Tom Vater

Tom Vater’s got his fingerprints all over some seriously oddball cinema from the wild world of early 2000s indie flicks. Let’s start with “The St. Francisville Experiment”—basically, if you mashed together low-budget ghost-hunting with that late-‘90s Blair Witch energy, you’d land here. A group of so-called paranormal investigators gets locked inside a supposedly haunted Louisiana mansion, and, surprise surprise, things spiral into chaos. The film leans hard on jump scares, cheap tension, and that grainy handcam vibe, so it’s less about polished storytelling and more about making you check your closet before bed. Jump to “The Journey of Jared Price,” which does a total 180. Here, you’re following a naïve small-town kid trying to figure out LA—navigating love, coming out, and that whole “where the hell do I fit in” crisis. It’s raw, sometimes awkward, and not afraid to show the messy, unglamorous side of chasing dreams in the city of angels. You feel for the kid, even when he stumbles. Now, “Voodoo Academy” is just bonkers. Think: horny supernatural drama meets a Christian boys’ school, with demons thrown in for good measure. Plot holes? Oh, they’re there. But the movie doesn’t care—it’s all about the campy fun, weird rituals, and over-the-top performances. It’s the kind of flick you watch with friends just to roast it, but you secretly love every melodramatic minute. If you’re into niche cult classics, Vater’s filmography is a weird, wild ride.