I was unable to attend Fantastic Fest in person this year, but I can only imagine that everyone who walked out of the screening of director Sean Cisterna’s documentary Silver Screamers in Austin had as big a smile on their face as I did after watching the screener at home. The Canadian filmmaker’s innovative project follows a group of senior citizens he recruited to film a short horror film, The Rug, written and directed by Cisterna and based on the short story by Edo Van Belkom. With Silver Screamers, Cisterna wanted to “inspire audiences of all ages to rethink what is possible later in life.” The heartwarming documentary is about embracing new experiences, celebrating creativity, the power of community, friendship, and defying expectations, all from the perspective of a diverse group of retirees who challenged themselves to try something completely foreign to them and successfully created a horror short that is almost as entertaining as the documentary itself.
Taking place mainly in the town of Aurora, Ontario, Silver Screamers details the conception of this fascinating project before taking us through the behind-the-scenes of the horror short’s pre-production (prep included watching scary movies like The Exorcist), production, post-production, and even to the night of The Rug’s initial premiere at the Aurora Museum & Cultural Centre. At the beginning of the doc, Cisterna laments the lack of funding for movies and the various challenges filmmakers face. After the director found an article for the “New Horizons for Seniors Programs” — a government-funded program that “supports projects led or inspired by seniors” — an idea began to form. Announcements at bingo halls and retirement homes invited senior citizens to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and found eight daring creatives to join the venture.
The documentary allows the audience to get to know the seniors who participated in the adventures of shoestring-budget horror filmmaking. They were each assigned a specific role they were responsible for during production, based on their skill sets and previous jobs or hobbies that translated well into their given tasks, and were supported by professional mentors and the rest of the crew along the way. The participants included sound recordist Audrey Cameron (96); props master Anthony Garramone (72); wardrobe artist Diane Buchanan (80); first assistant director Bari-Lynne Butters (78); art director Lucia Catania (78); special effects artist David Swift (80); makeup artist Diane Ament (80); and camera operator Sonny Lauzon (78).
Learning about each senior is significant not only to connect with them as people but also to understand why participating in filming the horror short was so important to them. The doc offers glimpses into their lives, stories about their families, life’s ups and downs, sacrifices made, decades of hard work, and what they’re most passionate about. Cameron loved square dancing back in the day, for example, and was the first to volunteer for the project. Garramone is a dedicated collector and volunteer in his community. Buchanan earned the nickname “Mother B” as a former coach of junior ball (she prefers sports to horror) and was curious about the behind-the-scenes of filmmaking. Butters first started in video production in the mid-80s and wanted to “lighten things up” in her life as her husband had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, and she felt making a movie was the perfect opportunity to do so.
Catania is originally from Italy and came to Canada at the age of 17. She has loved painting for most of her life, and recalled how, every Sunday afternoon, her parents sent her to the movies as a child. Whether painting or filming a horror short, Catania believes, “You have to have a vision regardless of what you do.” Swift, who loves to wear quirky green attire, has a background in puppetry. As a teacher, he came up with the Puppet Play Program, which performed for over 500 kids in neighboring schools. Ament performed in plays all through high school and later became a drama teacher who particularly enjoyed pantomime makeup. She shares that “she needs this project to fill my time,” after her husband died. Lauzon had a hobby of taking videos while in the Philippines, and even made little documentaries with the residents of the building where he lived.
Silver Screamers is honest about the experience the group had adjusting to their temporary duties while making The Rug, from tackling their respective homework during pre-production, what it was like on set (including challenging days or the tedious times when certain departments have to wait around until it’s time for them to work), and the satisfying throughline of how each of them became more comfortable, confident, and more vocal in their roles. The seniors also participated in the post-production process; it’s fair to say they all seemed the most delighted by helping to create the different visceral sounds the hungry killer rug emits in the horror short. The patience and encouragement from the rest of the crew is as endearing as watching the journey unfold. We get to see different generations working together, from the unit on set to the Chorus York senior choir who helped score the horror short’s soundtrack, led by 19-year-old composer Yoon Myung.
The diverse backgrounds and personalities of these eight regular yet special people shine throughout Silver Screamers. The documentary is entertaining, intriguing, funny, and inspiring, with a real emotional core at its foundation. Not only is the film a great reminder that anything is possible and “you’re never too old to try something new,” as Swift says, but it is also about the importance of continued human connection, creativity, breaking stereotypes, and time spent. On the night of The Rug’s premiere in Aurora, the group emphasized that “seniors can still do things” and hoped that the audience felt inspired by their efforts and imagination.
Silver Screamers closes with an amusing gag that gives the opportunity for the eight senior citizens to experience being “killed” on-screen, complementing their behind-the-scenes adventure in horror movie filmmaking. The cherry on top of this endlessly joyful and compelling documentary is that their hard work culminated in a solid horror short. The Rug centers on an elderly woman named Edna Dowell (Jayne Eastwood), who basically turns into a serial killer thanks to the sentient rug she’s dragged into her home that devours anything it can — especially humans. It doesn’t take long for Edna to realize she’s made a mistake feeding the rug people who are causing her grief, as the colorful monster is only loyal to satiating its eternal hunger. Like Silver Screamers, the horror short is amusing and engaging, and only slightly more bloody than the documentary.
