Killer First Films Announced for Telluride Horror Show
Steve Barton
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When it comes to selecting which movies you are going to put in your film festival, some organizers are better than others. Judging by the announcement of first wave of films to be screened at the Second Annual Telluride Film Festival in Telluride, Colorado, these guys know their shit!
With a schedule that will boast over 20 features and 20 shorts, this is just the beginning, but I’m impressed already…Chillerama, Helldriver, a killer baseball pitcher film AND Tucker and Dale vs Evil. Yeah, I’m impressed.
And not only are you getting a killer film line-up, Telluride itself is amazing! A former silver mining town set in a box canyon in southwest Colorado, it’s the perfect Shining-esque, Overlook Hotel setting for a horror film festival. To-Hell-You-Ride, Colorado. Oh yeah!
I know it’s a full schedule when the ol’ carpel tunnel syndrome starts acting up while I write and format the film list. And oh boy it’s barking right now. Feels like a big fest! Keep an evil eye on Dread Central for more info coming from Telluride, but for now, take a gander at the films announced thus far.
From the Press Release
The Telluride Horror Show, a three-day horror film festival, returns to Telluride, Colorado, October 14-16, 2011, for its second edition. The first batch of films has been announced and this is just a teaser, horror fans! The complete festival program will include 20+ feature films and 20+ shorts. Stay tuned for more!
The Telluride Horror Show takes place at the legendary Sheridan Opera House and Nugget Theatre, both located on Telluride’s historic main street.
FEATURE FILMS:
CHILLERAMA
USA 2011 | 120 min
Directors: Adam Green, Adam Rifkin, Joe Lynch, Tim Sullivan
It’s the closing night at the last drive-in theater in America and Cecil B. Kaufman has planned the ultimate marathon of lost film prints to unleash upon his faithful cinephile patrons. Four films so rare that they have never been exhibited publicly on American soil until this very night! What could possibly go wrong? In the spirit of classic anthology films like Creepshow and Twilight Zone: The Movie and containing films that not only celebrate the golden age of drive-in B horror shlock but also span over five decades of cinema, Chillerama offers something for every bad taste. With titles like Wadzilla, I Was A Teenage Werebear,, The Diary of Anne Frankenstein, and Zom-B-Movie and featuring appearances by Joel David Moore (Avatar), Lin Shaye (Insidious), Ray Wise (X-Men: First Class), Kane Hodder (Hatchet), and more cameos than you can count, Chillerama is the ultimate midnight movie.
CHOP
USA 2010 | 85 min
Director: Trent Haaga
“Karma is a motherfucker.” Lance is a normal guy living a normal life…until The Stranger enters it. Now Lance is being tortured for a crime that he can’t remember, everyone he loves is dying, he’s losing his body parts, and there’s no hope in sight. Unless Lance can remember what he’s done. A bloody tale of revenge gone horribly wrong, a black comedy, and a satire of the torture porn sub-genre, Chop is the directorial debut of Deadgirl screenwriter Trent Haaga.
DEADBALL
Japan 2011 | 98 min
Director: Yudai Yamaguchi
Baseball prodigy Jubeh Yakyu is the most feared and dangerous juvenile delinquent in all of Japan. After accidentally causing the death of his father with a super-powered, deadly fireball pitch, Jubeh swore off baseball and became a criminal and now, at 17, has been sent to the Pterodactyl Juvenile Reformatory for hardened criminals. Despite having sworn never to play baseball again, Jubeh is presented with an ultimatum by governor Mifune: join the reformatory team, The Gauntlets, in the national tournament for juvenile inmates, or witness the death of his innocent cellmate Four Eyes. And so the splatterific baseball tournament begins! A hilariously offensive, politically incorrect sports splatter comedy, Deadball is director Yudai Yamaguchi’s follow-up to his earlier zombie baseball classic Battlefield Baseball.
HELLDRIVER
Japan 2010 | 106 min
Director: Yoshihiro Nishimura
An alien-spawned, mysterious mist blankets the northern half of Japan, transforming those who inhale it into ravenous, flesh-eating zombies hell-bent on devouring the surviving human population. Plunged into chaos, Japan is torn in two—the southern half of the country, where the populace remains untouched by the deadly gas, lives behind a heavily-fortified wall, while the northern half is a lawless, zombie-infected wasteland. Political forces are locked in a stalemate over whether the living dead should remain protected as family members or exterminated like a plague. The economy withers away, and all hope seems lost for the people and the nation of Japan. Hope arrives in the form of Kika, a beautiful high school girl armed with a chainsaw sword powered by an artificial heart. Recruited by the government, Kika leads a ragtag group of desperados on a secret mission into the zombie-infected wilds to exterminate zombie queen Rikka and put an end to the plague of the living dead. Visionary filmmaker Yoshihiro Nishimura’s first solo directorial effort since Tokyo Gore Police is an epic, apocalyptic road movie featuring non-stop action and over-the-top splatter.
SOME GUY WHO KILLS PEOPLE
USA 2011 | 97 min
Director: Jack Perez
Ken Boyd, a lonely man fresh out of the loony bin, returns to his hometown, seeking revenge on those he deems responsible for his miserable life. John Landis executive-produced this horror comedy that’s been a stand-out hit on the 2011 international festival circuit.
TUCKER & DALE vs. EVIL
USA 2010 | 89 min
Director: Eli Craig
ENCORE PRESENTATION! After countless pleas and threatening phone calls, we gave in: Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, the stand-out hit of the 2010 Telluride Horror Show, returns to the big screen, one more time. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil is a hilariously gory, good-spirited horror comedy, doing for killer rednecks what Shaun of the Dead did for zombies. Tucker and Dale are two best friends on vacation at their dilapidated mountain house, who are mistaken for murderous backwoods hillbillies by a group of obnoxious, preppy college kids. When one of the students gets separated from her friends, the boys try to lend a hand, but as the misunderstanding grows, so does the body count.
FROM THE VAULT:
Jon Davison, the executive producer of Robocop and Starship Troopers, returns to the Telluride Horror Show as our esteemed vault keeper. Mr. Davison, a horror buff with a vast collection of vintage horror films in his vault, digs out two classics for this year’s festival:
BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN
USA 1935 | 75 min
Director: James Whale
“Warning! The monster demands a mate!” In James Whale’s masterpiece, Dr. Frankenstein (goaded by an even madder scientist) builds his monster a bride. Experience Universal’s classic horror movie on the big screen at the Telluride Horror Show!
Presented in its original 35MM format with an introduction by Jon Davison.
THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
USA 1960 | 70 min
Director: Roger Corman
A classic tale of boy-meets-girl, plant-eats-people with Jack Nicholson in one of his first film roles. As Seymour’s ruthless plant grows larger with each feeding, so does Seymour’s affections for shop girl, Audrey. The madness culminates with Seymour and his bloodthirsty plant in a feeding frenzy of epic proportions. Director Roger Corman, the king of B-movies, shot this beat-era classic in a mere two days.
Presented in its original 35MM format with an introduction by Jon Davison. Print courtesy of the Joe Dante and Jon Davison Collection at the Academy Film Archive.
SHORT FILMS:
BILLY’S BIRTHDAY
USA 2009 | 16 min
Director: Thomas Wohlford
It’s Billy’s birthday.
BRUTAL RELAX
Spain 2010 | 15 min
Directors: Adrián Cardona, Rafa Dengrá, & David Muñoz
Mr Olivares has already recovered, but now he needs a vacation in some heavenly place where he can relax and blithely enjoy himself.
BUNNY BOY
USA 2010 | 5 min
Director: Brandon LaGanke
A boy walks home from school and finds a dead man in a bunny costume lying in his background.
CURTAIN
USA 2011 | 13 min
Director: Dennis Widmyer
An unemployed deadbeat runs into a heap of girl-trouble when he’s forced to choose the lesser of two evils: the succubus haunting his bathtub or the psychotic girlfriend lying in his bedroom.
THE DUNGEON MASTER
USA 2011 | 13 min
Directors: Rider Strong & Shiloh Strong
Shane and his friends think it will be fun to recapture their geeky youth with a game of Dungeons & Dragons. But then someone shows up in a cape…
THE HUMAN NATURE
Denmark 2010 | 3 min
Director: Tore Frandsen
Set in the 1970s, The Human Nature explores the classic horror theme of Man vs. Nature. Needless to say, in this battle man will suffer…
INCUBATOR
USA 2011 | 6 min
Director: Jimmy Weber
A young man wakes up in a bathtub full of ice in a dingy motel room only to discover his problems have just begun.
MY MOM AND OTHER MONSTERS
USA 2011 | 8 min
Director: Kate Tsang
A young boy tries to escape his overbearing mother with the help of two imaginary monster friends.
ROID RAGE
USA/Bahamas 2011 | 14 min
Director: Ryan Lightbourn
Sammy Jenkins was a simple man who lived a simple life, until a genetic mutation sent his world spiraling out of control. Now, being hunted by the men responsible for his deformity, as well as the FBI, Sammy must fight back with his unique abilities in order to survive. Those unique abilities include the giant killer hemorrhoid growing out of his ass.
THE SUICIDE TAPES
USA 2010 | 25 min
Director: Billy Senese
Following the homicide of Dr. Lynn Forester on January 27th, 2003, the police investigation uncovered a series of videotaped psychiatric interviews of her last known patient, John Clarke. These sessions have become known as The Suicide Tapes.
TERRIFIER
USA 2011 | 20 min
Director: Damien Leone
After witnessing a brutal murder on Halloween night, a young woman becomes the maniac’s next target.
WAFFLE
USA 2010 | 5 min
Director: Rafael De Leon Jr.
A disfigured science fair champion invites her new friend over for dinner, but by the time dessert is served, the two schoolmates will discover each other’s true, unpleasant natures.
Trailers for the films are available at the Telluride Horror Show website. The schedule, listing show times and venues, will be announced closer to the festival.
Gabriel Ruzin, the US Editor of Shadowlocked.com, and Brad McHargue, editor of MileHighCinema.com and AV Club/Denver contributor, join the Telluride Horror Show as this year’s Guest Hosts. Both Mr. Ruzin and Mr. McHargue will be on hand to introduce the films, conduct Q&As with visiting filmmakers, and, in general, be our go-to film geeks!
Three-Day Festival Passes are now on sale at the Early Bird price of $60 (save $18). The Three-Day Pass gets you into 11 films PLUS the opening reception with attending filmmakers. At the Early Bird price of $60, that’s just $5 per movie! The Three-Day pass guarantees entry into one of our two theaters during any given time slot. After these limited passes are gone, the price goes up to $78. Buy your Three-Day Pass today at the Telluride Horror Show website.
For more info on the festival and for discounted lodging, visit the official site and find out more on Facebook.
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