    I have been fortunate enough to screen at the Horror Movie Freaks Film Fest in the past but this was my first year in attendance and it was COMPLETELY worth the wait! Josh and the HMF crew did an amazing job of not only communicating with filmmakers before the festival, but in promoting ALL of the films as much as they could, and making sure the attending filmmakers had everything they need! The Palmetto Theatre is an absolutely gorgeous venue, and the downtown area of Walnut Cove might look a little sleepy, but appearances can be deceiving, and we had the most fun time running amok there. HMF is a film festival run by filmmakers for film lovers and makers alike, and I cannot wait to see how much bigger, better and bloodier it gets next year!

    October 2022
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