Student and community participating in event

From killer doppelgängers to wicked moms, the Socorro Independent School District’s 2024 Horror Fest on Oct. 30 featured a spine-chilling collection of short horror films produced by some of SISD’s most talented audio-visual high school students.

Americas High School senior Yvonai Sharleze Armendariz showcased her acting and directing skills with her short film “Utero.” The film, which tells the story of a young mother who goes insane after losing her baby in a car accident, won first place in the competition. It also won best director and best actor.

“I just want to give a big thank you to my AV team for making this movie come to life,” Armendariz said before the film’s screening at Montwood High School. “Our love line is ‘Go to sleep baby, mommy’s here.’ I hope you guys enjoy.”

The competition, which takes place annually around Halloween to celebrate the spooky holiday, was open to students in the SISD Career and Technical Education (CTE) program for audio and video production across the district’s six comprehensive high schools.

Entries were required to be between seven to ten minutes long, and each film had to include an original villain, a baby carriage as a prop, and the phrase, “The clock… it’s stuck at 3:33 AM. Every night, without fail. And that’s when the whispers begin.” Most importantly, the films needed to be scary.

Benjamin Munguia, audio-video production teacher at Pebble Hills High School and CTE department chair, said that students really elevated their work this year by applying many of the special and visual effects techniques they learned in class.

He emphasized that the festival offered students a hands-on opportunity to practice filmmaking. Throughout the experience, students engaged in the entire filmmaking process, from inception and visualization to production and distribution. As a result, students can include on their resumes that they are published filmmakers, enhancing their professional profiles.

“The best part about this specific event is that the kids get to sit in a theater with the lights turned off and see their movie projected up on the big screen,” Mungia said. “It's like the dreams come true for a lot of these student filmmakers.”

Montwood High School junior Trinity Medina played dual roles in the short film, “Mirrored Image.” She played Layla and her ghostly doppelgänger, who follows Layla around and causes havoc.

Medina was excited to see herself on the big screen, and she also looked forward to watching all the other films. She said all the schools had incredibly talented and creative filmmakers.

“I'm very, very excited to see everybody else's (films) because I know that all the other schools have so much to offer, and they have such creative minds,” Medina said.

For Adan Acosta, a senior at Eastlake High School, enrolling in the school’s audio and video production program was an opportunity to expand on his writing talent by bringing his characters to life on film.

Acosta served as the editor for the short film "Immure," which tells the story of a private detective searching for her missing niece, leading her to a haunted building.

He said making the film not only gave him valuable hands-on filmmaking experience but also allowed him to have fun with his friends.

“I'm honestly so glad I had this opportunity,” Acosta said. “It goes into my portfolio for other people to look at in the future. It gives me a really good experience to test out my skills and learn from those skills. It's just a really amazing experience, and I'm so glad that I have that.”

To watch the 2024 Horror Fest short films, click on the film’s title.

Utero, Americas High School

Immure, Eastlake High School

Mirrored Image, Montwood High School

Five Star, Montwood High School

Hushed Cries, Pebble Hills High School

Valtorath’s Box, Socorro High School