Telluride Horror Show: Overview of Weekend

06 Oct Telluride Horror Show: Overview of Weekend

The 6th annual Telluride Horror Show includes premieres and special screening of Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” with director Q&A. John Carroll Lynch, indie filmmakers Mickey Keating, Joe Begos added to lineup. “Bone Tomahawk” closes festival with Colorado Premiere. Three-day passes are only $94 and include all films, parties and the festival’s annual pig roast.  Tickets available here. Festival lodging specials available here.

Complete lineup to date can be found here.

“Great films, like all great art forms, are those that affect you deeply—whether it’s the lyrics that you can’t get out of your head, the painting you can’t stop staring at, the characters that stay with you long after you’ve finished a novel, or the horror film that makes you shiver with fear and plays itself over again in your nightmares. And Telluride Horror Show, in its fifth season, is set to deliver some of those deeply visceral artistic moments.” (Deb Dion, Telluride Inside… and Out, 2014)

If things that go bump in the night are your thing, the 2015 Telluride Horror Show, Friday – Sunday, October 16-18, has announced its HORRORible line-up. The event takes place in picturesque Telluride, Colorado (elevation 8,750 ft.).

Most of the films will make their Colorado premieres at this year’s Horror Show or will screen fresh off their Fantastic Fest debuts. The festival will also feature a special screening of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas followed by a director Q&A.

“We’re excited to be hosting numerous premieres this year, with many of the films coming to Telluride fresh off their bows at Toronto and Fantastic Fest,” said Telluride Horror Show director Ted Wilson. He added, “We’re proud that the Telluride Horror Show is now an important stop on the festival circuit for top-tier indie genre films.”

FIRST WAVE:

GUESTS

HENRY SELICK

GUEST DIRECTOR

Henry Selick is an American stop-motion director, producer and writer who is best known for directing The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach, and Coraline. After a special presentation of The Nightmare Before Christmas, join us for a conversation with famed director Henry Selick, moderated by Devin Faraci, editor-in-chief of Birth.Movies.Death.

DEVIN FARACI

GUEST HOST

Birth.Movies.Death.

While some may say he is the greatest critical mind of his time, Devin Faraci humbly insists he is only the voice of a generation. Devin is the editor-in-chief of Birth.Movies.Death. He has been writing about movies online since there was a 21st century. Devin joins the Telluride Horror Show as our guest host for 2015 and will moderate a conversation with guest director Henry Selick and other visiting filmmakers.

CHAMPAGNE CHARLIE

MUSICAL GUEST

What if Tom Waits, Modest Mouse, Gogol Bordello and Squirrel Nut Zippers got together and created a monster? It might sound like Champagne Charlie. We are thrilled to host one of Denver’s hottest bands as they’ll serve as ringleader during our closing night party at Telluride’s historic Last Dollar Saloon. The closing night party will begin directly following the festival’s closing night film.

FEATURES

GERMAN ANGST

Germany | 2015 | 112 min| Directors: Jörg Buttgereit, Michal Kosakowski, Andreas Marschall

Three German tales of love, sex and death in Berlin from Germany’s most shocking directors: Jörg Buttgereit (NEKROMANTIK, DER TODESKING), Michal Kosakowski (ZERO KILLED), and Andreas Marschall (TEARS OF KALI).

HE NEVER DIED

USA/Canada | 2015 | 97 min | Director: Jason Krawczyk

Followed by a Q&A with director Jason Krawczyk and producer Zach Hagen.

Jack (HENRY ROLLINS) is in a rut. Depression and severe anti-social behavior has whittled down his existence to sleeping and watching television. Seeing the human race as little more than meat with a pulse, Jack has no interest to bond with anyone. There’s little purpose for him to make friends with someone he’d eventually eat or outlive by more than a millennia. The fuse is lit when Jack’s past comes back to rattle him. Jack must now walk a tight rope of sobriety and try to eat as few people as possible in this violent tale of personal responsibility.

HELL HOUSE, LLC

USA | 2015 | 91 min | Director: Stephen Cognetti

Followed by a Q&A with director Stephen Cognetti.

Five years after an unexplained malfunction causes the death of fifteen tour-goers and staff on the opening night of a Halloween haunted house tour (Hell House), a documentary film crew investigates what really happened that night.

INNER DEMON

Australia | 2014 | 84 min | Director: Ursula Dabrowsky

A teenage girl is abducted by a serial killer couple and manages to escape and find refuge in an isolated farmhouse, only to discover it is home to greater horrors and a malevolent spirit…

THE INVITATION

USA | 2015 | 100 min | Director: Karyn Kusama

In this taut psychological thriller by Karyn Kusama (Girlfight, Jennifer’s Body), the tension is palpable when Will (Logan Marshall-Green, Prometheus) shows up to his ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard, Into the Woods) and new husband, David’s (Michiel Huisman, “Game of Thrones”) dinner party. The pair’s tragic past haunts an equally spooky present: Amid Eden’s suspicious behavior and her mysterious house guests, Will becomes convinced that his invitation was extended with a hidden agenda. Unfolding over one dark evening in the Hollywood Hills, The Invitation blurs layers of mounting paranoia, mystery, and horror until both Will (and the audience) are unsure what threats are real and which are imagined.

LANDMINE GOES CLICK

Georgia | 2014 | 104 min | Director: Levan Bakhia

Three American tourists are backpacking through the remote countryside of European Georgia when one of them gets trapped on an armed landmine. But that seems to be a minor threat compared to the nightmarish happenings the rest of the afternoon will bring. A psychopath takes advantage of the tourist’s immobility and brutally assaults the woman he loves.

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

USA | 1993 | 76 min | Director: Henry Selick

After a special presentation of the classic stop-motion animated film, join us for a conversation with famed director Henry Selick, moderated by Devin Faraci, editor-in-chief of Birth.Movies.Death.

Bored with the same old scare-and-scream routine, Pumpkin King Jack Skellington longs to spread the joy of Christmas. But his merry mission puts Santa in jeopardy and creates a nightmare for good little boys and girls everywhere.

NINA FOREVER

UK | 2015 | 98 min | Directors: Chris & Ben Blaine

Holly loves Rob and tries to help him through his grief, even if it means contending with his dead girlfriend Nina, who comes back bloody and broken every time they make love.

SHORTS

BAD GUY #2

USA | 2014 | 10 min | Director: Chris McInroy

In Person: Chris McInroy (Director)

In this practical effects driven splatter comedy one bad guy discovers that moving up in a crime ring has its downsides. Just as his new career starts, it might already be coming to an end. He’ll either have to set an example or become one.

THE BRIDGE PARTNER

USA | 2014 | 13 min | Director: Gabriel Olson

A timid housewife is jolted into a fight for her survival or sanity at her weekly bridge club when she thinks she hears her new partner utter a threat.

CANIS

Spain | 2013 | 17 min | Directors: Marc Riba & Anna Solanas

Teo survives isolated in a house constantly besieged by a horde of stray dogs.

THE CHICKENING

Canada/USA | 2015 | 5 min| Directors: Davy Force & Nick DenBoer

An augmented, poultry-infused remix of “The Shining.” Jack takes a job as new senior night manager of Charbay’s Chicken World – the world’s largest chicken-themed restaurant resort. He drinks some experimental, volcano-activated BBQ sauce and things get clucked up.

CRAZY LITTLE THING

Japan | 2014 | 11 min | Director: Onohana

The two of them, all alone at home. All alone with her father’s corpse. Memories, ideals, and reality all sink beneath the muck. Everyone is alone. Everyone is in solitude.

CROW HAND!!!

USA | 2014 | 2 min | Director: Brian Lonano

A husband gets more than he bargains for when he picks up a mysterious crow totem off the ground, much to his wife’s chagrin.

DANNY BOY

Poland | 2010 | 10 min| Director: Marek Skrobecki

A young man, clearly different than the others, wanders the streets aimlessly. One day he meets a girl. Will this girl, recognizing his dissimilarity, reject him?

DEATHLY

USA | 2015 | 14 min| Director: Mike Williamson

Following the tragic death of his wife, a man is unsettled by chilling events in their house.

DINNER FOR FEW

Greece/USA | 2014 | 10 min | Director: Nassos Vakalis

During dinner, “the system” feeds the few who foolishly consume all the resources while the rest survive on scraps. Inevitably the struggle for what remains leads to catastrophic change.

GHOSTING

UK | 2015 | 8 min | Director: James Moran

(U.S. PREMIERE)

Research assistant Lyssa Fletcher is conducting a preliminary investigation into a supposedly haunted room. Like every other case, Lyssa fully expects it to be a waste of her Saturday. Today, she’ll wish it was.

HONOR STUDENT

USA | 2015 | 9 min | Director: Aaron B. Koontz

(WORLD PREMIERE)

A middle aged, disgruntled woman with nothing left to give meanders through a day just like any other, or so she thought.

INTRUDERS

Canada | 2014 | 9 min | Director: Santiago Menghini

In the aftermath of a deadly haunting in a small suburban home, a sinister omnipresent entity causes havoc in the private lives of a young boy, an unsuspecting teen, and an absent-minded inspector.

INVADERS

USA | 2014 | 6 min| Director: Jason Kupfer

In Person: Jason Kupfer (Director)

A pair of home invaders consider their potential character choices just prior to their planned invasion.

IRIS

UK/USA | 2015 | 12 min| Director: Richard Karpala

In Person: Richard Karpala (Director)

A man uses his smart phone to assist in burying a dead body.

THE KING AND QUEEN OF HALLOWEEN

UK/Canada | 2014 | 6 min| Directors: Anna Maguire & Stuart Spears

Halloween is a magical time for everyone, old and young alike. But when two teenage boys destroy a strange older man’s meticulous pumpkin display, he decides to play the long game and get his revenge, in the most seasonal way imaginable.

THE LISTING

USA | 2015 | 9 min | Director: Luke Jaden

What goes on in the haunted house BEFORE the family moves in?

THE MILL AT CALDER’S END

USA | 2015 | 14 min | Director: Kevin McTurk

In the remote village of Calder’s End stands an old windmill, a repository of dark secrets. Nicholas Grimshaw has returned to this haunted place, intent on breaking an ancient family curse. Grimshaw’s journey takes him deep below the decaying mill, into mysterious, forgotten catacombs, where he must confront the very source of the evil that has corrupted his family. THE MILL AT CALDER’S END is a Victorian ghost story puppet film in the tradition of Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, and gothic horror films of the 1960s. This film utilizes 30 inch tall bunraku puppets and traditional in-camera practical effects.

NIGHT OF THE SLASHER

USA | 2015 | 11 min | Director: Shant Hamassian

A “shot-in-one-take” slasher film about a teenage girl who must commit horror movie sins such as drink alcohol, do drugs, and have sex to lure a masked killer and defeat him.

POINT OF VIEW

Canada | 2015 | 8 min | Director: Justin Harding

In Person: Justin Harding (Director)

A tired coroner is stalked by the living dead – but only when she isn’t looking!

POLAROID

Norway | 2015 | 16 min| Director: Lars Klevberg

Sarah and Linda discover an old Polaroid camera in the clearing of Sarah’s house. In their own selfishness they exploit the camera, only to discover the horrible past it hides.

SURGERY

UK | 2015 | 11 min | Directors: Clemens Bros.

TEETH

UK/Hungary/USA | 2015 | 6 min | Directors: Daniel Gray & Tom Brown

Things of worth are often neglected in favor of that which is more immediately gratifying. Unfortunately, things that are neglected are often lost forever. The life of a misguided and intensely focused man, chronicled through his oral obsessions.

TIMBER

Switzerland | 2014 | 5 min | Director: Nils Hedinger

A group of logs is about to freeze to death in a cold, icy desert. When they realize that the only fuel for a warming fire is their own bodies, things start heating up.

TURNING COLD

Austria | 2015 | 10 min| Director: Dominik Hartl

(US PREMIERE)

The experienced pathologist swore he would ignore the annoying endeavors of the ghosts whose remains he examines. But when the soul of a young man materializes, the situation gets out of hand. The pathologist turns on his pledge – he speaks with the troubled dead man and we learn why he normally chooses not to.

THE TWIN GIRLS OF SUNSET STREET

Spain | 2010 | 13 min | Directors: Marc Riba & Anna Solanas

Ointments, elixirs, and poultices. Enriqueta and Ramoneta will attend your needs with discretion, reserve, and pleasant manners at Sunset Street No. 17A, Barcelona. Not sold in drugstores or chemist’s shops.

VICIOUS

UK | 2015 | 12 min| Director: Oliver Park

A young woman returns home one night to find her front door unlocked and suspects she might not be alone in the house.

THE WITCHING HOUR

Australia | 2015 | 9 min | Director: Carl Firth

When the clock strikes midnight, a strange and mysterious world comes into existence. A few unfortunate people get swept up in its mayhem, and must try to survive the night. Written to Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns, The Witching Hour is a visual music film in the tradition of Fantasia.

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

THE HORROR….THE ANIMATED: Grisly, Ghastly Animated Shorts at Telluride Horror Show

Join Mark Shapiro from LAIKA, the Portland-based animation studio behind Coraline, ParaNorman and The Boxtrolls, for this special animated horror shorts block gleaned from major film festivals across the globe. These short films will make you cringe, laugh, and, dare we say, keep you on the edge of your seat.  Created by students and professionals, the creative, visual program includes drawn, computer-generated and stop-motion animation – a breadth of techniques to take your breath away.  But you heard it here first: Do NOT bring the kiddies. A Q&A session with Mark Shapiro will follow the films.

For a preview of the show, watch the trailer for Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare before Christmas.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHLgob-PpIk

SECOND WAVE:

Feature films in the second wave include new indie favorites DARLING (director Mickey Keating), which was recently picked up at Fantastic Fest, and the Colorado premiere of THE MIND’S EYE (director Joe Begos). Both filmmakers will be in attendance. Official Selections also include the North American premiere of III, US premiere of THE INTERIOR, Colorado premiere of SENSORIA, and THEY LOOK LIKE PEOPLE, which is getting considerable buzz.

Actor John Carroll Lynch has also been added to the lineup and will take part in a conversation with Devin Faraci of Birth. Movies. Death. after THE INVITATION (announced in the first wave). Lynch’s resumé boasts more than 200 titles, including FARGO, ZODIAC, SHUTTER ISLAND, GRAN TORINO, CRAZY STUPID LOVE, AMERICAN HORROR STORY: FREAKSHOW (as “Twisty the Clown”) and Telluride Horror Show Official Selection THE INVITATION. A Colorado native, Lynch is one of the most reputable supporting actors in the film business, having worked directly with Oscar winners and nominees such as Clint Eastwood, Reese Witherspoon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Steve Carrell, and Robert Downey, Jr.

Several new international short films have been added to the program, including HAPPY BIRTHDAY, THE SESSION and the world premiere of FLUSH.

The complete second wave of films is listed below. According to Ted Wilson, it’s the Telluride Horror Show’s “darkest and grittiest lineup to date.”

FEATURES

BODY

USA | 2015 | 75 min | Directors: Dan Berk & Robert Olsen

A night out turns deadly when three girls break into a seemingly empty mansion.

DARLING

USA | 2015 | 78 min | Director: Mickey Keating

Followed by a Q&A with director Mickey Keating in person.

DARLING follows a lonely young woman who moves into an old, mysterious Manhattan mansion. Hired as caretaker, it’s not long before she discovers the estate’s haunted reputation and troubling past- stories that slowly transform into a backdrop for her twisted and violent descent into madness….

THE HALLOW 

UK/Ireland | 2015 | 97 min | Director: Corin Hardy

After moving into a remote country house in Ireland, a family finds themselves in a fight for survival with demonic creatures living in the woods.

HOWL

UK | 2015 | 95 min | Director: Paul Hyett

Make-up effects master Paul Hyett (Dog Soldiers, The Descent) creates a horror tale about a group of passengers on a midnight train who find themselves under attack by a terrifying pack of werewolves.

III

Russia/Germany | 2015 | 80 min | Director: Pavel Khvaleev

(NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE)

During the outbreak of a mysterious epidemic devastating a rural European village, sisters Ayia and Mirra promise their dying mother to look after each other. When Mirra falls victim to the epidemic, Ayia in desperation realizes that conventional medicine will not save her sister. At the local priest’s house Ayia discovers a collection of Shamanic books containing a ritual for spiritual healing which she believes will save her sister. The Shamanic cure involves a complete immersion into the patient’s mind, a journey into the deepest most hidden depths of their subconscious where terrifying monsters and demons await.

THE INTERIOR 

Canada | 2015 | 79 min | Director: Trevor Juras

US PREMIERE

After receiving a distressing medical diagnosis, a listless young man flees the crushing tedium of Toronto city life, trading it all for the wilderness of the British Columbian Interior. When his whims go awry, he is reduced to petty thievery just to survive. Fearing his misdeeds will catch up with him, he retreats further and further into the woods only to gradually find himself the target of increasingly inexplicable and disturbing manifestations, which point to a frightening truth: he is not alone.

THE MIND’S EYE 

USA | 2015 | 87 min | Director: Joe Begos

(COLORADO PREMIERE)

Followed by a Q&A with director Joe Begos in person.

A scientist formulating a synthetic telekinetic serum sends a group of telekinetic assassins to track down a rougher drifter with exceptional psychokinetic abilities.

SENSORIA

Sweden | 2015 | 81 min | Director: Christian Hallman

(COLORADO PREMIERE)

“SENSORIA” follows Caroline, a woman in her late thirties, who has lost everything she cares for in the world. In search of a new beginning, she moves into an old apartment and quickly begins to realize that she is not as alone as she thought she was…

THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD

USA | 1985 | 91 min | Director: Dan O’Bannon

When two bumbling employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors cause the dead to rise again as zombies.

Join us for a special 30th Anniversary screening of (and behind-the-scenes look at) THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, the best zombie comedy ever made. We will be showing the RARE original print of Dan (ALIEN) O’Bannon’s film, with its original dialogue and punk soundtrack intact! Presented by Paul M. Sammon (author of Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner), who worked on ROTLD in 1985 as Orion Pictures’ Special Projects Manager. Paul will host a special Q&A session after the screening, accompanied by a unique slide show. Just remember – More Brains!!!

THEY LOOK LIKE PEOPLE

USA | 2015 | 80 min | Director: Perry Blackshear

Suspecting that people are transforming into malevolent shape-shifters, Wyatt flees to New York City to seek out his estranged childhood friend Christian. As the mysterious horrors close in on Wyatt, he questions whether to protect his only friend from an impending war, or from himself. A genre-bending story about love, loyalty and living nightmares.

SHORTS

A TRICKY TREAT 

Canada | 2015 | 3 min | Director: Patricia Chica

A man is kidnapped by a very strange family and his fate is held in the hands of two kids.

CHAINSAW MAID 

Japan | 2007 | 7 min | Director: Takena Nagao

A sexy maid fights against zombies.

FLUSH

USA | 2015 | 6 min | Director: Matt Cooper

(WORLD PREMIERE)

In Person: Matt Cooper (Director)

A self-obsessed business traveler comes back down to earth during a routine pit-stop in an airport restroom when he is confronted by an entity that challenges his need for control, and his will to survive.

GUN SHY 

USA | 2014 | 3 min | Director: Sam Goetz

Every cop has that one event, that one memory, they just can’t shake…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

USA | 2014 | 4 min | Director: Erin Stegeman

In Person: Erin Stegeman (Director)

Sophia is turning six, and her cardigan-clad parents have put together the perfect party, including a very special surprise.

I AM UNDONE 

Australia | 2014 | 9 min | Director: Rebecca Thomson

(US PREMIERE)

A cosmetic therapist suffers grotesquely from oversampling her own products.

MOTHER

USA | 2014 | 2 min | Director: Zeke Pinheiro

An expectant mother’s sonogram reveals more than she was expecting.

MR. HENDRIX 

USA | 2014 | 5 min | Director: Zeke Pinheiro

A newlywed realizes his step-daughter is being traumatized by the same boogieman who tormented him as a child.

NO SERVICE 

USA | 2015 | 5 min | Director: Kholi Hicks

After finally getting service on her phone while out in the wilderness, a writer discovers a sinister event has transpired.

PANDY

Slovakia/Czech Republic | 2013 | 11 min | Director: Matús Vizár

After millions of generations they have a good chance of becoming another extinct species. But one day, an all-too-active primate called the human being found them and they became a pawn in man’s game.

THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM 

USA | 2013 | 13 min | Director: Ryan Spindell

In the candy-colored world of 1950s suburbia, a reluctant housewife suspects that the friendly neighborhood dentist is hiding a horrible secret… but is it just the anesthesia, or is something more sinister hiding just below the surface?

SELF-ASSEMBLY

Ireland | 2014 | 12 min | Director: Ray Sullivan

In a self-assembly cabinet, bereaved parents find a monstrous substitute for their dead son.

THE SESSION 

France | 2015 | 12 min | Director: Edouard de la Poeze

Paris, 1899. The sultry Countess of Castiglione entrusts a last portrait of her to her talented photographer. Under the prying eye of the divine aristocrat’s servants, the session will prove to be more disturbing than expected.

SILENT NIGHT 

Australia | 2014 | 11 min | Director: Nastassja Djalog

In an unsustainable city in the not so distant future, a young woman struggles to detach from the task assigned her to ensure survival of the fittest.

SISTER HELL 

Norway | 2015 | 15 min | Director: Fredrik S. Hana

A nun absconds from her monastery and embraces a more hedonistic lifestyle, but the sisters she left behind are soon hot on her heels in a bid to save her soul. Only it might not be her soul that needs saving.

SUPERVENUS

France | 2013 | 3 min | Director: Frédéric Doazan

A plastic surgeon creates in real time the new goddess of beauty.

THE TRAP 

USA | 2015 | 6 min | Director: Dick Grunert

A man invites his friend over one night to show off his latest invention: A trap for catching aliens.

UNBELIEF

USA/Canada/France | 2015 | 13 min | Director: Fabien Martorell

Unbelief is the story of two men meeting in a park in NYC. It’s Christmas Eve. Kane is an assassin, on his way to do a job which means more to him than the usual killings he is paid to do. This time it’s personal…

Below is a trailer for that film:

THIRD WAVE: