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2008 Festival Selections

Dark Reel
108 min, Horror, 2008
Josh Eisenstadt - Director
Woodland Hills, CA

Adam Waltz (ED FURLONG, Terminator 2), a horror movie fan boy could only dream of rubbing elbows with his idols - those obscure actors who populate the posters on the walls within his dingy bachelor pad. When studio head Connor Pritchett (LANCE HENRIKSEN, Aliens) handpicks him for a walk-on role in his latest B-movie PIRATE WENCH, starring reigning Scream Queen Cassie Blue (TIFFANY SHEPIS), Adam is convinced he's on the fast track to "industry" success. That dream begins to unravel when Adam finds himself a suspect in the bloody murder of one of the film's stars.

Also starring Mercedes McNab (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Tony Todd (Candyman). Click HERE to visit the website.


Eel Girl
5 min, Short Horror, 2008
Jennifer Scheer - Producer
New Zealand

In a secure navy research facility, a beautiful halfhuman half-eel girl takes a terrible revenge on the obsessed scientist who is studying her.

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Far Cry From Home
30 min, Short Horror, 2008
Alan Rowe Kelly - Director
Paterson, NJ

World Premiere! Alan Rowe Kelly's controversial horror tale, A FAR CRY FROM HOME, is about a young urban gay couple (Kelly & Don Money) traveling through the northern New Jersey wilderness and stop at a rural antique hex store. What they don't realize is that the backwoods storeowners (Katherine O'Sullivan, Jerry Murdock & Benzy) are a religious sect of homophobic, crazed killers who, under the local rule of the Preacher Man (Terry West), have "extended" plans for our vacationing couple by doing the "Lord's Work".

A horror film in every sense by using 'hate' as the ultimate killer. The rest of the cast includes Robb Leigh Davis & Susan Adriensen in a cameo appearance. Music and sound design by Tom Burns! Written and Directed by Alan Rowe Kelly. Cinematography by Bart Mastronardi. Edited by Stolis Hadjicharalambous.

A FAR CRY FROM HOME is part of a horror anthology called GALLERY OF FEAR that will be released in 2009. Click HERE to view the trailer. Top


Shut-Eye Hotel
7 min, Animation, 2008
Bill Plympton - Director
New York, NY

Created by two-time Oscar Nominee Bill Plympton, SHUT-EYE HOTEL, is a film noir murder mystery that takes place in a sleazy hotel. As cops investigate the gruesome murders they become victims of this evil force. What "Jaws" did to swimming, "Shuteye Hotel" will do for sleeping. .
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A Break in the Monotony
4 min, Animation, 2007
Damien Slevin - Director
Australia

The emptiness of a corporate office existence is not much worse than simply being the living dead, as illustrated in this stunning rotoscoped horror show that takes place in the near future... after a zombie holocaust.
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Anyone There?
10 min, Horror Short, 2008
Holger Frick - Director
Germany

Violet is looking forward to spending a nice long weekend house-sitting at a friend's mansion. She is not expecting to be stalked by a psycho killer.
Or is she? Top







Paper Dolls
98 min, Horror, 2007
Adam Pitman - Director
Whitefish, Montana

Paper Dolls is a smart and terrifying psychological thriller set near the beautiful landscape of Glacier National Park, Montana. Two high school friends, Travis and Nate, are on a road trip to Canada when they're attacked by mysterious and viscious creatures. Nate is stolen into the woods and Travis will stop at nothing to get him back. Travis recruits Nate's older brother Chris to bring an arsenal and wage war against these monsters in an effort to retrieve Nate.

Paper Dolls dishes out scare after scare, twist after twist, completely redefining the legend of Sasquatch. This movie will ultimately leave audiences in a psychological limbo divided on their theories of what really happened in the dark forests of Montana.

Click HERE to view the trailer. Top


Foet
14 min, Horror Comedy, 2007
Ian Fischer - Director
New York, NY

Pronounced "feet", the film tells the tale of a pro-lifer who falls in love with Manhattan's latest fashion trend, handbags only made available to only a select group. It isn't long before we're let in on the dreadful secret behind these luxury goods. While the concept is in all reality quite gruesome, the characters' comical superficiality make it impossible to not giggle at the preposterous lengths they'll go to- and moral compromises they'll make- in order to be a part of the fashionable "it" crowd. A short and rather disturbing nightmare sequence serves as the pivotal moment to qualify this piece for horror status; otherwise, it comes off more as a dark comedy.

Indeed, with its morbid humor, the film exaggeratingly violates standards of political correctness in order to brilliantly tie in troubling aspects of social issues such a human rights, gender bias and racial discrimination with its grim commentary on consumerism. Top

Panty Kill
18 min, Horror Comedy, 2007
Armando Munoz - Director
Beverly Hills, CA

Alone in her house late at night, her boyfriend dead outside, a terrorized woman must face and outwit a kinky killer known only as Crotchless Panty Face. Now it's the sexy versus the sickie, silk panties against shiny blades.

Kiss your undies good-bye

Watch the trailer HERE.
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Downsized
16 min, Horror Short, 2008
Dan Riesser - Director
Los Angeles, CA

Four employees at a financial firm are called in by their boss for a late meeting. It seems their boss has been forced to resign, but he's not going peacefully.

Armed with an axe, he's planning to pick off his employees one by one, and "this time, it's personnel. Top


ZombiNatioN
24 min, Sci-Fi/Horror, 2007
Wayne Slaten - Director
Houston, Texas

Alice Connor is a woman on the run. Caught in a future world devastated by a scientific breakthrough in human embryonic stem cell technology. By the year 2013, millions of people have received the benefits of stem cell replacement therapy; however, an unforeseen breakdown in healthy cells leaves them with bodies in various states of decay and with no hope of recovery. The victims of Degenerative Stem Cell Syndrome are quarantined from the rest of society and face certain genocide from a nation fueled by religious fear and intolerance. H.E.S.C.A.L. lead genetics scientist, Dr. Michael Ray, knows that Alice may hold the answer to reversing this epidemic but only if he can find her in time... Top


Under the Raven's Wing
88 min, Horror, 2008
Susan Adriensen - Writer, Director
Union City, New Jersey

SPECIAL SCREENING
A cocky unseen filmmaker documents three young women about a murder they committed. Raven, the ringleader, believes in serene dimensions beyond this world and has the power to send you there. After all, she doesn't call it murder. Her and her two minions, Angel and Jessie, call it "Transcendence" & and it's the greatest gift to give. These girls want to spread their philosophy and this Director is just the man to do it. His desire to make a movie keeps him involved as he documents and recreates the girls' glorious murder night.

The complicated lives of these three women unfold freely before the camera. However, without their knowledge, the Director has his own agenda and the documentary project starts to become about seduction and voyeurism. The girl's stories appall yet captivate the Director as he finds himself becoming entangled in their grand plan. But Raven tries to control the production by keeping everyone in her psychological grip. Ultimately, the production goes terribly wrong and a power struggle ensues & with the Director fearing for his life. Top


¡Maldito Bastardo!
82 min, Bizarre Horror Comedy, 2007
Javier Camino - Director
Spain

Almost everyone has heard once a good story while being caressed by the heat of the hearth. But not many have heard such a grotesque and delirious tale like the one which Fonsiño heard a cold winter night from his grandfather's mouth.

A real story full of violence and madness, filled with crazy doctors, savage rednecks, remote-controlled androids, mechanical pigs and deities of plush. A story where the truth will end merging with the inventions and distortions characteristic of a senile narrator, creating this way a totally unlikely whole. Top


The Room
22 min, Horror Short, 2007
Diego Mesa-Valdez - Director
Miami, FL

Taking elements from "Saw" and "Ginger Snaps", The Room centers around a families love for eachother, while coping with a daughters dangerous curse.

Sam has been locked in a room fashioned to keep her away from the outside world. She has no communication with anyone but her little sister. For weeks she sticks to one end of the room, while the rotting corpse of her dead boyfriend dominates the other. Someone is keeping her in there, but why?. Top


Throwaway
21 min, Horror Short, 2008
Dennis Widmyer - Director
Brian James Fitzpatrick - Director
Los Angeles, CA

World Premiere! Abby is new to Los Angeles. She takes a job working the graveyard shift at a home security company as an operator. With such a tough schedule, she spends her days like a vampire, sleeping while the sun is up. This rotation gets disturbed, however, when Abby is repeatedly awoken each day by the sounds of a Bum rummaging through her apartment's dumpster (which rests directly outside her bedroom window). When Abby decides she's had enough, she confronts the Bum in the hopes of negotiating for some daily solace. Only the Bum has other plans for Abby that have nothing to do with a little spare change.

If you sleepwalk through your days, you could bump into a nightmare.

"THROWAWAY is a chilling, effective horror film with both style and substance, with one of the most genuinely haunting endings I've seen in a long time."
- Jimmy Hemphill (Film Quarterly) Top


It's My Party and I'll Die If I want To
80 min, Horror, 2007
Tony Wash - Director
South Elgin, IL

Seventy years ago, Jacob Burkitt murdered and dismembered his enjoy family and cast a dark shadow over the small town of Monessen, Pennsylvania. Now Sara's friends have decided to make her 18th birthday a night to remember by throwing her a surprise party in the reputedly haunted Burkitt Manor.

As her friends set up the party, the evil within the house awakens and begins killing off her friends one by one. Does Sara have what it takes to save her friends from almost certain death or will she too become victim to the horrors of Burkitt Manor?

"It's My Party and I'll Die if I Want To excels in the entertainment department by doling out a bloody good time riddled with innovation, bouncing boobs, some shockingly creepy moments, and enough slaughter to keep even the most blood-hungry viewers giggling happily..." - DreadCentral.com

Click HERE to view the trailer. Top


Mina
12 min, Horror Short, 2008
Jose Cassella - Director
Orlando, FL

Mina ( Haley Boyle) is a young girl with a terrible secret.

This secret is something she cannot contain any longer and it will destroy everyone she loves, everyone around her!
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Peekers
8 min, Horror Short, 2007
Mark Steensland - Director
Erie, PA

Based on a short story by Kealan Patrick Burke, Peekers is director Mark Steensland's seemingly simple yet highly-effective adaptation about a man who's invited into his elderly neighbor's home to perform a very strange favor.
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Transrexia
1 min, Animation, 2008
Voltaire - Director
New York, NY

In this ultra-short prehistoric postcard, a stop-motion T-Rex ponders the nature of love and loss with a Pterodactyl.

Narrated by Richard Butler, singer of the band The Psychedelic Furs. Top



Trick or Treat
6 min, Horror, 2007
Rob Kennedy - Director
Dublin Ireland

It's Halloween night and the trick or treaters have come and gone. Kate and Sam are about to settle down for a quiet evening when a mysterious caller arrives... Top








Sick Girl
83 min, Horror, 2007
Eben McGarr - Director
Los Angeles, CA

Izzy is a girl that wants to protect her little brother, bang her older brother and torture everyone else out in the barn.

Izzy (Leslie Andrews) is raising her younger brother, Kevin, by herself. Their parents are deceased and her older brother, Rusty, (who she has incestuous fantasies about), is away in the Marines. When Izzy learns that her little brother is being bullied at school, she does what any unstable, psychopathic, homicidal sister would do.

Also stars Stephen Geoffreys (Fright Night, 976-EVIL) Top


The Season
75 min, Horror Thriller, 2007
Adam Brooks - Director
Valencia, CA

Rural Iowa. A Quaint Store. Strangers, deemed suitable breeders, find their vehicles sabotaged. Before dawn, they become subjected to the unholy practices of the excommunicated Amish family, as well as several genetically defective ‘kin’ amongst them.

Once again, it is the time of The Season.

Click HERE to visit the website. Top


Mr. Video
15 min, Horror Comedy, 2008
Alex Masterton - Director
United Kingdom

Frustrated with competing against DVD piracy, the owner of a small video store decides to fight back and save his ailing business.
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Conjurer
84 min, Horror, 2008
Clint Hutchison - Director
Sherman Oaks, CA

FIn this spine-chilling ghost story, art photographer Shawn Burnett reluctantly agrees to move to a rural farmhouse to help his wife, Helen, recover from a personal tragedy. Shawn begins experiencing unsettling events surrounding an old cabin on the property. At first skeptical of a local legend regarding the cabin's history, Shawn soon becomes convinced that the farm is haunted.

As the ghostly presence manifests itself in increasingly deadly ways, Shawn encounters disturbing echoes from his own troubled past. Top


By Appointment Only
20 min, Horror Short, 2008
John Faust - Director
Los Angeles, CA

Jane is in search of a new life when her car breaks down in a small, desert town. To make her appointment to see an old house for sale, Jane gets a lift from a local man, Lyle. But, when the two get to know each other, the cliche of the horror movie takes a back seat.

After Lyle turns on Jane, strangely an acquaintance arrives from Jane's earlier travels to reveal a dark, supernatural secret. But just when you think you have it all figured out, you too will learn how buying a house can kill you. Top


Crystal
4 min, Music Video, 2008
Jason Lapeyre - Director
Canada

Crystal is a music video (Fresh I.E.) and a short horror film complete with thrills, chills and a message.

A boy is seduced by a beautiful girl named Crystal who leads him into a horror chamber of addiction and torture. Top


The Blind Date of Coffin Joe
10 min, Horror Comedy, 2008
Raymond Castile - Director
St. Charles, Missouri

The Blind Date of Coffin Joe, Raymond Castile, 10 min, 2008 Fan-made tribute to Coffin Joe (Zé do Caixão) and the films of José Mojica Marins. Coffin Joe, an evil undertaker from Brazil, has spent years and killed many people in his quest to find the "superior woman" to bear his child. Now he has come to the United States, where he will try a new approach - his own reality TV dating show. But where Coffin Joe is concerned, the line between "reality" and nightmare is indistinguishable. Top


Bonnie & Clyde vs. Dracula
90 min, Horror, 2007
Timothy Friend, Director

This original screenplay combines the rough and tumble world of 1930's era gangster movies with the violent gothic atmosphere of a classic horror film. When a robbery goes bad and one of their companions is shot, Bonnie & Clyde are forced to seek help at the mansion of the crazed Dr. Loveless.

But Loveless has a secret. Deep in his cellar, the recently revived Dracula awaits.

Click HERE to view the trailer. Top


Spell of 13
100 min, Horror, 2006
Richard Yates, Rodney Pasko: Directors
Ft. Wayne, IN

For over 20 years an old theater has lain dormant, until three strangers force their way in from the cold. As the three explore the building, they find a newspaper clipping that tells of a savage murder of ten innocent employees 20 years before.

The three uncover an old journal, and awaken the ten bodies that are still in the catacombs of the theater, and they aren't exactly dead. Trapped in the building, they must decipher the journal, find a way out and fight the undead ghouls that await around every corner.

You can't kill them...They're already dead. Top


Backwoods Bloodbath
90 min, Horror, 2007
Donn Kennedy, Director
Brookfield, WI

In 1877, a fierce creature, known as Bovinus Spiritualis (the Black Hodag) was discovered in the northern woods of Oneida County, Wisconsin. To this day, locals whisper of the Black Forest, and the curse of the creature that dwells within.

"Backwoods Bloodbath" is an old school horror-gore flick about six friends who take a road trip to a back country town where a local legend has been feeding off the population for decades, only to find themselves becoming the latest items on the creature's menu.

Click HERE to visit the website. Top


Monster Cops: Shadow Company
24 min, Horror Comedy, 2008
Patric Prejusa, Director
East Bend, NC

Monster Cops is the mockumentary look into the secret world of Shadow Company. A secret government agency dedicated to seeking out and destroying Monsters. It's Blair Witch meets The Office. It's Cloverfield meets Reno 911. Click HERE to watch the trailer. Top


Cold Spots
36 min, Horror, 2007
Sean Schwaller, Director
Crown Pointe, IN

An ambitious paranormal researcher breaks the rules to investigate the reports of hauntings at the infamous Terret house - the site of multiple murders.


Dead Noon
85 min,Horror Western, 2007
Andrew Wiest, Director
Kalispell, MT

In this shoot 'em up western horror tale, ancient demons, walking skeletons and cowboy zombies join forces to take the law down in a blaze of hellfire and brimstone. With the powers of hell at his disposal, Frank (Robert Bear), a blood-thirsty outlaw from the old west, is resurrected to seek his revenge on the present day town of Weston.

It's Sam Raimi meets Sam Peckinpah. It's Dawn of the Dead meets High Noon. It's DEAD NOON.

Click HERE to visit the website. Top


A Thousand Words: Bloodline
26 min, Horror, 2007
Justin Lewis, Jerod Brennen: Directors
Hilliard, OH

This sequel to A Thousand Words (2005) continues the story of Ian, a voyeuristic serial killer with a penchant for photographing his victims. Ian's past is revealed as his son, Steven, struggles to win the heart of Jennifer, his neighbor's girlfriend. The journey of father and son brings us closer to understanding the killer inside Ian, as he leaves a trail of bodies in his wake.

Click HERE to view the trailer. Top


The Walking Corpse
14 min, Horror, 2007
Terrence Smith, Director
Brooklyn, NY

A small time pickpocket, Wayland, gets more than he bargained for when he stumbles into a sideshow titled "The Walking Corpse" owned and operated by a mysterious gypsy, Madame Mika. Blood, evil curses and dancing girls are the best summation for this little powerhouse of a short film. Top






Dead and Floating in Three Rivers
16 min, Horror, 2007
Brian Hauge, Director
Toluca Lake, CA

A young teenage girl is abducted and held hostage by the notorious Homestead Ripper. Her only hope for survival lies in the hands of the Ripper's former victims, whom are re-animated after a biological weapon is accidentally jettisoned into a rural Pennsylvania town by a doomed military aircraft. Top




The Caretaker
84 min, Horror, 2007
Jackie Olson, Producer
Agoura Hills, CA

A group of teenage boys out to give their girlfriends a good scare on Halloween/Homecoming night head to an abandoned house in an out-of-the-way grapefruit orchard where they reveal the story of a real life urban legend "THE CARETAKER."

This classic teen scream hosts an ensemble cast of ridiculously good looking kids and is spiced with an outlandish teacher (Jennifer Tilly) obsessed with getting famous by sleeping with a student and an over-protective father (Judd Nelson). Jonathan Breck (Jeepers Creepers) gives a delightfully creepy performance as the crazy Limo Driver and Jim Lang (John Carpenter's Mouth of Madness, Body Bags) delivers an original score sure to make you jump out of your seat. Top


Home Sick
89 min, Horror, 2007
Adam Wingard, Director
Carlsbad, CA

A maniac with a suitcase full of razorblades unleashes a super human killer upon a group of kids in a small Alabama town. They must take up arms with a insane Chili enthusiast if they want to survive.

Starring Bill Moseley, Tiffany Shepis and Tom Towles. Top





Paint Shaker
14 min, Horror, 2008
Patrick Rea, Director
Lawrence, KS

From the Emmy winning director Patric Rea Thompson desperately needs to find somebody to work his Saturday shift at the hardware store. But his fellow college-age employees aren't exactly coming to his aid, and the store is short staffed ever since his jerkwad boss Gary fired the underperforming Chuck. When the disgruntled and well-armed Chuck returns to take revenge, Thompson and his callous co-worker Hannah get caught in the middle of the rampage.
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Visions of Suffering
120 min, Bizarre Horror, 2006
Andrey Iskanov, Director
Russia

Demons stalk a victim in his sleep. They appear whenever the rain falls and threaten to break free from the land of dreams into his conscious world. A drug-induced vision allows the demons to escape their hellish realm, and the victim is dragged into their nightmare domain. The latest film from director Andrey Iskanov ("Nails", "Philosophy of a Knife"), this Russian tale of horror takes you on a stunning visual journey into the abyss of nightmarish hallucination. Top


Misled Romance of
Cannibal Girl and Incest Boy
13 min, Bizarre Horror, 2007
Richard Taylor, Director
Denver, CO

The Misled Romance of Cannibal Girl and Incest Boy by Denver filmmakers Richard Taylor and Zack Biens is a Comedy Horror gore fest of sexual mayhem shot entirely on Super 8 film, featuring a psychedelic soundtrack, a bevy of teriffic special effects, (from the guys who did the blood 'n gore on Troma's "Poultrygeist!") and a special appearance by Lloyd Kaufman president of Troma Entertainment.

The Misled Romance of Cannibal Girl and Incest Boy will not disappoint anyone looking for an original shocking piece of art. Top



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