NEW PALESTINE – For aspiring filmmaker Aidan Campbell, there’s nothing like a good slasher movie.
The recent college graduate now has the opportunity to show his own short horror flicks on Friday the 13th in a movie theater where he grew up watching films with his family and friends.
New Palestine native Campbell, 23, graduated this summer from Ball State University with a degree in telecommunications, with a focus on video production.
Now balancing three part-time jobs plus future film projects, Campbell said he’s excited to show his community what he’s been working on at college.
“I just realized I have such a passion for this sort of thing,” Campbell said. “I just love making scary movies. It’s sort of my niche sort of thing.”
Aidan Campbell’s Fright Night has been promoted on social media and by word of mouth throughout Hancock County. Set for 8 p.m. Oct. 13 at VIP Legacy 9 in Greenfield, the event will not only include a viewing of his three short films – totaling about 40 minutes – but also a chance to meet him and local actors, plus take pictures with some of the props.
“Paranoia,” “The Film Project,” and “The Eyes Beneath” will be shown.
A 2019 graduate of New Palestine High School, Campbell dabbled with film as a teen but grew in his studies at BSU.
His favorite movies include what he describes as classic slashers, like “Scream,” “Friday the 13th” and “Halloween.”
“I just have a big respect for the craft,” he said. “I love how they make me feel, I love being scared and I’m a thrill seeker.”
His short film “Paranoia” was an open-ended assignment, where he could shoot whatever he wanted. While most of his peers chose sports, Campbell stuck with the thrill of a horror short.
“There were so many things that went wrong with it so I’m like, I have to do this again.”
Hence, he shot “The Film Project” and eventually, a longer film called “The Eyes Beneath.”
“I love the creative side of just making a story and telling it in that format,” he said.
Campbell found a community at BSU like him – thrill seekers that also love to act in or create horror flicks. He expects several of them to be at the event, as well as local friends and family.
Campbell teaches drumline to the New Palestine Marching Dragons, and he can also be found working part-time jobs at Needler’s Fresh Market and Tuttle Orchards.
Meanwhile, Campbell is planning his next film project “The Watchers” and wants to start production in the summer or fall of 2024. His goal is to make it to the Sundance Film Festival in the near future.
But for now, he’s eager to see what the crowd thinks of his horror flicks. The timing worked out perfectly because people enjoy seeing horror films at Halloween time and October just happens to have a Friday the 13th this year.
Campbell grew up going to the Greenfield movie theater, and tested his films there recently. Watching them in his hometown movie theater was a whole new experience.
“I was almost to tears just watching my stuff on the screen – it’s something you’ve made on a theater screen,” he said.
