Buffalo, New York – August 4, 2025 – The upcoming Amazing Fantasy Fest will screen
94 films over nine days: Friday, Sept. 12 th – Thursday, Sept. 18 th at Dipson’s Amherst
Theatre in Buffalo; and Friday, Sept. 19 th and Saturday, Sept. 20 th at The Screening
Room Cinema and Arts Café in Amherst. This is the fifteenth consecutive year that
Gregory Lamberson has run the festival (previously as Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film
Festival for 10 years, and as Buffalo Screams Horror Film Festival for three years before
that). Billed as “Buffalo’s Festival of Imaginative Cinema,” AFF focuses primarily on
horror, science fiction, fantasy, action, animation, and experimental films.
Lamberson has been an independent filmmaker for 40 years and is a member of the
Producers Guild of America. He is Western New York’s longest serving film festival
programmer since Robert Borgatti retired after running NCCC Film & Animation Fest for
25 years.
Lamberson and his team have selected 16 features and 78 shorts for screening. Among
the features are a 45 th anniversary screening of Roger Corman’s exploitation classic
Humanoids from the Deep and a 30th anniversary screening of Shadow Creature,
directed in Buffalo by cinematographer James Gribbens.
One-third of the films screening at AFF were produced in Western New York, and half of
those were directed by women.
“When I co-founded Buffalo Screams back in 2010, my partners and I were the first
local programmers to devote a sizable amount of screen time to Buffalo film artists,”
Lamberson says. “We changed the local culture in that respect.”
Three local features are screening this year: Lamberson’s own practical special effects
werewolf movie Frenzy Moon, filmed in Clarence; Dyngus Day, a slasher film parody
directed by Michael Buttino in Springfield; and AngelFish, a relationship comedy
directed by Justin Brylinski in Buffalo. Also screening: the lesbians-on-the-run crime
thriller Cherry Baby, directed by Adam Holley in Binghamton.
“We have a thriving local film community,” continues Lamberson. “These folks contribute
to the local culture, and I love giving them a platform. This year a lot of actors have
turned their talent behind the scenes.”
Some other feature film highlights include the lesbian-themed horror film Straight On Till
Morning; A Serbian Documentary, about the making of a controversial horror film that
tested free speech rights in many countries; and Dead, White and Blue, an outrageous
political comedy constructed entirely from public domain stock footage.
“We’re not ‘just’ a horror film festival,” Lamberson concludes. “Having such a crazy
mixture sets us apart, and we can’t be pigeonholed. One of my favorite features this
year is The Other Christmas Show, which is like Waiting for Guffman except it’s a
musical – but it’s still a Christmas movie!”
For a complete list of films screening at Amazing Fantasy Fest, visit
www.amazingfantasyfest.com. Festival Passes go on sale at the Amherst box on
August 18 th , and individual online tickets go on sale through DipsonTheatres.com
Sept.1 st .
Amazing Fantasy Fest on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amazingfantasyfest
