The Silver Screamers

But for plenty of people, simply existing as a retiree until the Grim Reaper shows up isn't enough. They didn't live seven, eight or more decades to end up declaring the lawn chair their permanent address.

"Growing old is not for the faint of heart." — a quote that appears to have several authors. 

For the weight of the words, it doesn't matter who said it first.

In the quietly charming town of Aurora, Ontario, strange things happen. One of them involves the Silver Screamers.
Before he got his yes, filmmaker Sean Cisterna of York Region collected rejection after rejection. His planned short film could only find its way to the screen if the financing came through. The rejections were the rule — and they were slowly delivering the fatal blow to his project. But in Canada, the principle of serendipity works remarkably well. The federal government had launched a program to keep seniors actively engaged. Something clicked quietly but clearly somewhere in the rafters of Sean's brain. The story titled The Rug was suddenly within reach.
The plot centres on an older woman named Edna Dowell, who drags a discarded rug home from the street. But this rug was no ordinary piece of home décor. She soon discovers that the thing is alive, that it feeds — and that it has a passionate appetite for murder.
Not exactly the kind of material you'd expect seniors to find appealing. That's what conventional wisdom would say.
Which is precisely what drew Sean Cisterna to it.
He recruited eight courageous seniors between the ages of 75 and 96 to make a horror film — far outside their comfort zones, but brimming with energy. The recruiting happened through presentations at bingo halls and seniors' residences.
The result? Eight volunteers stepped forward — not filmmakers, not technicians, but people with long, full lives who had simply stayed curious.
The fearless eight were assigned their roles as members of the film crew:

Audrey Cameron (96) — Sound Recording
Diane Ament (80) — Make-up
David Swift (80) — Special Effects
Bari-Lynne Butters (78) — First Assistant Director
Lucia Catania (78) — Art Direction
Sonny Lauzon (78) — Camera
Anthony Garramone (72) — Props
Diane Buchanan (80) — Costume Design

These courageous seniors learned things they had partly known from their working lives — or were doing for the very first time. 

The documentary Silver Screamers offers a warm, funny and deeply moving look at these volunteers, who threw themselves into the project with full enthusiasm. People with wrinkles who suddenly seemed to glow again.

The Silver Screamers pulled it off: a horror film. And a purpose worth showing up for.

The Rug had its world premiere on September 19, 2025 at the renowned Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas — the largest genre film festival in the United States. The Canadian premiere followed shortly after at Cinéfest Sudbury. Both times, the documentary was screened alongside the finished short film.

Then came November 2025, and the homecoming: a screening at Aurora Town Square, with 220 people in the seats, all eight seniors on stage, and author Edo van Belkom in the room. A lively Q&A followed.
And at the end of the documentary, all eight seniors get to be "killed" themselves — a loving nod to the classics of the horror genre.
This is a story about my neighbours. About creativity without an expiry date. About courage in your eighth or ninth decade of life.

Sometimes the best story lives right around the corner — in Aurora, ten minutes from Newmarket.