West Coast Premieres at Screamfest
The first public screening of the film on the West Coast.
Film Category
HIGH FUN
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Plagued by depression and loneliness, a desperate young man seeks the one vice that may not solve all his problems but can at least numb or distract him for a while. Set against the background of the death of an Indian film star due to drug overdose and the following moral policing on national news during the peak of covid19 in India, High Fun (commonly known as 'Party and Play' or 'Chemsex' in the west) is a queer-themed horror film about living with your demons.
Film Category
WHO GOES THERE
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Things go from bad to worse after a woman attempts to dispose the body of person she may or may not have murdered.
Film Category
Brenda and Billy (and the Pothos Plant)
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
After an incident involving a pothos plant, a frying pan and a flower pot leaves their mother for dead, estranged siblings (Santino Fontana and Sarah Stiles) come back together to figure out what to do with the body in this post-pandemic dark comedy.
Film Category
Mysteries of the Desert
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
"On August 6th 2020, Lula Samm stopped by the side of the road to aid a stranded motorist. She was never seen again." -Palm Desert Tribune, 2023
Film Category
You'll Never Find Me
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Patrick, a strange and lonely resident, lives in a mobile home at the back of an isolated caravan park. After a violent thunderstorm erupts, a mysterious young woman appears at his door, seeking shelter from the weather. The longer the night wears on and the more the young woman discovers about Patrick, the more difficult she finds it to leave. Soon she begins to question Patrick's intentions, while Patrick begins to question his own grip on reality.
Film Category
The Spirit Became Flesh
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
An unbeliever returns to his old religious community, only to find that they have fallen prey to a sinister monster that they believe is the Holy Spirit of God.
Film Category
Somewhere Quiet
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Months after escaping a brutal kidnapping, Meg travels with her husband, Scott, to his family's isolated compound in Cape Cod, hoping the early winter quiet will give her space to recover and for them to reconnect. Shortly after they arrive, however, the couple discovers they are not alone on the property. Scott's charming but overbearing cousin, Madelin, is staying next door. To Meg's surprise, the two are quite close and soon Madelin's presence is inescapable. With each passing day Meg and Scott's already fragile relationship begins to fracture, while Meg is haunted by vivid nightmares, visions of an old woman lurking in the woods, and a growing suspicion that Scott and Madelin are hiding something from her. As the tension in the house grows, Meg begins to act out in increasingly reckless ways, setting into motion a series of disturbing events that shatters the thin barrier of civility between her and the cousins. Subtle manipulation gives way to violent confrontation as Scott and Madelin reveal their troubling history and Meg learns the truth about her abduction.
Film Category
The Puppetman
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
The Puppetman, a convicted killer on death row always maintained his innocence and that it was an evil force controlling his body as he slaughtered his victims. Now Michal, the killer's daughter, begins to suspect that there may be some truth to her fathers claim when those around her begin to die in brutal ways. She must try and break the curse of The Puppetman before all her loved ones are killed.
Film Category
No.8 Reporting
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
Citizens from the well-fed, fenced off city can only venture beyond the "safety" wall on the government's official train system. It distributes humanitarian aid and offers high ticket tourists a rare chance to see what life is like in the impoverished villages beyond the wall.
A team of investigative reporters set out to expose the corruption behind the program, but instead discover a horrifying secret no one thought possible.
Adapted from the 2007 short story "Mozharovo" by Dmitry Bykov.
A team of investigative reporters set out to expose the corruption behind the program, but instead discover a horrifying secret no one thought possible.
Adapted from the 2007 short story "Mozharovo" by Dmitry Bykov.
Film Category
Meadowville
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A photographer finds himself in the "Bermuda triangle of the Rockies."
Film Category
Locked In
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
A nursing temp named Lisa is hired to care for an elderly woman who suffers from locked-in syndrome, a rare condition which has left the poor woman completely paralyzed aside from the ability to move her eyes. The woman's son explains these circumstances to Lisa before he leaves for the evening, assuring her that "Mother" will be quite easy to attend to, given her state. At first, this appears to be true, but as the evening progresses, strange events occur that suggest Mother may not be as helpless as her son lets on. This culminates in the appearance of a swaying, hunched figure in the backyard. As Lisa approaches, she sees that the figure looks just like Mother. It chases her into the house, and she barricades herself in Mother's bedroom, only to discover - Mother, still in bed, unmoving. Lisa begins to question how locked-in Mother really is.
Film Category
Last Words
Meet the Filmmaker
Synopsis
When two hikers become separated in the wilderness, they must follow the sound of each other's voices to survive.