A couple of years ago I had the chance to interview jack of all trades Roger Sampson of Force of Nature Films about a project called Forces of Horror Anthology series which contained some of the better short horror films I have ever seen. That interview ran here on SFM. I have kept in touch since then with him since then and he recently sent me a link to is his 7th short film titled Visitor and asked me to take a look.
I am never quite sure what to expect from a Roger Sampson project, his work has covered the spectrum of horror from vampires to zombies to just plain humans doing terrible things as well as a multiple awards winning faith based drama titled ‘The Sacrifice’. None of his films have ever failed to entertain me no matter the subject matter. So I sat down to watch Visitor with no real expectations of what it would be like.
The film opens in an OB doctors waiting room full of pregnant women and there is just some undefinable creepiness to the way the opening scenes are shot that let me know things were going to get weird. The doctor keeps getting odd text messages that hint at much but reveal little, I don’t want to give too much away, I will say that I thought I knew where the film was going with its concept but I was totally wrong. The fear factor here is mostly psychological but there is one wonderful cringe worthy gory moment. You can give Visitor a look for yourself down below, this short film left me disturbed and uneasy. Which given a number of creepy movies I have seen is no small feat.
Roger Sampson is at work on a screenplay that will expand this intriguing little gem of an idea into a full-length feature and I for one will eagerly await its release. I give this short four bananas, only because I am punishing the talented Roger Sampson for hooking me with the premise of this short and making me wait for the release of the feature length version to see what happens.
Visitor is award winning Screenwriter/Director Roger Sampson’s 7th short film. Among his awards include 2 Best Short Film awards for The Origin of Species as well as multiple awards for both his faith based drama screenplay “The Sacrifice” and thriller “The Zombie Effect”.
Roger’s creative journey started late in life. He didn’t realize his passion for the theater arts until his 30th birthday.
Growing up in rural Minnesota, Roger focused on school and work. He loved going to the movies and often spent the entire day going from one movie to the next. Little did he know at the time, but these experiences were trying to tell him something.
It wasn’t until his 30th birthday that he finally realized he wanted to be a film maker. He started by studying acting. In 2003, Roger moved from Dallas, TX to Los Angeles, CA to pursue his dream.
Roger enjoyed acting success in those years, booking The Bernie Mac Show, Men’s Fitness Magazine and a series of promo spots for CSI reruns on Spike TV among his credits.
Not long after, Roger next discovered a passion and talent for screen writing. He’d spent parts of 8 years studying Robert McKee’s “Story” teaching and seminar and finally had the opportunity to put that teaching to practice. He co-wrote a half hour comedy, web series, and a feature film.
During this period, that familiar itch came back and Roger realized it was time to expand his horizons and pursue directing and producing. At first, he found little time and even less opportunity to do that while in Los Angeles. So in summer 2013, Roger and his wife moved back to Dallas.
Just before moving, Roger’s first feature film screenplay, “The Ritual”, was optioned by Reaper Films in Tampa FL.
In his first year back in Texas, Roger started Force of Nature Films and teamed up with Wendy Crouse to co-produce “The Hunger Stat”, a documentary about Roger’s own personal weight loss journey. He also produced The Forces of Horror Anthology Series Volume I which will be completed in 2017. In addition, he’s written two other award winning screenplays, Faith Based Drama “The Sacrifice” which will be produced later this year, “The Zombie Effect”, a genre bending zombie film which provides a plausible, though science fiction theory about the cause of the creation and behavior of zombies.
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