Tampa, Fla.- Florida directors gathered at Villagio Theaters Nov. 16 to showcase their horror movies. Presented by Creative loafing, the film festival included six feature length films and 10 short films. The movies varied in quality, but all have a distinct Floridian feeling. Anyone who travels the state could recognize locations on film.

For Ybor students, the feature length film Joe Vampire gave shot after shot of familiar streets, buildings and alleyways. 7th avenue was the first part of Ybor on film. Shots of Centro Ybor worked as transitions between scenes. The 16th street parking garage was also featured. A brief view of the Student Service building occurred during a camera sweep.

Focusing on a tired old vampire, Joe Vampire is about the average guy, based on views of director Sean Donohue. Joe, played by Mike Christopher, owes rent, can’t find work, and is a self proclaimed Corey Hart cover band member. The movie left many questions unanswered in the end, “So there’s room for a sequel,” the director says. He also references Halloween in the ending, with the audience wondering and making the movie scarier, “I don’t want to know everything because I can make things scarier in my head.” When asked why they filmed in Ybor, Donohue simply stated, “It’s what we had.”

Two of the short films, we viewed were Dormant and Agrizoophobia. Dormant, was shot in Ruskin with recognizable houses and streets throughout. Dormant is about two brothers, Mick and Shaughn who are looking for Mick’s girlfriend during a zombie apocalypse.  In the end, Mick accidentally kills his girlfriend and takes his own life. Shaughn discovers his dead brother and tries to kill himself, but has no bullets left. Directed by Shaughn Stacy and Tyler Jones, Dormant was shot in the style of a first person shooter game, and featured detailed make-up for each zombie.

Another film by Sean Donohue, Agrizoophobia was about three friends who go camping, with enough guts and gore to make even the more avid horror fans squeamish. The film stars Chris Cavalier (Doug), Lexi Balestrieri (Jill), and Morgan Middlebrook (Tommy). As the three prepare to leave, Doug keeps complaining that he hates nature, especially wild animals. As the night progresses and Doug becomes more anxious, Tommy takes him to look for firewood. Doug is revealed to be a werewolf and proceeds to kill and devour Tommy and Jill. This was also filmed on location in Ruskin, and featured familiar palm fronds and sandy campgrounds that many Floridian’s recognize as trademarks.

For anyone who likes low budget horror films, and loves Florida films, Reel Terror is an event that shouldn’t be missed. The Villagio Theaters boast a restaurant and bar, full meals for movies, and extremely comfortable seats with food trays. Many of the feature length films will be available for viewing and purchasing on Amazon, and more information on the festival can be found on CreativeLoafing.com.