There's a new girl in town and she's invited to a gathering by her neighbour. Welcome to the cult.

It's Halloween, and this is the real plot of a student-made short film shown at Starlight Cinema Taupō on Sunday.

Taupō-nui-a-Tia College students entered three films in the Taupō Halloween Film Contest, Bad Trip, Dear, and Hitch.

It was a night of scariness and laughter said the students, with their films interspersed between short films from around New Zealand and overseas.

Much of the audience was made up of the students' friends and family, some of whom starred in the short films. They said there were genuine gasps from the audience, and also laughter at seeing the juxtaposition of familiar faces on the big screen in contrast to the other professionally made films.

"We filmed our movies on our phones. There was a big difference with the other movies that were made with a camera," the students said.

Year 13 media studies student Millie Adams, 17, said it took all term to plan the five-minute film clip for Bad Trip. Fellow film-maker Jamie Hutchinson, 18, said part of the brief from media studies teacher Kate Findley was to create a storyboard for every shot.

"There were around 96 shots and we had to justify why each shot was required," Jamie said.

Students Morgan Thaker, 17 and Mia Jönsson's, 18, film Dear is about the new girl in town being lured into a cult.

"She is drugged and when she wakes up she is dunked in blood," Morgan said.

"We kind of forced our friends to show up and be in the film," Mia said.

Maddison Jensen and Abbie Gamble, both 18, made the film Hitch, a hitchhiking experience that is terrifying. But who is the victim?

"My younger sister played the hitchhiker and my mum said it was so scary seeing her daughter in the film," Maddison said.

"There was a gasp from the audience when they realised there was a plot twist in Hitch.

But people laughed when they saw the blood in Dear," Morgan said.

Maddison said they leaned in media studies about how the media portrays society and these themes came through in their horror films.

"There are messages about doing drugs, hitchhiking, and stranger danger sucking you into a cult."

The students thanked teacher Ms Findley and Starlight Cinema Taupō for the opportunity.

"Ms Findley entered our films and bought our tickets. We would not have entered without her."

Each film won a prize, Bad Trip won Best Editing, Hitch won Best Plot Twist, and Dear won Best Student Film.

The students are sitting their NCEA media studies exam in three weeks and Abbie, Maddison, Jamie and Morgan are hoping to study media and communication at Victoria University next year.

Credit: NZHerald.co.nz