We are currently accepting submissions for 2012, and we’ll be making selection announcements in August. Check back here for updates as well as dates and times for special events and guest appearances. In the mean time, be sure to take a look at our amazing film line-up from last year’s show:
2011 Film Selections
Dark Carnival is pleased to present the finest selection of independent horror films in the world!
Bite Marks
Mark Bessenger, Director
Van Nuys, CA
84 min
A trucker is hauling a shipment of coffins to a funeral home and picks up a gay hitchhiking couple to help him stay awake. When their GPS misleads them into a deserted junkyard and their truck breaks down, nightfall reveals that the coffins contain hungry vampires! Now the mismatched trio must barricade themselves in the cab of the truck and try to survive the bloodsuckers’ attack – and each other – until dawn.
A Cock Tale
Greg Bro, Director
Oakdale, MN
11 min
“A Cock Tale” is a comedic animated short film about 2 roosters on a farm and what happens after a lifetime of one living in the shadow of the other. This film contains adult humor and is intended for mature immature audiences.
A Chance In Hell
Tony Wash, Director
Elgin, IL
28 min
Scotchworthy Productions’ newest Nazi creature movie centers around a group of American soldiers who stumble upon a secret Nazi facility in the winter of 1944 and have to fight for their lives against a horde of bloodthirsty creatures.
Sons of Chaos
Turi Mathieu, Director
Run Time 15 min.
Paris, France
To become a son of chaos, and protect the people, Oca, a young warrior, has to succeed three tests. Ouranos, his master, can’t help him. Oca has to find a building in the forest, then reach the roof, without a weapon, and finally, kill a Howler, a dangerous and horrible creature.
Carny
Kevin Lonano, Director
Staten Island, NY
11 min.
The Psycho-Fugue Circus executes one of their own for murdering the headline act.
Carpool
Tiffany Arnold, Producer
Columbus, OH
7 min
Tiffany wouldn’t mind her job, if it weren’t for that creepy Crabtree guy always hitting on her. When Crabtree asks her if she wants to carpool, Tiffany takes him up on the offer. Too bad for him it isn’t exactly what he had in mind.
An Evening With My Comatose Mother
Jonathan Martin, Director
Provo, UT
33 min
Dorothy Pritchard thought she had it easy; house sit for the wealthy Poe’s on All Hallows Eve while collecting a cool paycheck. That was, until, she was introduced to the Poe’s rotting, comatose mother living upstairs. As the dark of the night comes, and as the approaching storm blacks out the neighborhood, Dorothy soon finds herself on a nightmare ride through hell that she can only beg to be woken up from.
Dead Friends
William Martin, Director
Vancouver, BC
12 min
Nine year old Lola Turtle’s only companion is her treasured and tattered stuffed bunny Mister Wimperbottom… until she finds a way to grow her very own Dead best friend.
Debt Collector
Sage Scroope, Producer
Los Angeles, CA
16 min
A murdering gunslinger faces his demons only to discover that redemption isn’t for everybody in… The Debt Collector. Set on the Oklahoma Plains amidst the 1930s Great Depression, HOOVY NASH is an aging gunslinger turned debt collector for the bank. Hoovy is a force to be reckoned with, especially for the poor dirt farmers of the plains. However, when a collection goes awry, a little girl is lost and Hoovy sets out to find her. Saving this girl could be his way into heaven, or it might just be his ticket straight to hell.
Doll Parts
Karen Lam, Director
Vancouver, BC
9 min
A serial killer’s bad day only gets worse when he picks up the wrong girl.
Fitness Class Zombie
Chris Walsh, Director
Ontario, CA
47 seconds
This super short, super intense stop motion animation illustrates how to lose weight the UNDEAD way!
Le Livreur
Nicolas Paquin, Director
Quebec, Canada
30 min
Young Ben, recently unemployed, is looking desperately to find a meaningful job for his life he’s wasting. As a last resort attempt, he accept a delivery job for a mysterious man named Mike. After being extremely warned about the confidential nature of the packages he delivers, Ben must deal with doubt and temptation to open the boxes, but at what price? Will curiosity kill the cat?
Raven’s Hollow
Colin Clarke, Director
Rockford, IL
11 min
On Halloween night, a rural ghost story comes true… Billy, his sister Lisa, and her boyfriend Mike, spend
a night at the drive-in after trick or treating on Halloween. When Billy threatens to walk home through an old cornfield, Mike tells him a legend of Old Farmer Blood, who is said to have seeded his field with the blood of murder victims. When Billy disbelieves, Mike leads the trio into a nightmare of unrelenting terror.
The Small Assassin
Chris Charles, Director
Chicago, IL
16 min
The year is 1947, and Alice (Lois Atkins) and David (David Marcotte) have just given birth to their first child. When Alice slips into postpartum depression, David seeks the advice of their Doctor (Robert Breuler), who assures him that she will eventually come around. But as time passes Alice’s depression takes a turn for the worse, and she becomes convinced that the baby is conspiring against her. David must decide if his wife is loosing her mind, or if the child is plotting their doom. The Small Assassin is based on the short story by legendary sci-fi author Ray Bradbury.
Some Guy Who Kills People
Ryan Levin
Los Angeles, CA
97 min
A lonely man, fresh out of the loony bin, returns to his hometown and seeks revenge on those he deems
responsible for his miserable life.
SPIRALE
Michael Guerraz, Director
France
21 min
On a sunshiny summer day, Virginie secretly rejoins her lover Alexandre at the mill where he hides from the police. They barely enjoy their rendez-vous that soon an evil black raven lands on one of the mill pales, thus triggering a dreaded clockwork device. Suddenly daylight turns into a dark realm, impenetrable blackberry bushes carpet over the flowery hills. Then the sinister inhabitant of the place rises from the darkness: the MILLER. The hunt is on… and the fairytale may fade to noir.
Status
Richard Williamson, Director
Australia
20 min
A young man fights to protect his girlfriend from a terrifying new technology that uses our craving for love to violently reshape the world. Welcome to the evolution of social networking.
The Familiar
Kody Zimmermann, Director
Canada
22 min
The Familiar is a short film, a dark comedy about Sam, a naïve young man who has accepted a very odd job: be the personal caretaker for an immortal, amoral, blood-sucking vampire.
The Feed
Jessica Paquin, Producer
Lewisburg, PA
73 min
Having secured what appears to be the perfect venue in the form of a potentially haunted historic movie theatre with a troubled past, the “Ghost Chasers”, the popular team of television paranormal investigators is confident that this live broadcast will be their best. When the movie house turns out to be more active than they had anticipated, however, the prospect of great ratings quickly takes a back seat to the basest of all human instincts: Survival.
Time’s Up Eve
Patrick Rea, Director
Shawnee, KS
13 min
In the 1940s, a woman pursued through the city must elude shadowy figures who have claimed the souls of her friends and loved ones.
VelociPastor
Brendan Steere, Director
Brodheadsville, PA
4 min
After the death of his parents, a priest is scratched by amber and begins turning into a dinosaur. Soon he realizes these powers could conceivably be used for good. Bloody, murderous good…
Vile
Taylor Sheridan, Director
USA
90 min
Almost forty years ago, in July 1961, psychologist Stanley Milgram started a series of social psychology experiments. These experiments, based on Nazi war criminals and their heinous acts, were devised to answer a simple question – How far are people willing to go when instructed by authority?.
Wilderness
Scooter Downey, Director
USA
85 min
After a family tragedy, an estranged father and son hike into the wilderness of Texas, hoping to rebuild their relationship but there is something waiting for them in the woods. Starring Lance Henriksen and Sean Elliot.
Wretched
Jason McQuarrie, Director
Canada
10 min
The Pestilence still lingered the countryside of England in the Autumn of 1665. A mother and her children were fortunate enough to survive the worst of the plague, but at what cost? Starving and worried about their survival in the up coming winter, Elizabeth cares for her children, Scarlett and Charles to the best of her ability no matter how difficult the situation… The family table is infested with flies, melted wax
and the horrific depiction of desperation.
Window Into Time
Thomas Nicol, Director
Urbana, IL
85 min
Dr. Lawrence Schenker (William L. Kephart) recounts the recreation of an ancient substance said to possess mysterious properties. When an old acquaintance from Miskatonic University, Dr. Morison (Michael Kilcullen), comes seeking his scientific advice on a set of parchments appearing to describe an unknown molecular structure, Dr. Schenker cannot simply leave it at that. With the help of a student, Lana Greene (Stephanie Swearingen), he sets out to synthesize a sample, despite adamant warnings against tampering with eldritch power…
The Bug Chaser
Ian Wolfley, Director
San Francisco, CA
20 min
Nathan’s one-night stand ends abruptly when his date finds an alarming growth on his body. As it rapidly gets larger, Nathan gets sicker. He looks to alcohol, the Internet, and a needle for help, but to no avail. Drunk and desperate, Nathan finally reaches out to an unlikely source: a former hook-up, a nurse, who can’t believe what he sees.
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