The Fright Nights Jury 2022
The Fright Nights Jury 2022 consists of three experts of horror films. Thanks to the Trio Infernal, your submissions will be in competent hands again this year. The Fright Nights Jury 2022 is made up of actor, dubbing artist and foreign language lecturer Holger Schulz, director and screenwriter Herbert Gantner and horror writer and journalist Faye Hell, who already honored the jury at the Fright Nights Horror Film Festival 2021.
What the jury wants from you now? – Submit your all-celebrated horror film spectacle and become part of the Fright Nights Horror Film Festival 2022.
Horror for the pit of the stomach, brain and heart
Holger Schulz
Holger Schulz (b. 1973), born in Würzburg/Germany, saw his first horror movie in the living room of his parents’ friends: the final of the 1980 World Cup. The second horror movie was shown afterwards – “Frankenstein” by James Whale, 1931, with Boris Karloff. The adults were busy celebrating, young Schulz was busy being scared. His fascination with nasty flics quickly became an obsession. After seeing an original copy of Romero’s “Dawn Of The Dead” at the cinema when he was 18, his date at the time told him a mysterious punch recipe. With its help, Schulz managed to take over John Carpenter’s body for 8 years. Critics believe that Carpenter made his worst films during this time.
After graduation, Schulz worked as an actor, casting editor, teacher and assistant on a Saturday night show.
Today, he only does what he feels like doing: He is a voice actor for anime series, radio plays and radio spots, among others. He writes (“membrane”, animation short, in production and “The Millennium Flight”, novel adaptation, script preparation). And as a foreign language lecturer, he teaches his students to fear.
For the 2022 FrightNights, Schulz hopes for films that go not only to the pit of the stomach, but also to the brain and the heart.
Photo © Carsten Mohr
Horror with goosebumps and blood orgies
Faye Hell
Near Vienna, Faye Hell (writer, film historian and freelance journalist) lives in a house between a forest and a cemetery. As a cat fanatic, she prefers to explore the darker realms of art, culture and society and is always on the lookout for works that challenge her. She wrote her thesis in Cultural Studies (with a focus on film) on the topic of “Serial Killers in Film and Their Historical Models.” In her writing, she combines subtle horror with explicit violence and obscenity. In her current novel “THE LAST DREAM”, she casts a glance into a dystopian future.
Life without horror is unthinkable for Faye. Her immoderate love of horror was probably laid in her cradle, but the unbridled passion was really ignited by Stephen King. The first horror movie of her sweet nightmares was John Carpenter’s THE THING (1982).
Faye is looking forward like hell to your submissions and will enjoy profound goosebump moments and excessive blood orgies in equal measure. Horror is often extreme, but most importantly it should always be uncomfortable and challenge social conventions.
Horror with oppressive, unpleasant moods
Herbert Gantner
Herbert Gantner has been making fictional short films of the horror and thriller genre since he was bitten by film fever in his youth. He studied film in Vienna and Berlin and worked as an editor and cameraman for TV and production companies. As a director and screenwriter, he is primarily concerned with human abysses and emotionally deforming scenarios. His latest works were the dystopian short film “The Border to Infinity” and “Inhumanity” as part of the horror anthology film “Portae Infernales – Three Gates to Hell”, which was awarded Best Film at Fright Nights 2019, among others.
What fascinates him most about horror films are the specimens that manage to build up an oppressive, deep-seated and unpleasant but thrilling mood that won’t let you go, thus making the film an experience. Also cult characters like Jason, Freddy, Leatherface and Pinhead, as well as the works of Gaspar Noé, make his film heart beat faster!
