Hellifax Horror Festival reviews

The Hellifax horror festival celebrated its sixth year, bringing together the horror lovers of Halifax at Carbon Arc Cinema. The festival is a celebration of filmmakers, enthusiasts and the genre of horror, showcasing submissions from all over the world. 

The Dalhousie Gazette attended the horror festival to give readers a peek into the latest in the horror scene.

Short film picks from the Gazette’s assistant arts and culture editor Mariana Luz

Time Eater (2025), directed by Ryan Couldrey:

This film was definitely a highlight for me. Jane Moffat’s incredible performance kept me tense throughout the entire film. The story follows Anne (Moffat), a woman babysitting her granddaughter, when she is faced with an eerie, familiar entity. The short makes the audience question if Anne is going insane, or if she’s really being haunted, and they make excellent use of lighting and sound to tell that story. Through Moffat’s acting, you can feel the character’s fears and frustrations through the screen. 

La Última Palabra (2024), directed by Alejandro Moreno: 

While the special effects make-up was amazing, the story got confusing at the end. The film’s protagonist, Eva (Irene Garrés), is a young woman who is reunited with her grandmother. When the two discuss Eva’s past, Eva discovers scary memories from her childhood. Alzira Gómez, who portrayed Eva’s grandmother, had me suspicious of her character from the start, which I really enjoyed. The close-up camera angles were amazingly claustrophobic, but the ending was rushed, and not as strong as the rest of the movie.

The Spider (2024), directed by Michelle Godoy Priske 

Set on Halloween, this short is a perfect watch for the season. The Spider follows a young woman who meets her birth mother for the first time. The film’s strong ending and clever script, featuring Tanis Dolman’s sinister acting, made it a highlight. My favourite scene was when Dolman’s character kills a spider, and the camera switches to the spider’s point of view. 

‘Wats’a (2025), directed by Dustin McGladrey:

This film’s original Indigenous story and superb special effects makes for an amazing horror short. Jeremy (Jeremy Pahl), the protagonist, works at the North Pacific Cannery and is haunted by ‘Wats’a, a shape-shifting river otter spirit. The ‘Wats’a continuously chases Jeremy and haunts him, even when the audience thinks he is safe.

Picks from Gazette arts contributors

Buffet Infinity (2025), directed by Simon Glassman (Reviewed by Ella Hollidge-Riche): 

A restaurant that devours its patrons should, in theory, strike terror in audiences — so why did it leave me hungry for more? 

Told entirely through TV commercials for competing businesses in the same strip mall, this film is undeinably original. Looming above all the businesses is Buffet Infinity, a seemingly perfect restaurant promising unlimited everything.  

Shot over five years, without a traditional script, this film perfectly captures the authenticity of small-town commercials with uncanny precision. As the advertisements re-run continually, sinister patterns begin to emerge: businesses mysteriously close and patrons vanish, while Buffet Infinity expands like a malevolent organism. Reports of sinkholes and levitating victims in undisclosed locations punctuate the viewer’s increased sense of dread throughout the film, building to the realization that the corporate entity is consuming reality.  

The concept is brilliant: capitalism as cosmic horror, with brand consciousness gaining literal sentience. Glassman’s commitment to the true analog shtick of Greylock and The Mandela Catalogue is truly admirable, and his ability to keep that foundation while breaking from the epics of psychological horror shows genuine craft.  

Despite this, the film mistakes endurance for atmosphere. The commercial format, while a fan-favourite of the horror genre, tests the viewer’s patience rather than delivering a real visceral terror. The whole thing is frustratingly cerebral, keeping viewers at arm’s length, just barely missing the mark on pulling them fully into this world. 

Very admirably crafted, I respect Buffet Infinity and highly recommend it for analog-horror devotees with the patience for a good slow-burn. But maybe don’t expect the emotional gut-punch the premise insinuates.  

Portal to Hell (2025), directed by Woody Bess (Reviewed by Logan Gluskin):

Bess’s Portal to Hell follows 20-something-year-old Dunn (Trey Holland), who discovers a portal to hell at his local laundromat. Chip (Richard Kind), a demon, tells Dunn that to close the portal, he must kill three people, or one member of 2000s band Hot Chelle Rae. The portal exists to take Dunn’s neighbour, who has terminal cancer, Mr. Bobshank (Keith David), to hell. Dunn, determined to help his neighbour, embarks on a journey to find people worthy of hell, with the assistance of a laundromat worker. 

The film, while comical, delves into the morality of good versus evil. The main character’s struggles with depression, loneliness and his own guilt are illustrated by varying lighting techniques. A shaking hangar is cleverly used as a motif to demonstrate his internal conflict. One of the film’s main themes is that healing is not a linear journey, but it’s key to moving forward with one’s life. 

Overall I enjoyed this film. I particularly enjoyed the way lighting was used to personify Dunn’s guilt surrounding his brother both literally and metaphorically. I found the film entertaining, but I wished there was more depth to Dunn and Mr. Bobshank’s relationship.