In June 2024, I received a spam email with a link for At the
Mountains of Madness, a five minute AI generated film from Turkey. It
was the first AI film ever "submitted" (however unofficially) to the Tabloid Witch Awards horror film contest. During the 2024 season, I received a total of three AI film submissions.
For
the 2025 season, the number of AI films submissions rose to 14. And
now, only a few months into the 2026 season, AI film submissions are up
to 19 -- with over five months to go.
From what
I've seen, AI films aren't quite there yet. There's something creepy
about them (and not in a good way). Their "actors" are too artificial to
portray convincingly human characters, with the distinctive personas
and emotional depth that human actors convey. Yet AI "actors" are too
realistic to allow that playful suspension of disbelief that animation allows.
Even
so, AI films are getting better. I recently -- and for the first time -- had a short film submission that fooled me. I thought the actors were real human beings.
I think we'll see some amazing and powerful works emerge from AI as the technology advances and AI "filmmakers" improve their craft.
===========As of March 1, 2026, the Tabloid Witch has received 100 horror film entries for 2026 awards consideration: 10 features and 90 shorts.
Entries have come from Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Indonesia, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Details on how to submit your horror film for 2026 are at: TabloidWitch.com. The entry deadline is August 31, 2026.=================
