Van Poynton

Director of unsparing horrors and thrillers

About

MULTI-AWARD-WINNING DUBLIN-BASED DIRECTOR AND WRITER OF “OMINOUS… INTENSE… VIRTUOSO” GENRE CINEMA


Psychological chiller To the Marrow (8 minutes, 2023) competed for the prestigious Méliès d’Argent — the coveted award for European genre cinema — three times between 2023-24; world premiering at the 34th Donostia/San Sebastián Horror and Fantasy Film Fest, Spain; UK premiering at the 18th Abertoir Horror Fest, Wales; and German premiering at the 11th edition of Hard:Line, Regensburg — “Ominous… intense, suspenseful and aesthetically virtuoso” (Hard:Line programme)
Watch at Crypt TV
Watch the trailer


Macabre crime thriller Make Room in Hell (82 minutes, 2019); “Stylishdark… hardboiled… gritty… fascinating… unsettling… ominous… bold and unexpected” — Film Threat
Watch on Prime in UK or US or Tubi (US only)


Bizarre psychological thriller The Nightmare of My Choice (80 minutes, 2016); “Stylishdark… beautiful… compelling… captivating… startling… genuinely remarkable… ultimately brilliant” — UK Film Review
Watch on Prime in UK or US or Tubi (US only)



Apocalyptic thriller The Late Men (79 minutes, 2013) won a “Special Award for Innovation in the New Cinema” and Best Actor at the 14th Melbourne Underground Film Festival — “Mesmeric… haunting… we invented a new award just for this… most daring film” — and was nominated for Excellence in Title Design at SXSW, Texas
Watch the SXSW-nominated title sequence



Horror Where the Monsters Go (12 minutes, 2009); premiered at Raindance, London, and played genre fests around the UK and US before scooping the Jury Prize for Best Narrative Short from the seminal 3rd Babelgum Online Film Festival, earning it a special screening at Tribeca 2010; “Haunting and spooky and filled with authentic childhood memories” — William C. Martell, author of ‘The Secrets of Action Screenwriting’
Watch on Vimeo

Occasional, and occasionally competent, cinematographer, colorist, editor, graphic designer, photographer, sound designer, and title designer…

Developing a number of stylish and dark features.

Slave to multiple four-legged masters.

Berlinale Talents alum.

Bald.