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, Alien) 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 Slyer) and Tony Todd (Candyman).
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. 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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Dead Bones
18 min, 
Horror Western, 2008
Olivier Beguin - Director
Switzerland
A Wild West bounty hunter is tracking down a criminal, and catches up with him in a small, half-abandoned Mexican village where he soon discovers that the few remaining locals have weird customs. The hunter will have to unite with his bounty to escape the raving madmen.
Starring Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead) Top
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. 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. Top
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 Slayten - 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
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
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