Fright Night Film Fest
Fright Night Film Fest, also known as Louisville Fright Night Film Fest, is an annual horror film festival in Louisville, Kentucky. The festival was first founded in 2005 by Ken Daniels and is typically held in July at the Galt House, which is famous for housing guests for the Kentucky Derby. The focus of the Fright Night Film Fest focuses on genre films such as  horror, science fiction, fantasy, action, and cult from around the world including new films from Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America, Europe and North America.Kentucky-made films such as Dead Moon Rising, Hell is Full and Stash got distribution by screenings at this film festival with horror convention and now the convention has expanded to include Fandomfest, a showcase of pop culture, gaming and cosplay. Awards such as the Corman award are presented to films, actors, or directors that excel within their respective categories. Many of the filmmakers have garnered distribution and representation as a result of the notable festival among Hollywood horror filmmakers. Fright Night Film Fest launches careers internationally. In 2013, The organizers announced that during the 2012 Fright Night Film Fest packed with over 16,700 people, and it screened more than 120 films within three days. Some of the largest horror online publications have called it the Sundance of Horror.
The horror magazine Horror Hound has sponsored the festival for many years and called it the largest genre film festival in the country. Moreover, the Louisville government publicly announced that this film festival is the country's largest genre-specific film festival.
After the last film fest in 2017, Fright Night Film Fest 2020 was held on October 3, 2020.
== Award winners ==
=== 2006 ===
Best Picture - The Hazing
Best Short - Fangs for the memories and Disconnected
Best Soundtrack  - Silence of Isbella
Best Cinematography - Nightmare Man
Best of the Fest Audience Award - Katie Bird and Bad Reputation
Most Original Film Award - Secret Life of Sarah Sheldon
Best Zombie Film Award - Dead Lands:The Rising
Best Special Effects Award - Edison Death Machine
Honorable Mention - Joshua
=== 2007 ===
Best Feature - Scrapbook
Best Short - Woman's Intuition
Best Soundtrack - Gimme Skelter
Best Special Effects - Horrors of War
Best Zombie - Dead Moon Rising
Best Foreign Horror Film - Bad Dreams (Sweden)
Most Original Idea - The Guardian (Dir. Aaron Marshall)
Horror Icon of the Year - Tony Moran (actor)
Honorable Mention - Salvation (J.A. Steel)
Honorable Mention - 9 Lives of Mara (Balaji K. Kumar)
Honorable Mention - Burial Party (Joseph Dodge)
Honorable Mention - The Day They Came Back (Scott Goldberg)
=== 2008 ===
Best Action - Razor Sharp
Best Actor - Trent Haaga
Best Actress - Monica Knight (Windcroft)
Best of the Fest - Bonnie and Clyde vs. Dracula
Best Cinematography - Lily (Daniel Boneville)
Best Feature - Windcroft (Dir. Evan Meszaros)
Best Comedy - Shh! It's Alive (Dir. Ryan Cadima)
Most Original Film - Gunther Today's Happy Time Fun Show (Dir. JImmy Humphrey)
Best Sci Fi - O2
Best Director- Evan Meszaros
Best Short - Of Darkness (Dir. Gary E. Irwin)
Best One Liner - Zombie Apocalypse
Best Zombie - Zombthology (Dir. Elias Dansey, Chris Kiros, Robert Elkins)
Best Soundtrack - Zombie Love
Best Special Effects - Curse of the Flesh
Kentucky Filmmaker of the Year - George Bonilla
Horror Icon of the Year - Angus Scrimm
Honorable Mention - Paper Dolls
Honorable Mention - Liar's Pendulum
Honorable Mention - Alone
Honorable Mention - Taste of the Flesh
Honorable Mention - The Conjurer
Honorable Mention - The Vagrant
Honorable Mention - Miyuki
=== 2009 ===
Best Short - Double
Best Foreign Short - The Gynecologist
Best Foreign Feature - Family Demons
Best Soundtrack/Score - Eat Me: The Musical
Best SPFX Practical - Devil's Grove
Best Action - The Dogs of Chinatown
Best Sci Fi - Fun on Earth
Best Zombie - Deadlands2:Trapped
Best Comedy - Auburn Hills Breakdown
Best Director- Jack Daniel Stanley
Best Fan Film - Indiana Jones and the Mummies Skull
Best Feature - Mantra
Best Animated - Night of the Invisible Man (Dir. Tyler Meyer)
Best Cinematographer - Huneman Brown Eagle for Mrs. Brummets Garden
Best Actor - Ron Pallio Curse of Micha Rood
Best Actress - Cassandra Kane Family Demons
Best of the Year - Sea of Dust
Honorable Mention - Shellter
Honorable Mention - Alone
Honorable Mention - The Revenant
Honorable Mention - I Don't Sleep I Dream
Honorable Mention - Run! Bitch Run!
Honorable Mention - The Vagrant
Honorable Mention - Blood on the Highway
Honorable Mention - Bikini Girls on Ice
Honorable Mention - Thirsty
Honorable Mention - Dead Sucks
=== 2010 ===
Best Short - Alice Jacobs Is Dead (Dir. Alex Horwitz)
Best Feature - Shadowland (Dir. Wyatt Weed)
Best Soundtrack/Score - Danger Zombies Run (Dir. Brian Wimer)
Scream Queen of the Year -  Heather Langenkamp
Best Special FX Practical - The Taken (FX. Brian Sipe)
Best Screenplay - The Ripper (Joe Randazzo)
Best Action- God of Vampires
Best Sci Fi - Flying Saucer Exodus (Dir. Jerry Williams)
Best Zombie - Revelation (Dir. Will Graver)
Best Comedy - Danger, Zombies, Run
Best Director - Morgan Mead (My Bloody Wedding)
Best Fan Film - Hell Raiser: Deader Winters Lament (Dir. Jonathan S. Kui)
Best Documentary - Graphic Sexual Horror (Dir. Barbara Bell)
Kentucky Filmmaker of the Year - Jacob Ennis
Best Cinematography - The Prometheus Project
Best Actor - Kane Hodder Old Habits Die Hard
Best Actress - Jessica Von The Taken
Horror Icon of the Year - Tom Atkins
Best of the Fest - The Taken (Dir. Richard Valentine)
Audience Pick - My Bloody Wedding (Dir. Morgan Mead)
Honorable Mention - Gun Town (Dir. Lee Vervoort)
Honorable Mention - Get Off My Porch (Dir. Patrick Rea)
Honorable Mention - The Survivors (Dir. Soham Mehta)
Honorable Mention - Moon-Lite (Dir. Kenneth Dowell)
Honorable Mention - Nightmare at Bunnyman Bridge (Dir. Robert Elkins)
Lifetime Achievement Award - Roger Corman
=== 2011 ===
Best Actor - John Wells Overtime
Best Actress - Sebrina Siegel Overtime
Best Director - Darrin Dickerson (D4)
Best Screenplay - The Resurrection of Blake House (Steven C. Gladstone and Joe Randazzo)
Best Cinematography - Brian Cunningham Overtime
Best Soundtrack - Jason Paige Overtime
Best Action - Overtime (Dir. Brian Cunningham, Matt Niehoff)
Lifetime Achievement Award - John Carpenter
Best of the Fest - Overtime
Best Feature - D4
Best One-Liner - Overtime
Filmmakers of the Year - Brian Cunningham, Matt Niehoff Overtime
=== 2012 ===
Lifetime Achievement Award- John Rhys-Davies
Best Foreign Short-Moxina (Dir. Ryota Nakanishi)
Best Foreign Feature-Muirhouse
Best Short-The Keeper
Best Feature-A Little Bit Zombie
Best Director-Patrick Rea for Nailbiter
Best Of the Fest-Nailbiter
Best Grindhouse Film-The Terrifier
Best Zombie Film-A Little Bit Zombie
Best Soundtrack-Below Zero
Best Cinematography-An Evening With My Comatose Mother
Best Screenplay The Man Who Killed Sandra Wallace by Anders Nelson
Best Practical SPFX-Huff
Best CGI-Fallout
Best Action Film-Fallout
Best Sci Fi Film-Ray Bradbury's Kaliedoscope
Best Fan Film-Justice League Auditions
Best Comedy-A Little Bit Zombie
Best Documentary-Beast Wishes
KY Filmmaker of the Year-David Heavener
Horror Icon of the Year-Sid Haig
Best Animated-(Computer)-Lola
Best Animated-(Practical)-Odokuro
Best Actress Kristin Booth for Below Zero
Best Actor Lance Henriksen for It's in the Blood
=== 2013 ===
Best Feature (Horror Category) Cannon Fodder
Kentucky Filmmakers of the Year Biting Pig Productions
Best Screenplay (Horror) Sadistic by Michael Gibrall
Best Screenplay (Fantasy) Biofusionoid Wen-Chia Chang
Best Screenplay (SciFi) Bounty Hunter by Amy McCorkle and Melissa Goodman
Best Zombie Film-NI-28
Best Cinematography Fortune Cookie Prophecies
Best Soundtrack NI-28
Best Foreign Feature Dunderland
Best Foreign Short REFUGIO 115
Best Super Short THE RISING
Best Action 95 ECHOERS
Best Short Film In Between
Best Feature (Sci Fi) Space Milkshake
Best Special FX (Practical makeup) Cannon Fodder
Best Special FX (CGI) 95 ECHOERS
Best Comedy Motivational Growth
Best Director Armen Evrensel for Space Milkshake
Best of The Fest Space Milkshake
Honorable Mentions
She's Having a Baby
Thirteen
Daughters
Blood Sucka Jones
Sader Ridge
== Guest celebrities ==
=== 2013 ===
William Shatner
Stan Lee
Gillian Anderson
Gene Simmons
Norman Reedus
Michael Rooker
Lew Temple
Adrian Paul
Adam Baldwin
Jewel Staite
Alan Tudyk
Saul Rubinek
Grant Wilson
Jason David Frank
Garry Chalk
Gene Simmons
Kevin Smith
Jason Mewes
Kane Hodder
Jon Bernthal
Fred Dekker
=== 2014 ===
Doug Bradley
Ken Foree
John Kassir
Jeff Reddick
Don Shanks
Tamara Glynn
Matthew Walker
Erik Preston
Leslie Hoffman
Ira Heiden
Bradley Gregg
Jennifer Rubin
List of attractions and events in the Louisville metropolitan area

== External links ==
Official website