NASHVILLE — The independent horror feature Valentines Lake has won Best Original Music Score at the Nashville Horror Film Festival. The film, written and directed by Trent Duncan, is now streaming on Screamify.
The award goes to composer Darren Morze. It is a fitting category for this film. A creature that lives under water spends much of its screen time unseen, and the job of making the lake feel dangerous falls largely to the score. Morze also composed the music for Axes and Os, and that second credit points to the unusual way both films were made.
Both are products of the Two Feature Project, an independent filmmaking concept developed by Duncan and Joseph O’Connor. The project used a shared script and core production footage to produce two thematically different features. The pitch is economic as much as artistic: one production, two finished films, each taking the same material in its own direction.
The shared foundation is a Galentine’s weekend, with a group of friends heading off together. From there the films split by genre. Axes and Os is a slasher in which the friends are hunted by Luther Dremel, a vengeful Valentine’s Day ax killer. Valentines Lake turns to cosmic horror: a local cult has kept a generations-old practice of human sacrifice to hold an ancient lake creature in hibernation, and the visiting women are its next offering.
In the press materials, Duncan places the film squarely in the Lovecraft tradition:
“Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, Valentines Lake puts a new spin on Cthulhu mythology, introducing a sinister cult and new twists on the legend. It's a slow-burning mystery with plenty of eerie atmosphere, unexpected surprises, and fun moments along the way.”
— Trent Duncan, writer/director, in the film’s press materials
The press kit describes a former cult member who uncovers the truth about the creature and its connection to the town, while the women try to stay ahead of their pursuers. The film runs 77 minutes. Its cast includes Jamie Bernadette, Cass Huckabay, Stephen Lamar Lewis, Madison M. Bowman, Sara Wimmer, Noemi Cabrera and Brandon Krum.
Shared-footage experiments are rare in features, and rarer still when both halves reach audiences. With a festival award and a streaming release, the Lovecraftian half of this one now has.
Valentines Lake is available on Screamify.
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