Placing the viewer in the trenches right there with grassroots horror filmmakers, The Brilliant Terror delivers an honest, eye-opening view into the tenacious spirit of creative people crafting their obsessions on a microbudget. This is more indie than indie. Unfiltered and uncompromising, see what compels these undiscovered auteurs to pour their gutsy hearts out and exorcise their greatest fears on screen.

Shot over the course of seven years, this observational documentary follows the life of small-town creator Mike Lombardo as he writes, directs, shoots, and reshoots (and reshoots) “The Stall.” Witness candid moments that inform his inner drive—from the giddy triumph of successful DIY special effects to painful personal traumas, to the everyday tedium of working at a pizza shop.

Along the way, interviews with a handful of fantastically fierce women filmmakers, imaginative genre directors, horror researchers, and misunderstood fans bring refreshingly frank viewpoints about exploitation, dealing with fears, and the community bond within the low budget horror genre.

From hilarious to repulsive to heartwarming, The Brilliant Terror is not only for horror fans, but for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider. It helps us understand why we all, in some way, need a place to belong—and why that place may well be lying with friends on a cold, dirty bathroom stall floor wrangling bloody, slime-covered tentacles. Speaking to the psycho-entrepreneur in us all, Lombardo says, “It’s not going to be easy, but it’s going to be awesome.”