Blind Faith Leads to Peril in GOODNIGHT, GRACIE

The Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival is proud to announce the World Premiere of one of the year’s most anticipated horror shorts GOODNIGHT, GRACIE, written and directed by Stellan Kendrick, produced by Kendrick & Gloria Sandoval, and executive produced by Graham Wetterhahn, all UCLA graduates. The film stars 8-year-old Caige Coulter as Gracie and Courtney Gains (Children of the Corn, The ‘Burbs) as Billy the killer.

In Goodnight, Gracie a mother gets hacked to pieces by her latest lover, Billy, while her devout child daughter, Gracie, fights to escape the same fate.

Inspired by the director’s real life divorce of his parents, Goodnight, Gracie proclaims the thematic resonance of “blind faith leads to death” through the power of horror clichés and suspenseful storytelling.

“Goodnight, Gracie” sprang out of my emotional turmoil dealing with my parents’ divorce. I woke up every night with terrors. I would imagine that some man came for me after killing my parents. Since I believe horror provides a great medium for metaphor, I switched out myself for a little girl and added a theme to the story: blind faith leads to doom,” says director Stellan Kendrick. “If you want to deal with your troubles, prayers aren’t enough. You’ve got to take action. If one person sees this short and makes a change in their life, I’ve done my job.”

“Goodnight, Gracie is a proof-of-concept for our crew. We’re looking to further develop our team as we work toward a feature film. We have several horror projects in development,” says producer Gloria Sandoval.

The film is just under four minutes of sheer terror, opening with a crucifix on the wall rotating upside-down a la The Conjuring, and an eerie soundtrack that’s a bit reminiscent of Suspiria, which is fitting–a young girl’s curiosity ultimately led to her demise. As Kendrick mentioned, it’s the idea of blind faith being one’s only source of help that is truly scary, and proves true even in reality.

Goodnight, Gracie feels like a bad dream. You WISH it was Gracie’s bad dream and nothing else. Simply put, it’s pure nightmare fuel for children and adults alike. Not a single second is wasted on story lulls, and it packs a punch from start to finish.

The film that American genre blog, Horror Fuel, calls a “living nightmare” has also been selected at other film festivals already, and still counting. Following its World Premiere at Sitges, Goodnight, Gracie will be the Opening Night film at the San Antonio Horrific Film Festival in Texas (October 20th). It will then be presented at the NYC Horror Film Festival (October 29th). More festivals will be announced soon. Please check the film’s site and social media for updates.