Each year at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest, the festival does its best to ensure that there is an anthology or two on the line-up. At this year’s event there was only one, Hauntology, from the singular voice of Parker Brennon. Anthology films are usually composed by several filmmakers, each tackling a different segment, but Hauntology forgoes that in favour of one cohesive vision, a move that makes the film all the more enjoyable. Hauntology also works as a brilliant gateway film into the genre of horror, with Parker Brennon resting on spooky vibes over buckets of blood or traumatising imagery.
Jazmin (Samantha Russell) takes her fearless runaway younger sibling, Venus (Jaidyn Triplett), on a road trip and shares the most chilling tales surrounding their Ohio hometown. Each place they visit has its own ghost story and queer perspective: trans woman Julian (Zoey Luna) casts a spell to become her ideal self, but the dark spirit unleashed tries to invade her life; a troubled married couple find love beyond the grave; an up-and-coming art gallery is forging paintings of a deceased artist with very bloody consequences; and a journalist secures an interview with the eccentric owner of a haunted Victorian mansion.
In the lead up to FrightFest, THN spoke with both Parker Brennon and Zoey Luna about Hauntology as part of our Road to FrightFest interview series. This didn’t stop us from speaking with Parker Brennon again though when they appeared on the FrightFest media wall, especially as they were joined by cast members Samantha Russell and Jaidyn Triplett. We spoke with both Samantha Russell and Jaidyn Triplett about what drew them to Hauntology, whilst finding out from Parker how their FrightFest experience was going.
Hauntology received its international premiere at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest on 23rd August and is released in US cinemas from Friday 13th September 2024.
