Atlantic Highlands has turned into indie horror’s home base for the day. SModcastle Cinemas, the small downtown movie theater owned by filmmaker Kevin Smith, is hosting the second annual SModcastle HorrorFest today, Saturday, August 8th, an all day marathon of independent horror running from 11:30 in the morning across seven distinct screening blocks. In total, 39 independent films will unspool on the big screen, spanning sinister shorts, creature features, dark comedy, and supernatural chillers, with, as the festival’s own tagline promises, plenty of blood soaked surprises built in along the way.

The theater hosting it all carries real personal history for Smith. SModcastle Cinemas sits in the same downtown Atlantic Highlands storefront Smith frequented as a kid growing up in nearby Monmouth County, long before he became known for Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob, and a career built largely around his own corner of New Jersey. Rather than modernizing the space into a standard multiplex, Smith has kept much of its old school character intact, seats and all, giving HorrorFest, along with the theater’s other recurring events like the SModcastle Film Festival, a distinctly lived in, community feel that a newer venue would struggle to replicate.

Seven Blocks, Thirty-Nine Films

The festival organizes its lineup into themed blocks running throughout the day, giving horror fans the option to drop in for a single session or commit to the full marathon with an all day pass. Early blocks lean into shorts and creature features, while later sessions in the day shift toward masked killer stories and even a historical thriller, giving the festival a genuinely wide range within the horror genre rather than sticking to a single subgenre for eight straight hours.

That range is by design. The festival’s stated mission is to give aspiring and independent horror filmmakers a real theatrical showcase rather than a purely online one, screening selected work in front of a live audience in an actual movie theater, a genuine rarity for short independent horror in an era when most festival submissions end up streamed rather than projected. Standout entries across the day will also compete for festival trophies in categories including best feature, best short, best horror comedy, best gore and makeup, best kill, best actor, best villain, best scream, and best use of a kill weapon, giving the day a genuine competitive undercurrent alongside the marathon viewing experience.

Tickets and Getting There

Individual block tickets run 7 dollars each, while an all day pass covering all seven blocks is available for 20 dollars, both purchasable directly through SModcastle Cinemas’ own ticketing platform. Given the volume of programming packed into a single day, the all day pass represents the more practical option for anyone planning to stay for more than a block or two.

Parking in downtown Atlantic Highlands takes a bit of local knowledge, since the theater itself has no dedicated lot. Free parallel parking is available on the residential side streets directly behind the building, while the municipal lot on Railroad Avenue allows parking until 3 in the morning, useful given how late an all day festival can run into the evening. A second municipal lot off Bay Avenue sits about a five minute walk from the theater, and drivers should note that metered spots directly on First Avenue are strictly enforced until 2 a.m., making the side streets and municipal lots the more reliable options for anyone settling in for the full seven block marathon.