“Zašto horor? Čemu horor? Zar nam ga nije dovoljno, i previše, u ’stvarnom životu’? U dnevnim novinama: u crnoj hronici, u ekonomiji, u politici… u čituljama? Samo nam još treba da se plašimo nekakvim filmovima!“

That’s how laypeople and horror amateurs think. Those who shut their eyes to it, flee from it, or at least think they can escape it, turning their backs while embracing romantic comedies, dramas, thrillers, science fiction. They don’t know that the most dangerous thing is to turn your back on the horror.

Ne, horor tzv. stvarnog života treba držati na oku.

Suočiti se s njim. Boriti se. Egzorcirati ga. Ili, ako se to pokaže nemogućim, pronaći neki modalitet „suživota“ s njim. Ali tek nakon što je on prepoznat – i upoznat.

Horor filmovi mogu biti način za to. Dobri, umetnički horor filmovi nisu eskapistički: oni su jedan oblik otvaranja očiju pred hororima naše egzistencije, ne samo socijalne, nego i psihičke, duhovne, metafizičke.

The festival of artistic horror films is an attempt to separate confrontational horror films from escapist horror films and present them to an audience that wouldn’t otherwise be aware of them, because they would fly under the radar, overshadowed by those horrors that are marketed louder and more prominently on the entertainment market.

Come to the slaughterhouse — not to celebrate blood, evil and death but, on the contrary, life. Come to a place soaked in death, transformed into a place of life. Help ensure that the attempt to revive something dead is not a futile experiment doomed to failure and oblivion, but the beginning of something truly new and worthwhile.

Open your eyes to the horror, surrender to it, relax, have fun, accept it like a vaccine, in small, safe doses, in controlled conditions, so you can develop immunity to the Horror that awaits you outside the gates of this Slaughterhouse.

Dejan Ognjanović,

Slaughter Festival Program Director