Fred (Josh Ruben, CollegeHumor), a frustrated copywriter, checks into a winter cabin to start his first novel. While jogging in the nearby woods, he meets Fanny (Aya Cash, “You’re The Worst” “The Boys”), a successful and smug young horror author who fuels his insecurities. During a power outage, Fanny challenges Fred to tell a scary story. As a storm sets in, they pass the time spinning spooky tales fueled by the tensions between them, and Fred is forced to confront his ultimate fear: Fanny is the better storyteller. The stakes are raised when they’re visited by a horror fan (Chris Redd, “Saturday Night Live”) who delivers levity (and a pizza) to the proceedings.
Writer-director Josh Ruben’s debut feature is a metafictional horror comedy about the pleasures and perils of storytelling and the genre’s power to exorcise social demons. SCARE ME is a clever and chilling hybrid of humor and horror that subverts the cabin-in-the-woods trope. Propelled by Cash and Ruben’s comedic chemistry, SCARE ME ventures into darker territory, drawing dread and pathos from the gender hostilities driving Fanny and Fred’s game of ghost stories.
Release Date: October 1, 2020
Writer/Director: Josh Ruben
Cast: Josh Ruben, Aya Cash, and Chris Redd
Logline: During a power outage, two strangers tell scary stories. The more Fred and Fanny commit to their tales, the more the stories come to life in the dark of a Catskills cabin. The horrors of reality manifest when Fred confronts his ultimate fear: Fanny is the better storyteller.
“Ruben takes the tone from funny to satiric to truly tense. The film’s key concern reveals itself as the same conflict that drives many other Sundance standouts: the ways in which women have to fight to stay in charge of their own narratives.” – David Sims, The Atlantic
“A seemingly innocent night of storytelling takes a sinister turn, where reality becomes far scarier than fiction ever could be…SCARE ME is an absolute delight and a real gift for both horror fans as well as those of us who can’t get enough of hearing a ‘good story.'”
– Heather Wixson, Daily Dead
“Men are from Mars and women are from the best-seller list in these competitive campfire tales…The film’s real bogeyman is wounded macho pride.” – Amy Nicholson, Variety
“During a Sundance year in which many films (PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN, THE ASSISTANT, INTO THE DEEP, ON THE RECORD) extrapolate on the sins of the entitled male, SCARE ME emerges as a standout. This is a crisp slice of cleverness that demands a reaction.” – Dan Mecca, The Film Stage
X Posse Productions Press Release With the long-awaited sequel “RISE OF THE SCARECROWS: HELL ON EARTH” being filmed in April, the original 2004 film has once again received some attention. The popular YouTube show “Dammit, Tad” has covered the cult classic that inspired drinking games and was even beat out […]
