The 9th annual Chattanooga Film Festival wrapped last week, and celebrated genre films, up and coming filmmakers, and a third successful virtual run.

When Badon contacted me about his latest short film, The Blood of the Dinosaurs, I expected nothing less than the acid trip I received.

I’m so grateful to have one more year in the books at CFF. And what a year it was! I blasted through so many impressive movies, but these are a few of my favorites from the 2022 festival.

A mirror held up to show us what we want to forget can be brutally effective in the right hands, and it can haunt us long after the camera stops rolling. In the case of the Irish film Gateway, Niall Owens has those hands giving us such a mirror.

When the program for the 2022 Chattanooga Film Festival was announced, one film immediately jumped out at me based on the title alone.

Chattanooga Film Festival has been one of my favorite festivals since I first attended in 2020, often supplying movies that make my personal top ten lists and movies I wouldn’t see anywhere else—films like Pussycake, Modell Olimpia, and The Creeping.

Theodore Schaefer’s Giving Birth To A Butterfly is a movie that will bring to mind some of Lynch’s work but undoubtedly stands on its own two feet, and in the process of paying homage to Montana’s favorite weirdo gives us something undeniably beautiful and deeply moving.

Robbie Banfitch’s The Outwaters is not one of those films that makes you wish the Found Footage genre would just stay dead and instead reminds you of how truly weird the technique can be.

One of the most exciting things about independent movies is being able to bring to life a concept that big studios wouldn’t fund, such as Bryan Connolly’s scathingly accurate satire of the Hollywood film industry, Make Popular Movies.

Ashley Anderson says this showcase includes a delightful collection of thrillers, comedies, fear, and surprises.

E.L. King says the Dangerous Visions Vol. 2 showcase of horror and genre shorts at the Chattanooga Film Festival takes us to other worlds and explores are deepest fears.

Sammy Mannion says the Dangerous Visions Vol. 1 showcase of horror and genre shorts at Chattanooga Film Festival is deeply moving, frightening, brilliant and gruesome.

Ashley Anderson says the satire in Guts is a reprieve from its gruesome moments.

We’re coming at you fresh out of the Chattanooga Film Fest 2022, ghouls. Corie and Sarah, hosts of Gag Me With a Chainsaw, help us wrap up another year of dark, weird, devastating and hilarious indie features and shorts.

Jaclyn Barlett says with alluring cinematography and a surreal structure, Wulver’s Stane is a captivating work of art.

Ashley Anderson says Mystery Spot is an interesting story with a confusing and unsatisfying ending.

Ashley Anderson says the relatability of receiving unwanted spam calls creates the uncertain potential for Cruise’s realism.

Greg Swinson and Ryan Thiessen’s Night Shift is a no-holds-barred siege film with an unkillable emotional core.

El apego utilizes surreal and dreamlike imagery to establish the complexities of a most haunting relationship. It’s the kind of film that sticks with you like hot honey and the way with which the story unfolds is downright wicked and innovative.