ICA Fright Night

Stay late for an evening of back-to-back independent horror films, curated by ICA A/V technician and filmmaker Renn Trani. Note: Some films include mature content; viewer discretion is advised.
Doors at 6 p.m. Screening at 6:30 p.m. (129 minutes of film time)
$5

Blank Hellscape – Into The Sea, directed by Hank Allen and Max Rooney (2025), 3 min.: In the not-too-distant future, a new and deadly drug has hit the streets of Neo New York, one said to fuse flesh with steel and decimate the mind. This terrifying drug has found itself in the brutish hands of a degenerate biker, who uncovers the dark truths behind its origin.

Leftover Stuff, directed by Avery Parker (2025), 11 min.: The rise of indie porn sites offers Vicky, a young sex worker, the chance to star in a pretentious hipster’s erotic video, where her digital persona merges with her real self. As the line between performance and reality dissolves, she’s lured down a path of revenge.

Scary World, directed by Stone Thurman (2024), 3 min.: Fear-seeker Darren Cole signs up to be the new poster boy of Scary World, an underground VR horror experience where nightmares come true. He soon realizes his decision may be a permanent one.

Dinner at Wendy’s, directed by Renn Trani (2025), 5 min.: Two friends on a road trip stop at a Wendy’s and have an unexpected conversation.

Trolls, directed by Robbie Barnett (2024), 17 min.: Somewhere in the Dark Ages, the deaths of two bridge trolls are stalled by the severed hand of God falling from the sky, and the arrival of a local lady whose piss they believe will lead them to absolution.

TOMATO, directed by Rocco Vasaio (2025), 10 min.: Charlie and Francine are experiencing a dead spot in their relationship. Today is Francine’s birthday, and Charlie is desperate to repair their connection by showing her a fun and romantic day together, but he’s hiding something. Paranoid and on edge, Charlie hasn’t been able to sleep in days due to vivid and disturbing nightmares.

Revenge of The Great Pumpkin, directed by Hank Allen and Max Rooney (2020), 7 min.: Two teenagers meet a pumpkin-crazed man who teaches them the true meaning of Halloween.

The Crimson Copy, directed by Hank Allen and Max Rooney (2023), 1 hr., 20 min.: Dennis Renfield is your average broke slacker whose main interests are partying and hanging out with his best friend, Maurice. His lifestyle is in desperate need of an adjustment after being offered a cushy, high-paying office job out of the blue. Will he manage this newfound responsibility? Or will his pale, bloodthirsty boss get in the way?

Director bios:

Hank Allen and Max Rooney are multidisciplinary filmmakers and artists from Richmond, Virginia, currently based in New York City. Under the Fingertrap Productions banner, they collaborate frequently with musicians and record labels (Sacred Bones, Blank Hellscape) to channel the weird and eerie into absurdist works that pull equally from narrative storytelling and video art.

Robbie Barnett is a director from Los Angeles and North Carolina.

Avery Parker is a director from Virginia and a VCUarts Cinema alumnus.

Stone Thurman is a twenty-six-year-old writer/director from Danville, Virginia, and a graduate of the VCUarts Cinema Department. He has directed four short films and also wrote, codirected, and coproduced a collaborative event with TEDx and VCUarts Cinema. He is currently working on his next film, The Man That Killed Boogey (experimental horror / drama) and is preparing to direct his first feature film in the coming year.

Renn Trani, the curator of Fright Night!, is a filmmaker and VCUarts Cinema alumnus whose work has been screened at film festivals and art galleries across the city
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Rocco Vasaio is a twenty-three-year-old director from Richmond, Virginia. He is the son of restaurant owners and movie lovers, and as a child spent his days between the aisles of Video Fan (now the ice cream shop Scoop) and the never-ending stream of movies playing on the flat screen at 8 ½, his parents’ Italian restaurant, named after a Fellini movie.