[UPDATE 10/3/18 at 10 a.m.]: Telluride Horror Show (THS) has released its second wave of films (added below). THS has also announced the return of their special events including a new 360-degree Virtual Reality horror experience.
No one ever needs an excuse to visit Telluride — but if you’re looking for a time to book a stay this fall, we have an exciting one. Telluride Horror Show (THS) is returning this year from October 12 through 14 with another scary-good lineup of films screening across three of the mountain town’s theaters. The festival is Colorado’s first, and longest running horror film festival and has delivered once again with a solid mix of horror, sci-fi, suspense and even dark comedy for 2018. Oh, and did we mention there’s a zombie Christmas musical?
This year’s THS is celebrating the 30th anniversary of Killer Klowns From Outer Space by not only playing the film but by hosting the director, Stephen Chiodo, as well. American Pie‘s Alyson Hannigan stars in a summer camp slasher called You Might Be the Killer which is making its way to Telluride Horror Show after screening at Toronto After Dark Film Festival and Fantastic Fest. Strap yourselves in for Cam, which is also making its way to THS — a psychological thriller about webcam porn. It’s also a film “rare film about sex work that’s written by a sex worker,” according to the press release sent out this morning. Director Daniel Goldhaber won Best First Feature this year for the flick at Fantasia Film Festival.
In addition to the stellar lineup of films (including over 50 shorts), the festival is hosting their usual Creepy Campfire Tales, pig roast, Ice Scream Socials and more. A variety of special guests are stopping by throughout the weekend as well, including Meredith Borders, the managing editor of Fangoria Magazine and writer for Bloody Disgusting.
Three-day passes are only $150 with ticket six-packs as an alternative for $75. Lodging options are also available, including Telluride Town Park campground for those willing to brave the cold.
Go here for more information on Telluride Horror Show and check out the full lineup below as provided by Telluride Horror Show.
Feature Films
*Descriptions and details provided by Telluride Horror Show
Scotland/UK | 2018 | 92 min | Director: John McPhail
COLORADO PREMIERE
USA | 2018 | 94 min | Director: Daniel Goldhaber
COLORADO PREMIERE
U.S. PREMIERE
A team of reality ghost hunters encounter trouble when they try to save their show and experience paranormal activity for the first time. What happens when fake ghost hunters meet REAL ghosts?
U.S. PREMIERE
In the early 17th century, innocent young Persephone is falsely accused and put on trial for her life. Her fate seems sealed except for the timely intervention of the mysterious Reverend Mother offering her not just sanctuary, but hope. For the Reverend Mother is the self-appointed leader of a small religious retreat, a secluded Priory, where her fellow Sisters devote their lives to the Lord and seek atonement for their pasts. But upon arrival, Persephone is plagued with terrifying visions and soon realizes that it’s not salvation that awaits but a battle for her very soul itself. Paul Hyett’s previous films The Seasoning House and Howl were official selections at the Telluride Horror Show.
30TH ANNIVERSARY PRESENTATION WITH DIRECTOR STEPHEN CHIODO
USA | 2018 | 113 min | Director: Jonas Åkerlund
A teenager’s quest to launch Norwegian Black Metal in Oslo in the early 1990s results in a very violent outcome. This 2018 horror-thriller film directed by Jonas Åkerlund is based on the 1998 non-fiction book of the same name by Michael Moynihan and Didrik Søderlind, which follows a series of crimes that occurred in Oslo, Norway in the early 1990s surrounding the black metal bands Mayhem and Burzum. Starring Rory Culkin, Emory Cohen, and Sky Ferreira.
Mega Time Squad
New Zealand | 2018 | 81 min | Director: Tim van Dammen
U.S. PREMIERE
A low-level criminal from the small town of Thames in New Zealand steals an ancient Chinese time-travel device that helps him pull off a heist and start a new life. But he may not survive the demonic consequences of tampering with time. From the FX creator of Deathgasm.
No one can explain what is going on in an ordinary suburban neighborhood in Buenos Aires. Voices are being heard from kitchen sinks. Bodies are levitating. Evil is here. It is up to a doctor, her colleague, and an ex-cop to get to the bottom of this neighborhood nightmare.
Austria | 2018 | 95 min | Director: Justin P. Lange
COLORADO PREMIERE
On the outskirts of a small town lies Devil’s Den, a mysterious tract of woods where many have entered but no one has ever left. The local rumor is that the spirit of a young girl who was horrifically murdered there haunts and hunts in this dense forest, brutally slaying anyone who dares to step into her terrain. When a man with a dark past crosses her path, a series of events are set in motion that may lead to a peculiar kind of redemption for two tragically tortured souls. Part gothic fairytale and part chilling horror, director Justin P. Lange’s debut feature balances rich imagery with a brutal and bloody story of unlikely kindred spirits who must defend themselves against the villainous powers of the ‘normal’ world.
USA | 2018 | 93 min | Director: Billy Senese
COLORADO PREMIERE
Followed by Q&A with director Billy Senese.
A doctor in an emergency psychiatric ward begins to question his own sanity when a mysterious John Doe shows up in the hospital convinced that he has died and brought something back with him from the other side. From director Billy Senese (Closer to God, 2014 Telluride Horror Show Official Selection) comes a new supernatural thriller starring Shane Carruth (Primer, Upstream Color), Poorna Jagannathan (The Night Of, Gypsy) and Jeremy Childs (AMC’s Preacher).
Denmark | 2018 | 85 min | Director: Gustav Möller
When police officer Asger Holm (Jakob Cedergren) is demoted to desk work, he expects a sleepy beat as an emergency dispatcher. That all changes when he answers a panicked phone call from a kidnapped woman who then disconnects abruptly. Asger, confined to the police station, is forced to use others as his eyes and ears as the severity of the crime slowly becomes more clear. The search to find the missing woman and her assailant will take every bit of his intuition and skill, as a ticking clock and his own personal demons conspire against him. This innovative and unrelenting Danish thriller uses a single location to great effect, ratcheting up the tension as twists pile up and secrets are revealed.
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
A medieval bounty hunter seeks vengeance on the monster that killed his only daughter.
USA | 2018 | 77 min | Director: Andy Mitton
COLORADO PREMIERE
Followed by Q&A with director Andy Mitton.
When Simon brings his twelve-year-old son, Finn, to rural Vermont to help flip an old farmhouse, they encounter the malicious spirit of Lydia, a previous owner. And now with every repair they make – she’s getting stronger. Previous horror films by Andy Mitton include YellowBrickRoad and We Go On.
COLORADO PREMIERE
In a Mexican city turned into a ghost town by the drug war, Estrella’s mother vanishes. Estrella makes a wish to bring her back. And her mother does return – from the dead. Terrified, Estrella escapes and joins a rag-tag gang of other children orphaned by the violence, all escaping their own past. But she learns that in a city ruled by death, you can’t simply leave the ghosts behind; they walk with you wherever you go.
USA | 2018 | 92 min | Director: Brett Simmons
COLORADO PREMIERE
Followed by Q&A with director Brett Simmons.
Short Films
COLORADO PREMIERE
Haunted by grief, a man asks questions only the recently-deceased can answer. The dead get their say in the hidden chamber of a mysterious pub. She will see you next. You may not like what you hear.
USA | 2018 | 13 min | Director: Brian Lonano
COLORADO PREMIERE
Three dorky American girls magically transform into beautiful Japanese Superheroes and fight a tampon monster as they begin their journey into womanhood.
USA | 2018 | 10 min | Directors: Brandon LaGanke & John Carlucci
WORLD PREMIERE
A typical family is terrorized in a series of commercials for a revolutionary new A.I. product.
USA | 2018 | 4 min | Directors: Will Kingston & AJ Koch
Ireland | 2017 | 9 min | Director: Kate Dolan
COLORADO PREMIERE
Paul cruises around late at night, looking for something. He pulls in to ask two young girls for directions, only to flash them to get a cheap thrill. Unfortunately for him, he has picked the wrong girls.
Canada | 2018 | 8 min | Directors: Astron-6
COLORADO PREMIERE
Three hungry idiots are lost in the woods on the coldest night of the year without anything to eat.
USA | 2017 | 15 min | Director: Kimmy Gatewood
COLORADO PREMIERE
A dark and touching comedy about a woman suffering from OCD who contemplates taking her own life…if she can just get everything in order first.
Japan | 2018 | 14 min | Director: Reiki Tsuno
COLORADO PREMIERE
A man, who is having an affair with a young woman, gets home late as usual. But that night, he finds something wrong with his wife.
USA | 2017 | 1 min | Director: Ty Huffer
COLORADO PREMIERE
IN PERSON: Amber Hargett & Ty Huffer
Barbara’s sleep is abruptly interrupted and she can sleep through almost anything… almost.
Australia | 2018 | 10 min | Director: Natalie Erika James
COLORADO PREMIERE
A young pianist is forced to confront her fear of motherhood when she marries into a remote island community with bizarre fertility rituals.
USA | 2017 | 22 min | Directors: David Lee Hess & Richard H. Perry
COLORADO PREMIERE
IN PERSON: David Lee Hess
Oddball Clark finally meets a girl he connects with, but his foot fetish threatens the relationship.
UK | 2017 | 2 min | Director: Toby Meakins
COLORADO PREMIERE
If ever an elevator stops on a floor you don’t recognize, and the doors open to a quiet plea for help, pray you hold your ground…Gwilliam’s Tips for Turning Tricks Into Treats
USA | 2018 | 4 min | Director: Brian Lonano
COLORADO PREMIERE
This is what you wanted! Gwilliam is back and offers some tips for getting special treats this Halloween.
USA | 2018 | 11 min | Director: Josh Ethier
COLORADO PREMIERE
In the underbelly of Los Angeles, a young woman uses any means for survival.
USA | 2018 | 12 min | Director: Mariama Diallo
In a black hair salon in gentrifying Brooklyn, the local residents fend off a strange new monster: white women intent on sucking the lifeblood from black culture.
COLORADO PREMIERE
To escape incessant bullying on the bus ride home, a young girl falls asleep only to wake up trapped at an empty bus yard, with something lurking outside – something big – and if she wants to make it out alive, this frightened girl will have to unleash a monster of her own.
Norway | 2018 | 9 min | Director: Paul Gustavsen
COLORADO PREMIERE
A young woman is awakened by her boyfriend coming home after a night of drinking, but who actually came home that night?
USA | 2017 | 3 min | Director: Vincente DiSanti
COLORADO PREMIERE
When a soldier faces a nightmare scenario an unexpected ally comes to his aid.Infinity Tree
After he and his mother move into a new house, Jack finds a mysterious tree in the backyard that changes his life forever.
Austria | 2018 | 6 min | Director: Ioanes H. Sinderman
A lonesome hunter, a wildlife photographer, and a camera in the woods that took one photo too much.
USA | 2018 | 11 min | Director: Samantha Kolesnik
COLORADO PREMIERE
A young man’s life spirals into depravity and madness when he confronts the trauma of his childhood.
Belgium | 2018 | 20 min | Director: Jasper Vrancken
COLORADO PREMIERE
Richard has an unusual fantasy: he is sexually aroused by the idea of being eaten by an animal or monster. Through a contact ad he meets the mysterious Max and with that encounter the chance to fulfill his depraved fantasy. Can Richard escape his dark desires or not?
USA | 2018 | 11 min | Director: Phil Tippett
COLORADO PREMIERE
You never know what you will find when you plunge into the world of MAD GOD, a hybrid stop motion, live-action, experimental meditation from the mind of Phil Tippett.
Canada | 2018 | 10 min | Director: Santiago Menghini
COLORADO PREMIERE
On a late night, a young teen goes into the kitchen for a glass of milk. Upon encountering his sleepless mother, he quickly realizes things are not as they seem.
USA | 2017 | 9 min | Director: Hadley Hillel
COLORADO PREMIERE
When Laura picks up a free mirror on the side of the road and begins to notice strange distortions, she realizes that it may have a sinister agenda.
USA | 2017 | 7 min | Director: Jim Valosik
COLORADO PREMIERE
IN PERSON: Gray Creasy & Jim Valosik
A lonely man stalks a family that may not be what they seem in this combative, chaotic horror hell-ride of hunting demons both inward and outward.Monstagram
USA | 2017 | 3 min | Director: Jerome Sable
COLORADO PREMIERE
An Instagram mom meets the monster that lives in the internet.
USA | 2018 | 12 min | Director: Aman Johnson
COLORADO PREMIERE
IN PERSON: Aman Johnson
The sudden reappearance of a missing boy brings hope and fear face to face.
Netherlands | 2017 | 7 min | Director: Michael Middelkoop
After months of flirting and texting, a young man finally gets the message he’s been waiting for: the girl of his dreams invites him over. Her parents are gone for the weekend and she’s ready for a romantic night. As the night progresses, one guy hoping to get lucky finds out that there’s more at stake than his virginity.
Canada | 2018 | 6 min | Director: Frédéric Chalté
U.S. PREMIERE
It’s Halloween season and Lucy wants to prank her sister Maggie by giving her a good scare. However, Lucy is the one who’s about to be terrified.
Germany | 2017 | 14 min | Director: Daniel Rübesam
COLORADO PREMIERE
Matt and Sherman are sent out to find Pandora, a legendary supreme being which is capable of deciding the fate of the world.
USA | 2018 | 5 min | Director: Peter Cilella
COLORADO PREMIERE
A quiet night at home takes a bizarre turn when a man goes to investigate a strange noise in his back yard.Oscar’s Bell
UK | 2018 | 12 min | Director: Chris Cronin
WORLD PREMIERE
Duncan (Paul Bullion, Peaky Blinders) and his dog Oscar have gone on their weekly camping trip into the wilderness together. However, when Duncan looks out into the woods, something else looks back.
Canada | 2018 | 9 min | Director: Robert Cuffley
U.S. PREMIERE
When a little girl blows into an old tin whistle she finds in the dirt, something follows her home.
France | 2018 | 20 min | Directors: Leo Hardt & Manon Alirol
COLORADO PREMIERE
Laura is scared. Laura is sick. But Sylvain, her lover, is here to help. Really?
Australia | 2017 | 10 min | Director: Joshua Long
COLORADO PREMIERE
A mother and a daughter, Mary, who suffers from a crippling fear of death run a post mortem photography business. As Mary confronts her phobia she must do all she can to make the dead look alive…
USA | 2018 | 5 min | Director: Bill Whirity
COLORADO PREMIERE
While on a first date, a young couple finds themselves pursued by more than just each other.
UK | 2018 | 7 min | Director: Eros Vlahos
COLORADO PREMIERE
A 90s British sitcom is taken over by clones of the lead actor and descends into chaos.
USA | 2018 | 14 min | Directors: Jon Rhoads & Mike Marrero
COLORADO PREMIERE
Several years ago, a horrific pandemic destroyed a large part of the world’s population. A vaccine was eventually created, leaving vast communities mourning their gruesomely departed loved ones. Today, a man will knock on the door of a woman who lost her child to the disease, having sought her out to explore a very particular need.
USA | 2017 | 10 min | Director: Dominic Burgess
Sam is about to meet his celebrity idol… the only problem is, Sam works in a morgue… and his idol is dead.
USA | 2018 | 7 min | Director: Teal Greyhavens
Emily is a quiet girl who comes from an unusual family. On the night of her 18th birthday, they gather together to reveal an important secret to her. It’s a secret that will shape the rest of her life…
USA | 2018 | 8 min | Director: William Elder Groebe
COLORADO PREMIERE
IN PERSON: William Elder Groebe
Ana’s nightly bus ride home makes an unscheduled and deadly stop. What will she do?
UK | 2018 | 13 min | Director: Joanne Mitchell
U.S. PREMIERE
The mortician’s life can be a lonely one, but there are opportunities for love. And revenge. In this macabre tale, nothing will stop this mortician from achieving her heart’s desire.
USA | 2018 | 8 min | Director: Spencer Lenzie
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
A young boy scientist must stop a space potato from killing his entire family.
UK | 2017 | 9 min | Director: Paul Taylor
COLORADO PREMIERE
A district nurse, played by Gemma Whelan (Game of Thrones, The Crown), is assigned a new patient living alone in a dilapidated bungalow. The nurse soon discovers that her dying patient, and the home she inhabits, are hiding a dark secret.
France | 2017 | 23 min | Director: Josephine Darcy Hopkins
COLORADO PREMIERE
Candice is a nine-year-old girl who lives alone with her mother since the divorce of her parents. As her birthday approaches, she is delighted at the thought of seeing her father again. Only, her mother’s attitude starts to change…plunging the fragile balance of their relationship into a terrifying nightmare.
UK | 2018 | 7 min | Director: Andrew Rutter
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Upon locking the front door, Steven notices some rather odd intruders.
USA | 2018 | 10 min | Director: Parker Finn
COLORADO PREMIERE
IN PERSON: Parker Finn
Lost deep in the forest, a lone backpacker encounters a mysterious stranger.
UK | 2018 | 11 min | Director: Dean Puckett
In an isolated church community in the English countryside, a powerful hate preacher prepares to deliver a sermon to his flock, but his daughter has a secret that could destroy them all.
UK | 2018 | 11 min | Director: Evan Richards
WORLD PREMIERE
Three nights. Two friends. One monster.
USA | 2018 | 11 min | Director: Jimmy Nickerson
COLORADO PREMIERE
A Time Enforcer must stop illegal time travel at any cost.
UK | 2018 | 5 min | Director: Philip Hardy
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
Alone on the top deck of the night bus, an old lady is haunted by an unlikely apparition.
Australia | 2017 | 7 min | Director: Kiah Roache-Turner
COLORADO PREMIERE
A girl, trapped in an underground bunker with a psychotically evil doctor and a group of zombie-blending soldiers, must orchestrate a fantastically daring escape before her brains are sucked out of her skull.
Animated Short Films — THE HORROR….THE ANIMATED
Mark Shapiro from LAIKA, the Portland-based animation studio behind Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, and Kubo and the Two Strings, returns to Telluride with a special animated shorts block gleaned from major film festivals across the globe. The creative, visual program includes drawn, computer-generated and stop-motion animation films. But you heard it here first: Do NOT bring the kiddies…
USA | 2015 | 5 min | Director: Danny Madden
Anything you wanna watch in the palm of your hand. Crazy convenient…crazy.
USA | 2018 | 3 min | Directors: Victoria Lopez & Ji young Na
WORLD PREMIERE
In an 80s elementary school, a mutated potato clock rises from death on a stormy night to get revenge on Hilda, the cafeteria’s lunch lady who is chopping potatoes, creatures of his own kind.Drawn &
USA | 2017 | 3 min | Director: Drew Christie
Before she was blond(i)e, Debbie Harry was a brunette bunny, which made her prey for one of the most notorious serial killers in U.S. history.Drawn & Recorded: Johnny Horton’s Last Ride
USA | 2017 | 4 min | Director: Drew Christie
Rockabilly star, Johnny Horton, had a dark premonition. Would it come true?
USA | 2014 | 4 min | Director: Drew Christie
This animated vampire tale is based on an original 18th Century written account from the Balkans.Hybrids
France | 2017 | 6 min | Directors: Florian Brauch, Kim Tailhades, Matthieu Pujol, Yohan Thireau, Romain Thirion
When marine wildlife has to adapt to the pollution surrounding it, the rules of survival change.
Scotland | 2017 | 8 min | Director: Will Adams
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
An adventurous young backpacker returns home on Christmas Eve, eager to see his beloved family. He discovers that, despite meaning well, a contraband package that he sent his sister from the Amazon jungle has inadvertently had catastrophic consequences for everyone at home.
Germany | 2017 | 10 min | Director: Jonatan Schwenk
After a flood, some fish got stuck in old trees. In danger of drying out, they scream sharply. Woken up by the noise, the inhabitants of a nearby cave don’t feel happy about the unintended gathering.
Israel | 2017 | 6 min | Directors: Shir Pakman & Hadas Coen
A pathologist’s daily routine is being interrupted when he encounters a body in his image.
France | 2017 | 14 min | Directors: Denis Walgenwitz & Winshluss
COLORADO PREMIERE
Death’s son doesn’t want to take over the family business. His secret dream to become a guardian angel triggers a succession of mishaps – and his dad will have to get him out of this mess.
Poland | 2018 | 5 min | Director: Marta Magnuska
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE
While waiting for the arrival of the mysterious newcomer, people keep on guessing who is he. The blurry vision of the stranger takes shape the way his presence feels almost real. The initial excitement of the crowd turns into anxiety.
Canada | 2018 | 10 min | Director: Patrick Bouchard
COLORADO PREMIERE
An animator dissects his own body, extracting memories, emotions and fears that will nurture his work. As he cuts into his skin with a scalpel, various symbolic objects recalling his past emerge. Reaching the heart after cracking his ribs, he succeeds in identifying the burden he’s been dying to cast off.
USA | 2017 | 6 min | Director: Aram Sarkisian
Through a series of letters written to his younger brother Marcus, we get inside the mind of a man (Winston), who slowly falls into his own hell, by his own means.