Five FrightFest Facts with Patricio Valladares from ‘Invoking Scream’

Following the success of Invoking Yell, Valladares returns to the world of cursed music, dark rituals and supernatural terror with Invoking Scream, a sequel that expands the mythology of the original while doubling down on its found footage aesthetic. Combining metal culture, witchcraft and analog horror, the film follows a group of friends who unknowingly unleash a dark force while investigating the mysterious fate of a long-dead singer and her doomed bandmates.

Premiering at Tubi FrightFest, Invoking Scream continues Valladares’ long-standing fascination with horror’s ability to terrify audiences regardless of budget or scale. Ahead of the film’s World Premiere, we caught up with the filmmaker for our latest Five FrightFest Facts.

Patricio Valladares, writer-director of Invoking Scream

Tell us about your film

My film, Invoking Scream, follows three metalheads who uncover a buried box containing a VHS tape and a mysterious book of witchcraft at the gravesite of Andrea Fernandez, the lead singer of Invoking Yell. They soon unleash a dark force. What begins as a documentary about Andrea’s disappearance and the 1998 murders of her ill-fated bandmates quickly spirals into a waking nightmare, where the past doesn’t just haunt those connected to it… it demands a sacrifice.

With Invoking Scream, we wanted to preserve a strong DIY spirit. We shot the film with a Sony 4K camera at 30 frames per second, embracing an early-2000s aesthetic. After several months of editing, we transferred the footage from 4K onto old VHS tapes, then recaptured the material and reintegrated it into the edit as analog footage. The result is a dynamic, visceral horror film that fully embraces the identity and visual language of found footage.

We already have a distribution partnership in Chile with Cinecolor Films, which will release the film in national theaters during the Chilean summer of 2027.

How did you get into making movies?

I got into filmmaking by making amateur horror shorts back in the 2000s. From there, I moved on to making micro-budget features and eventually international English-language films.

I’ve always loved horror because it’s a genre where you can achieve so much, whether you have a tiny budget or a bigger one. Fear is universal, and there’s still nothing better than making people scream in a theater, or even while streaming at home. It’s the best feeling in the world.

What films would you love to see screened at FrightFest and why?

I’d love to see Colony at FrightFest. And, by the way, I’m a huge fan of Christopher Smith, so I’d also love to see Spider Island there.

Both films prove that atmosphere and sound design can sometimes be much scarier than any jump scare. I think FrightFest audiences would connect with them because they trust the audience to feel the dread rather than explaining everything.

If you could create your own award to give at FrightFest, what would it be and why?

‘The Golden Scream Award’ for the film that gets the loudest and most uncontrollable audience reaction during its screening.

FrightFest is all about that communal horror experience. If the entire room screams at once, you know you’ve done something right.

If your life was made into a horror film, what would it be called and who would play the starring role?

Hahaha, I have no idea. Maybe it would be more of a dark comedy than a horror film.

And maybe Paul Rudd could play me! LOL.