Could Horror Film Roulette Lead to Similar Competitions?


There are countless film festivals and competitions hosted regularly around the world. Some of the most notable and iconic events include Sundance, Tribeca, and the Venice Film Festival in Italy which began in 1932 and is the oldest one still running. These are usually used to showcase well-established auteurs but, for up-and-coming directors, it is often best to seek out short film contests. One of the most innovative options, especially for those in the horror genre, is Horror Film Roulette. This exciting competition adds a gambling element to proceedings, and can force directors out of their comfort zones.

What is Horror Film Roulette?

Horror Film Roulette is an annual short film competition which takes place in Metro Detroit. It gives filmmakers a chance to showcase their skills with a five minute picture, but there is a catch. The directors find out the genre of the film they will be making after spinning a wheel at the Kickoff event on October 1st each year. The dark and spooky-looking wheel features twelve pizza-like segments. The filmmaker spins the wheel, and when it stops on the blood-drenched knife at the top it will reveal the category that they have to work with.

The genres include sci-fi, monster, supernatural, thriller, zombies, and slasher. But it could also land on spin again, prize, spinner’s choice, or audience choice. Once the topic has been selected, directors create their 5-minute entry which will be judged against the other competitors and must be submitted by October 15th. This gives them just over two weeks to make their masterpiece. The event represents an excellent opportunity for budding directors to get their work seen, as anyone across the nation is able to enter. Some of the previous winning entries have been Monster Under the Bed in 2018, Dead Air in 2017, and Slasher Summit in 2016.

Why use Roulette and not a Random Draw?

Anyone familiar with roulette could argue that the wheel used at the short film event doesn’t represent the classic table casino game. The organizers will have chosen to call it roulette because the game is so famous, and also because the casino industry and horror have always been strongly linked.

The tension felt when playing roulette can be akin to that of watching a horror film. Players enjoy online roulette options to feel the anticipation and thrill as the live dealer drops the ball onto the wheel in one of the various games available. Watching the little ball spin around before scattering over the ridges and landing in a hole is like nervously waiting for a monster to burst out from somewhere – think Michael Myers jumping out of the cabinet in John Carpenters 1978 classic, Halloween. The film directors who take up the Horror Film Roulette challenge probably feel a similar sense of trepidation as they wait to see which category they will be faced with.

Over the years, there have been movies based on casino games, and vice versa. Leprechaun, for instance, is a cult horror classic about a character who is usually associated with good fortune in the industry. The slot game, Rainbow Riches from Barcrest, features the theme of a leprechaun at the end of the rainbow with a pot of gold. In the 1993 movie from Mark Jones, Warwick Davis played the fantasy creature.

The premise of the film which marked Jennifer Aniston’s silver screen debut was that the leprechaun believes a family has stolen his pot of gold. He therefore turns to sinister methods to try to get it back. The cult picture led to six sequels including Leprechaun Returns, and is often shown on St. Patrick’s Day. There was even a remake of the original film, called Leprechaun Origins. Another casino-inspired offering was the 2005 horror thriller, Roulette, from David Blair and Adam Pitman. It was a dark movie which featured a group of friends engaging in a deadly game of Russian roulette.

While the Horror Film Roulette event is still young, it could influence the way filmmaking competitions are done in the future. The premise of having to gamble on a genre adds another level of excitement, and can force directors to work outside of their comfort zones. This could lead to some interesting and original shorts.