NICHOLAS PAYNE SANTOS | Writer/Director/Producer
Nicholas Payne Santos is a bi-racial (Black/white) filmmaker based in New York City. He holds an MFA from Columbia University. As a writer and director, he made his feature debut with the horror-comedy IT CUTS DEEP was released by Dark Sky Films and later broadcast on Showtime and streamed on Shudder. His horror short STRANGE CREATURES screened at over fifty festivals and is currently available on Arrow, Crypt TV, and Screambox. A feature adaptation of Strange Creatures was selected for Fantasia’s Frontières Market. His earlier shorts HOLIDAY FEAR and MOTHER F**KER were both acquired by Arrow, and his horror-comedy screenplay YOU KILL ME was selected for Columbia’s Blue-List/Black-List partnership. As a producer, Nicholas has worked on several acclaimed genre films. He produced the psychological thriller BURY ME WHEN I’M DEAD, which was selected for the Cannes Frontières Market and released by Vertical Entertainment. He also produced the horror feature BLEEDING, winning Best Midnight Feature at Dances With Films and Best Screenplay at Grimmfest, released by Cineverse and streamed on Screambox, and the cult hit UNCLE PECKERHEAD, released by Epic Pictures and currently holding a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
New England filmmaker Nicholas Payne Santos skewers toxic masculinity, sometimes literally, in this darkly funny debut, about a man named Sam (comedian Charles Gould) who returns home with long-time girlfriend Ashley (Quinn Jackson), only for his fears about getting married and having kids to spiral out of control. When a handsome childhood friend (John Anderson) turns up on the doorstep, Sam quickly dispenses with the pleasantries as he senses a possible rival for Ashley’s affections. What initially plays like Santos’ anxiety dream about commitment soon reveals itself to be deliciously self-aware and bloodthirsty; like Josh Ruben's recent “Scare Me,” on Shudder, IT CUTS DEEP actively reconsiders its male gaze in shape-shifting between mumblecore, slasher, and psychodrama - RogerEbert.com
Is BLEEDING a vampire film? Yes. But like the very best of that genre, it’s more than just an exercise in empty bloodsucking. It’s a mythic coming-of-age story, underscored by the opioid epidemic. It’s a cautionary tale, warning against making assumptions about what makes a monster. It’s a stark and foreboding cinematic experience... This is full-throttle horror, and one of my favorite movies of the year. - The New York Times