Local Filmmaker Wins Global Awards on Festival Circuit

N.J. filmmaker Colin Marshall's independent horror feature "Hauntshow" scares its way to accolades, just in time for Halloween.

DELRAN, N.J., Oct. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Best Ghost Video LLC, the South Jersey production company founded by an up-and-coming local film guru, heads into Halloween with an award-winning horror feature in "Hauntshow."

Philadelphia suburbanite Colin Marshall wrote, directed, produced, edited and scored the 117-minute film. Completed in August from his South Jersey home, Marshall's independent project shot out of the gate to earn recognition from festivals in the United States and Europe.

"Hauntshow" won Best Feature laurels at Dunwich Horror Fest, the U.K.'s Purgatory Film Festival, and at Romania's Eastern Europe Film Festival. It was recognized as a Best Feature Finalist at Sweden's Stockholm City Film Festival, and garnered semifinalist recognition at the Catacombs Film Festival in Los Angeles.

Official selections from New York City Independent Film Festival and Paris-based Hallucinea Film Festival–along with its most recent nod to an upcoming supplementary screening from the L.A. Film Punk Festival–rounding out eight overall distinctions.

The spooky, spoofy feature depicts the final broadcast of an underground variety show, with two horror stories hosted by Hauntrella, Hauntressa and the dearly departed Hauntiana. Marshall connects its fictional broadcast to well-loved TV traditions for fright fans.

"I grew up on that playful, macabre energy of horror hosts like Elvira or 'Tales from the Crypt's' Crypt Keeper," said Marshall. "It was a challenge to essentially combine three short films into a single, two-hour anthology feature, and we didn't know if it'd work at first. We could have just ended up with three separate short films, and that would have been okay."

"But all the pieces ended up fitting together once everything was shot, and it's a testament to the planning that went in at the beginning," he said.

The cast includes Emily Dale White, Alycia White, and Jenna Kuerzi. Marshall's co-producers, John Worthington and K. Andrew Deffley, also lent their performing talents as "Dave" and "Danny," respectively, in the film.

While happy with the film's success–in the shadows of major studios like Netflix, Lionsgate and Paramount expanding to Northern New Jersey–Marshall and team will continue to submit to festivals and consider distribution offers that have accumulated during the circuit.

"It's so surreal to know we could make a film, literally at home in South Jersey, and think it could strike such a chord with audiences coast-to-coast and around the world," said Marshall.

Readers can explore the film's credits on IMDb and follow Best Ghost Video on Instagram for production news. Journalists can contact the below information for interview requests.

About Colin Marshall

Colin Marshall is a New Jersey filmmaker, musician, and basketball addict whose feature film credits include "Hauntshow" and "LACED," following his debut short film in "Sadie, Baby."

He performs in punk bands No Buddy and Keys x Creeps, and his production company is Best Ghost Video LLC.

Media contact: K. Andrew Deffley, MBA I [email protected] I 215.261.0095

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SOURCE Best Ghost Video LLC