Edmonton-raised filmmaker 'thrilled, obviously' to debut first horror film on Friday the 13th in hometown

Skinamarink is premiering at Metro Cinema on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023. (Jessica Robb/CTV News Edmonton)

An Edmonton-born filmmaker's debut horror movie hits theatres on Friday the 13th, including at Metro Cinema in his hometown. 

Kyle Edward Ball's Skinamarink is about a pair of siblings who in the middle of the night realize their dad, as well as all of their home's doors and windows, have disappeared. 

What happens next has been described as "the personification of traumatic childhood nightmares" by Bloody Disgusting, an exploration of the "unsettled space between nightmare and reality that feels legitimately dangerous" on the Roger Ebert blog, and a portrayal of "a child’s response to the inexplicable" in the New York Times. 

"I've always wanted to do – since I was a little kid – a big scary house movie," Ball told CTV News Edmonton on Monday. 

Over five years, he's published more than three dozen mini horror films on a YouTube channel called Bitesized Nightmares. 

As more people interacted with his content, Ball says he recognized a pattern of shared experience, which resulted in Skinamarink's predecessor, a half-hour film called "Heck."

SKINAMARINK DUBBED INTERNET OBSESSION 

However, the process was part horror itself. 

After shooting the film in his childhood Edmonton home on a $15,000 budget, Ball premiered Skinamarink at Montreal's Fantasia Film Festival. 

"I love Shudder. They're, like, my favourite streaming service… Through this whole thing, it was, wouldn't it be great if Shudder picked it up?" Ball recalled. 

When the service picked it up and scheduled a Halloween 2023 premiere date, Ball says he felt like he had "won the horror director lottery." 

The excitement was quickly dampened when the film was leaked one year early. 

"Obviously no filmmaker wants their movie to be pirated, but in the same vein, every filmmaker wants their movie to explode and every filmmaker wants people to love the movie," Ball commented. 

And love it – or at least love to debate it – TikTok and Twitter users did. Variety called Skinamarink "the internet's new cult obsession" while Rolling Stone dubbed it the "horror movie that's captivated TikTok."

"I'm not 100 per cent thrilled that the movie was pirated, but if people love the movie, then I can't help but be happy that people love the movie regardless of whether they see it in the theatre, on Shudder, or online," Skinamarink's maker said. 

'CERTAINLY A SUCCESS': CRITIC 

"I'm really nervous," Ball said ahead of Friday's sold-out screening and Q&A at Metro Cinema. 

Edmonton-born Kyle Edward Ball interviews with CTV News Edmonton in front of Edmonton's Garneau Theatre ahead of the Friday, Jan. 13, 2023, debut of his first feature-length horror film 'Skinamarink.'

"This is the first time doing it with the rest of the cast and crew and this is the first time where a hefty portion of the audience is going to be friends and family or even just people that I kinda know."

The film has so far been met with favourable reviews. 

Some critics have found the movie lacking a storyline, going so far as to call the plot "so rudimentary as to be virtually nonexistent" or the movie "nearly plotless," instead concluding Skinamarink is more experience than film. But that's not a bad thing, they say, applauding Ball for a grand first feature and unique vision. 

"It's definitely not for everyone; it's not a traditional type of film. It's really asking you to go along with it and it's more about feelings and dream states than it is about telling any sort of a clear narrative story," Untold Horror author, former Rue Morgue editor-in-chief, and fellow Edmonton native Dave Alexander told CTV News. 

"Skinamarink is going to be a film that's going to be remembered. It's probably going to be taught in film studies classes. It's definitely going to be debated among genre fans. And I would equal that as certainly a success."

FILMMAKER 'THRILLED' FOR HOMETOWN PREMIERE 

Although Ball says he's currently in meetings about another project, the filmmaker promised there's more to come like Skinamarink. 

"I do still want to do smaller pictures because I think I'm good at doing smaller pictures and I think oftentimes they make for creepier content. And I do want to keep doing horror," he said, adding, "I think the next one will probably have a larger budget, but not light years." 

For now, he's enjoying having his first film seen as it was meant to – on the big screen.

"If you do a feature in Edmonton, you want to have it play at Metro at some point," Ball said. 

"The amazing thing is it's playing all over the United States. It's even playing in Guam in Hawaii. So I'm thrilled, obviously, that it's playing at my theatre of choice in my hometown, but I'm excited to see, too, how it plays in the U.K. and all over the United States."

Skinamarink will also screen at Metro Cinema on Jan. 14 and 18. 

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Brandon Lynch and Jessica Robb