Silver Screamers is one of those documentaries that follows the production of another film from pre-production to premiere, but not in the way most movies of this sort tend to do. Director (of both the documentary and the film-within-the-film) Sean Cisterna has taken his frustrations with getting funding for a lot of his new projects and channeled them into a unique community outreach initiative. In a small amount of time and with limited resources, Cisterna (Moon Point, Kiss and Cry) is going to teach a group of senior citizens with varying skill sets how to make their own short horror movie. It’s a feel good movie about the power of art and the need to have hobbies and interests throughout one’s life; one that keeps a keen eye on the people working behind the camera even more than it observes what audiences will see with the seniors’ finished film.
Working from material by horror-fantasy author Edo Van Belkom, Cisterna sets out to make The Rug, a short thriller about an elderly woman whose foyer carpeting “takes care of” anyone that’s giving her a hard time. To cast and crew the film, Cisterna puts out open calls to a number of senior centres and organizations in the Richmond Hill and Aurora area, hoping to find people willing to step outside of their comfort zones and try something new. While hardcore horror isn’t exactly made for the senior citizen demographic, Cisterna is able to put together a team of willing individuals to move forward with the tightly budgeted, tightly scheduled project.
While a lot of the problems Cisterna has to deal with in Silver Screamers are ones to be expected (limited budget for the titular rug, having to take extra caution while filming at a national historic site), there are also things that the director and viewers tend to overlook or take for granted that pertain specifically to the elderly. Script fonts need to be bigger. Directions have to be shouted out louder. And most interestingly, the production has to have a group of younger mentors for the sake of insurance and in order to rent expensive filmmaking equipment, because no one outside of Cisterna and his small team is willing to entrust so many resources to “untrained” senior citizens. While most of the novice crew members are quick studies, Silver Screamers looks at microaggressive forms of ageism and discrimination through a lighthearted, poignant lens.
The set of The Rug is one free of the sort of aggression and nail biting stress one normally finds on a film shoot (although there are a few moments where worry about the project can be visible on Cisterna’s face). Everyone is there to do a job, even if they don’t love horror, and excited for the opportunity presented to them at a time when they would likely be playing cornhole or bingo in the rec room of the local retirement centre. A big part of the love and camaraderie comes from the fact that cinema is a collaborative art form. Everyone brings their own experiences, talents, and emotions to a project. Although a director, writer, or actor will often take a lot of the credit (or criticism) for a film’s success or failure, the final product is always a sum of each cast and crew member’s individual experiences. And that more than anything else is what Cisterna seemingly wants to say with Silver Screamers.
Cisterna puts the people first and the film comes second. Each member of the crew has a story to tell and their reasons for taking part in Cisterna’s atypical project. First Assistant Director Bari-Lynne is in need of some much needed levity as she struggles to care for her husband, who’s battling prostate cancer. Art Director Lucia loves paintings and visual art, and she has fond memories of going to the movies every Sunday afternoon as a kid. Prop master Anthony gets a chance to put his love of collecting things to good use. Cinematographer Sonny once had a chance to work on a massive multimedia project, but was forced to walk away due to a health scare, currently scratching his creative itch by helping other seniors film videos. Everyone on set in Silver Screamers is looking for a constructive way to pass the time and break from the monotony that is elderly living, but Cisterna always goes deeper to find out why these people chose to willingly join the crew of a horror film. Their reasons are varied, but always layered.
The flow of Silver Screamers (which picked up the Adam Lopez Audience Award at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival this past fall) is choppy, with a lot of bits that seem interesting getting relegated to parts of other montages. It’s also unusually non-linear, with some events happening out of order, asking the viewer to know when exactly they happened without making things altogether clear. But this is a film where the heart matters most, and in that respect, Silver Screamers is a lovely ode to filmmaking, and a testament to how older people are often best at adapting, improvising, and thinking quickly on their feet. These “old dogs” aren’t being taught “new tricks,” but rather unlocking the potential they had inside them all along.
Silver Screamers screens at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema on Friday, April 3, 2026 at 6:30pm alongside the short film The Rug, with a special post film Q&A with Cisterna and some of the crew.
