Catch Bainbridge Island Filmmaker Bobby Roe’s new film “Will Helm” at BIFF

By Jenn Hemmingsen

Bainbridge Island local Bobby Roe has made a name for himself in the horror genre, co-creating the found footage hit “The Houses October Built.” Now, Roe and his longtime collaborator Zack Andrews are expanding their horror empire with two exciting new projects – the Fortnite horror experience “Haunt Society’s Nightmare Fuel” and the festival short film “Will Helm” starring Spencer Charnas, which will screen at this year’s Bainbridge Island Film Festival from Nov. 7 – 10.

Bringing Nightmares to the Festival Circuit with “Will Helm”

Roe and Andrews are bringing their horror expertise to the festival circuit with the short film described as a “proof-of-concept horror short.” The plot of “Will Helm” is being kept under wraps, but we know it has an unofficial “A Nightmare on Elm Street” component and acts as a meta combo piece for the Wes Craven classic.

“We are hoping to follow in the footsteps of Smile, Night Swim and Lights Out,” says Roe. “They were all derived from horror shorts and found great success in expanding their stories. We strive for the same. Will Helm is more of a proof concept than a traditional short film in the vein of De Palma’s Blow Out or Mute Witness.”

The short film features practical effects by Rob Hinderstein, who has worked on projects like Jurassic Park and The Haunted Mansion. Charnas and actress Mara Marini (Parks & Rec) lead the cast.

“Will Helm” premiered at Sitges and Screamfest in October before screening at the Knoxville Horror Film Fest alongside an anniversary showing of Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. It’s screening as part of BIFF’s Late-Night Shorts program on Friday, Nov. 9, and Saturday, Nov. 10.

Bringing Halloween Thrills to Fortnite with “Nightmare Fuel”

Roe and Andrews have also partnered with Big Honeycomb, Inc. and Unreal Development Studio Big Sky XR to create “Haunt Society’s Nightmare Fuel” – a first-of-its-kind horror-themed Fortnite map coming just in time for Halloween.

The trailer promises an intense, unguided exploration of a terrifying nightmare scenario. As the “Nightmare Warrior,” players must battle evil, solve puzzles, and collect keys to escape a haunted mansion filled with a vampire family of “MetaHuman” enemies. Power-ups in the form of “Nightmare Fuel” will help players survive the horrors.

“We formed Haunt Society in order to showcase Halloween haunted houses from all over the country,” says Andrews, who co-writes with Roe. “Going through these attractions unlocked so much creativity and ways of getting that experience to an audience. With the success of our VR haunt in “RecRoom,” we wanted to expand and create the ultimate horror-themed Fortnite game.”

Roe adds, “The goal was to make Inception but with nightmares instead of dreams. Video games allow a creative freedom that any idea, no matter how grand, is executable. Our mission is to continue to scare in different mediums and deliver characters and imagery that can only be described as nightmare fuel.”

To play “Haunt Society’s Nightmare Fuel,” Fortnite players can search for the island using the code 2304-7443-0132 or by name. This is just the first in a series of horror-themed Fortnite maps the team plans to create as part of the “Nightmare Fuel” game concept.

Teaching the Next Generation of Filmmakers

Bobby regularly teaches aspiring young filmmakers in Horror Filmmaking 101 at BARN. The 4-week class teaches students aged 13 – 18 essential skills for crafting compelling narratives in the horror genre, including narrative techniques to create gripping and terrifying stories and tips for breaking into the horror filmmaking industry.

It’s an exciting time for horror fans, with Bainbridge Island’s own Bobby Roe set to deliver some serious nightmare fuel in the coming months.

Follow Bobby on Instagram: @housesoctbuilt

The Plot of “The Houses October Built”: 

The film begins in medias res to a dazed and bloodied Brandy being put in a truck and driven off. Days earlier, a group of friends from Ohio—Brandy, her boyfriend Zack, cameraman Jeff, Bobby, and Mikey—decide to take a trip to visit some of America’s scariest haunted house attractions in the days leading up to Halloween  They plan to record their experiences and interview the actors who work there. This leads to disturbing revelations about the establishments’ operations, such as failure to perform background checks, utilizing criminals and disturbed individuals as actors, using real corpses as props, and performing dangerous stunts for the sake of scares. – from Wikipedia!

Jenn Hemmingsen is the marketing communications coordinator at BARN 

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