Two local filmmakers hope to scare up a crowd for their film festival at Boardman’s Art Theatre, 126 W. Church St., this weekend.

“The Marathon of Fright” will celebrate the premiere of “Dead by Dawn 2: The Mask Of Conrad.” The movie is a new short horror film from Mobled Queen Entertainment, a film studio in Champaign. The movie is about a group of college students filming a horror movie in the woods. However, the students are unaware that the man playing the killer is not an actor. The students must then survive the night.

Kelly Digges wrote the black-and-white film over the summer.

“We usually filmed about 20 hours a week,” he said.

While Digges said filming the movie was stressful at times, the Champaign native is very excited about its premiere this weekend.

“It’s so exciting to share with the community what we’re doing. It’s cool to see the community get excited about it,” he said.

Ma’ayan Weinberg, a friend of Digges and Urbana native, played a minor character in the movie.

“(Digges) … is a good friend of mine from high school and he asked me if wanted to do a part,” she said. “I loved making it because I got to do it with all my friends.”

Weinberg said she hopes to fly in from New York, where she goes to school, to attend the festival.

Although the theater has hosted horror movie events before, Boardman’s Art Theatre manager Martin McFarlane said this will be the first time they have had a festival with back-to-back features.

“Dead by Dawn,” written and directed by Ed Glaser, will also be shown at the festival. This color film revolves around three companions fighting for survival after a masked man predicts that two of the three will die before dawn.

The third film being shown at the festival is “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.” In this 1920 silent German film, two friends volunteer for a hypnotist exhibition where everything goes wrong. In order to survive, the friends must discover the secret of the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

International magician and entertainer Andy Dallas will also give a live performance of his role in “Dead by Dawn.” Dallas owns a local costume and magic shop, Dallas and Co., 101 E. University Ave.

The event will also be hosted by “horror queen” Gorelixia, played by Champaign resident Jill Van Voorst. Van Voorst owns the clothing shop, Lix, 10 E. Main, and will be giving away horror film memorabilia at the festival.

Digges said he is not sure how many people will choose to attend the festival.

“I really have no idea about what the turnout will be,” Digges said. “That is the most nerve-wracking thing about it.”

McFarlane had a similar view about the festival.

“I don’t know who will come. There is one classic movie and the other two were locally made,” he said. “This is kind of an experiment for us.”

Once the festival is over, Digges said he is hoping the movies will be released on DVD by Oct. 31.

“After all that is done, we have two scripts we’ve been throwing around. I’ll pick one of those and start writing it soon,” he said.

The theater will show all three films tonight and reshow them Saturday night. McFarlane said tickets will be available at the door for $5 each night.