Prepare for horror both on-screen and off at Midnight West Film Fest

Oct. 15—As if the Historic Atlas Theatre wasn't spooky enough, prepare to see the old building possessed by Midnight West Productions come next weekend.

This is good news for horror fans, as Midnight West Film Festival will mark its fourth anniversary of horror film galore on Oct. 21-23. It is Cheyenne's only film festival fully dedicated to the showing of independent horror movies, and it's proven to have a lasting presence in just the few years that it's existed.

Originally, the festival was created as a sort of resilient self-promotion by Midnight West Production as the founders pushed to find a place in Cheyenne to screen their own independently produced horror film, "Summer Rage."

"At the time, Zombie Fest wasn't a thing anymore, and we didn't have anything aside from the Wyoming Youth Film Festival," Joshua Saxon, CEO and executive producer of Midnight West Productions, said. "So, we rolled the dice and figured we might as well do it ourselves, since we were already managing the Film Festival for Zombie Fest.

"(Midnight West Fest) has just gotten bigger and better every year."

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, participation in the festival began to waver. Though they've continued repairing attendance numbers, Midnight West Fest still hasn't topped the film submission rate of its second year. Where the festival has shown substantial improvement, however, is in the overall quality of the film submissions the team has received.

This year, Midnight West will screen around 15 hours combined of both short films and feature-length films, including the yearly screening of their own "Summer Rage." The team ultimately accepted almost all submissions, with Saxon touting the quality of the films.

In fact, the only film they were forced to reject was a documentary about an environmental organization that utilizes pornography to distribute their conservationist messaging. Midnight West Productions was impressed by the content and professional quality of the documentary about the strange group, but legally cannot screen the film due to the city's indecency laws.

"It was very engrossing documentary, because these people were talking about how they recognized that they needed to do something to help the planet in one way or another," Saxon said. "They talked about what was their calling to become environmental activists.

"Then it, you know, intersperses the actual pornography throughout all of it that they're actually shooting."

Many might be glad to know that the most controversial aspects of the films scheduled to screen at the festival pertain to the gore they contain, particularly those movies showing Saturday night.

The film festival will follow the same format this year, with three days of film divided by category. This time around, the organizers interspersed more live entertainment to keep attendees busy between film screenings.

Friday night kicks off at 7 with live music and stand-up comedy performances from Saxon and fellow Midnight West Executive Producer Joe Darling, followed by a night of comedy films.

Saturday begins at 1 p.m. with a "High Noon" film bloc featuring Western, action and drama short films, followed by the "After Dark" portion of the show — where Midnight West shows bloody, "grind house" horror from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. Before the late-night film screenings, there will be performances from horror burlesque artist From Ashes and local metal group Demise of Sanity.

Sunday is reserved for Family Day, beginning at 1 p.m., which predictably features an afternoon of family friendly films along with some interactive filmmaking workshops and other activities for kids.

A big attraction this year is an unprecedented one for the team — group paranormal investigations throughout the condemned second and third floors of the Atlas Theatre.

In the past, Midnight West has invited groups up to the historically haunted location for either a haunted house or history tour, but this year, they're presenting a rare interactive experience fit with ghost hunting equipment. All participants will also be equipped with a camera in case anything supernatural occurs.

This might seem like a psychological scare tactic, but after years of witnessing extreme paranormal activity in their own investigations of the Atlas, Midnight West wants to provide the same first-hand experience to attendees.

"We do have footage of people being possessed in the upstairs of the Atlas during a seance," Saxon said. "There's been several members of our troop that have been physically attacked, had things happen both at the Atlas and in their homes after.

"Now, instead of just going through and giving people a tour of the upstairs and telling them (about) everything that's happened, we're going to give them EMF meters and FLIR infrared cameras, and allow them to go up in groups for 30 minutes and conduct ghost hunts themselves."

With the Atlas second floor officially condemned, this is a rare opportunity to not only see the closed-off portions of the building, but get as close to a haunted experience as humanly possible. There will also be a safety supervisor assigned to each of group to ensure the experience is as safe as possible, given the condition of the building.

The whole reason for Midnight West Fest — and the reason for Midnight West Productions' existence — is a shared passion for renovating and preserving the Atlas Theatre.

There's the slim possibility that people who participate will encounter the memory of a lifetime, as Midnight West has.

But it isn't necessarily the memory of the strange experience that's important to Midnight West. Rather, they hope that people connect the memory to the old Atlas Theatre and recognize a building that deserves to be remembered as an integral part of Cheyenne's history.

"If we can facilitate for even one or two people to have an experience like (ours) over this weekend, that's one or two more people who are going around talking about how (they) had this crazy personal experience at the Atlas," Saxon said. "It was terrifying. It changed my life. I want to go back for more, and that's why we do it at the Atlas — we want to go back to the building.

"We need more. There's something else that draws us there. Sometimes it's displeased with us, sometimes it's happy."

A $40 weekend pass grants entry to each day of the festival. There are also options to purchase a two-bloc bundle, single bloc and tickets for live entertainment only.

All of the profits from ghost ticket sales and 15% of the profits from regular ticket sales are donated to Cheyenne Little Theatre Players for upkeep and maintenance of the Historic Atlas Theatre.

Tickets for the festival and all tours are available at https://filmfreeway.com/MidnightWestFest/tickets. You can also sign up for ghost hunts at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c094da5af2aa0fcc34-midnight1.

Will Carpenter is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's Arts and Entertainment/Features Reporter. He can be reached by email at wcarpenter@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3135. Follow him on Twitter @will_carp_.