Spooky Movie International Horror Film Festival
October 10-19

For ten nights this October, the eighth annual Spooky Movie International Horror Film Festival showcases the best in new horror cinema from around the world, and once again the entire festival (more than 40 shorts and features) screens at AFI Silver Theatre!

On Opening Night, October 10, filmmaker Bobcat Goldthwait presents his acclaimed Bigfoot film, WILLOW CREEK, one of the scariest and most effective found-footage films in years. Additional highlights include the creepy HAUNTER, which had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival this year; the Israeli thriller BIG BAD WOLVES; the zombie walk documentary DEAD MEAT WALKING; the Australian horror comedy 100 BLOODY ACRES; the brutal Canadian shocker THANATOMORPHOSE; the redneck-zombie mashup of BUCK WILD; and many more surprises. Washington, DC, icon and honorary spokesman for the festival, Count Gore De Vol, hosts the Closing Night presentation on October 19: SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM, on the occasion of both the film and the Count's 40th anniversaries.

Tickets sold exclusively by AFI Silver, at the box office and on this page (no service charge!). Unless noted otherwise, no one under 18 will be admitted without a parent or guardian to any of the screenings.

More information on the Spooky Movie International Horror Film Festival can be found at spookyfest.com.

Spooky Shorts Showcase

The Spooky Movie International Horror Film Festival is thrilled to present this provocative anthology of spooky shorts from around the world. (104 min total.)

• ANTOINE ET LES HÉROS Antoine, a B-film crazed teenager, becomes trapped in a mash-up world of the horror and karate movies he loves.
  DIR Patrick Bagot. France, 2013, 20 min.
• APARTMENT 15 In response to an advertisement, four co-workers become trapped in an apartment they are attempting to rent.
  DIR Mattia Puleo. Italy, 2013, 17 min.
• HIDE AND SEEK While visiting a home to take music lessons, a teenage girl begins to play "hide and seek" with her teacher's young son.
  DIR Kayoko Asakura. Japan, 2013, 11 min.
• O CORAÇÃO QUE FALAVA DEMAIS Evanildo is being held at the mental asylum for a very peculiar crime.
  DIR/SCR Paulo Biscaia Filho. Brazil, 2013, 36 min.
• BELLY OF THE WOLF A dark and disturbing adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairytale brought forward into the modern day.
  DIR/SCR Mark Fisher. UK, 2013, 20 min.

WILLOW CREEK
Post-screening Q&A with writer and director Bobcat Goldthwait, moderated by Laura Kern, Film Comment and the Film Society of Lincoln Center

Handsome young city lad Jim is a true believer. He's convinced of the existence of the Sasquatch—the elusive shambling man-beast nicknamed Bigfoot—said to haunt the wilds of the American West Coast. Jim's girlfriend Kelly isn't so sure, but she loves Jim and, hey, joining him on his silly quest to craft a homemade documentary while seeking out the notorious creature, well, there could be worst ways to spend her downtime between bit-part acting gigs. The couple drives out to Trinity County, California, on a pilgrimage to the site where the famous Patterson-Gimlin film clip, which purported to capture the mysterious monster in motion, was shot in 1967. Rolling into Willow Creek, they find a wonderland of Bigfoot-themed gimmickry and tourist traps, and chat with assorted locals. Some of the townsfolk are happy to share, while others are apprehensive. Their warnings become increasingly aggressive. The deep woods are no place for a couple of naïve city slickers – as Jim and Kelly are soon to find out! Written and directed by comedian-turned-filmmaker Bobcat Goldthwait (SHAKES THE CLOWN, SLEEPING DOGS LIE, WORLD'S GREATEST DAD and GOD BLESS AMERICA, all of which screen next week), "A downright scary ride that's also a ton of fun... careens from the funny to the painful and then back to funny before pouring on the scares and weirdness" –Don R. Lewis, Film Threat.

DIR/SCR Bobcat Goldthwait. US, 2013, color, 77 min, Blu-ray. NOT RATED

Preceded by:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. ZOMBIE Mr. Zombie comes back home after a hard day's work. When he turns the light on... Surprise! Hysterical, fantastic and very original.
DIR/SCR David Leclercq. Belgium, 2013, 7 min.

AN AMERICAN TERROR

Josh wakes each day to a series of hells. Between uncaring parents and bullying at school he has little to live for. After a brutal event and ensuing humiliation of an online video, Josh and his friends decide to take revenge by staging a massacre at the homecoming dance. Searching for weapons, they find a man who perpetuates a far more murderous darkness than even their plot might suggest. Trapped in his lair, and finding a kidnapped girl from the opposite clique, the boys learn a lot about each other's character and their own. Even if Josh can rescue the captive cheerleader, he must still lead them both out in time to stop his friend from completing the pact to massacre their school. AN AMERICAN TERROR is an explosive and surprising modern day horror mash-up. Winner: The Spooky Movie 2013 Opening Night Feature contest. "Totally and relentlessly disquieting – great atmosphere and sound and perfectly gruesome!" –Eli Savada, Film Threat.

DIR/SCR Haylar Garcia. US, 2013, color, 84 min, Blu-ray. NOT RATED

Preceded by:

REFUGIO 115 Fascist Spain, 1938. Something unknown is waiting in the darkness of Refuge 115.
DIR Ivan Villamel Sanchez. Spain, 2013, 8 min.

MAID OF HORROR This is the story of Emma, an overlooked maid of honor, who would kill to get her off-kilter fairytale ending.
DIR Caitlin Koller. Australia, 2013, 17 min.

DARK TOUCH

In a remote town in Ireland, eleven-year-old Neve ( Marie Missy Keating) finds herself the sole survivor of a bloody massacre that killed her parents and younger brother. Suspecting a gang of homicidal vandals, the police ignore Neve's explanation that the house is the culprit. To help ease her trauma, dutiful neighbors Nat and Lucas take her in with the supervision of a social worker. Neve has trouble finding peace with the wholesome and nurturing couple, and horrific danger continues to manifest. One of the breakout films from this year's Tribeca Film Festival (where it had its world premiere), DARK TOUCH one ups its CARRIE-esque storyline with the same queasy goose bumps that greeted viewers of French writer-director Marina de Van's cutting-edge tour de force IN MY SKIN. "Aesthetically dark and aggressively down...[DARK TOUCH] creates a swirling, ever simmering atmosphere that bubbles to a final act so visceral and entirely warped, it's really unmissable. 3½ Skulls" –Samuel Zimmerman, Fangoria.

DIR/SCR Marina de Van. Ireland-France-Sweden, 2013, color, 90 min, DCP. NOT RATED

Preceded by:

AIR CONDITIONS An air-conditioning repairman is lured onto the roof of a desolate building to meet a grizzly fate. This brilliant short will whet your appetite for more from director Ryan Oliver.
DIR Ryan Oliver. US, 2013, 34 min.

LOO There's nothing quite like romance; the warmth of candle light, the clink of crystal glasses; and the promise that your date will return from his trip to the bathroom.
DIR Stanislava Buevich. UK, 2013, 3 min.

PINUP DOLLS ON ICE
Post-screening Q&A with filmmakers Geoff Klein and Melissa Mira

The Pinup Dolls are a hot retro act who put the tease back in striptease. But when an old friend (Suzi Lorraine) hires them to put on a show at a secluded campground, the girls find themselves being stalked by a homicidal maniac with a sick obsession with ice. As they're hunted one-by-one, they soon realize they'll have to rely on more than just their looks to survive this nightmare named Moe. This fun and grisly follow-up to the 2009's BIKINI GIRLS ON ICE packed screenings during its sold out world premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival this past summer. "PINUP DOLLS ON ICE never lets the audience breathe in between laughs and boo scares as the film moves at a rapidly fast and vicious pace...Don't let the cheesy, straight-to-DVD title fool you, PINUP DOLLS ON ICE is a surprise slasher that hits all the right bloody notes and will make hardcore gorehounds excited!" –Dread Central.

DIR Geoff Klein, Melissa Mira. Canada, 2013, color, 85 min, DCP. NOT RATED

Preceded by:

GUNDICK: COCKED AND LOADED Sometimes everything you need to know about a film can be summed up in the title. More than delivers what you'd expect from a Troma intern.
DIR/SRC Seager Dixon. US, 2013, 11 min.

HORRIFIC A Texas goat rancher must defend his double-wide trailer from a mysterious predator.
DIR Robert Boocheck. US, 2013, 7 min.

HAUNTER

Lisa Johnson (Abigail Breslin) is one day shy of her sixteenth birthday. And she will be forever. She and her family are dead and doomed to repeat that fateful last day before they were all killed in 1985. Only Lisa has "woken up" and realizes what is going on. She starts to feel as if she is being haunted, but the "ghost" turns out to be Olivia, a very much alive girl who lives in the house in the present day with her own family. With her help, Lisa discovers that the house once belonged to a serial killer who kidnapped teenage girls and burned their remains in a hidden furnace room. When he died, he became a haunter - a powerful, evil spirit able to possess the living. "A supernatural take on GROUNDHOG DAY...clever haunted-house pic will please more than hardcore fright fans." –The Hollywood Reporter.

DIR/SCR Vincenzo Natali, Canada, 2013, color, 97 min, DCP. NOT RATED

Preceded by:

THE GIRL After a devastating miscarriage, an emotionally fragile woman moves with her husband to start a new life on a remote coast, where she develops a bond with a young girl whose language she doesn't understand.
DIR John Hayes. Ireland, 2013, 16 min.

HORROR SHOW Have you ever seen a real murder? How much is too much?
DIR Darren Ormandy. UK, 2013, 10 min.

100 BLOODY ACRES

The use of dead car crash victims in the Morgan Brothers' "Blood and Bone" fertilizer has been a huge boon to business. But it's been months since their last find and an important new customer are waiting on a delivery. When Reg Morgan, the junior partner in the business, comes across three young people stranded on a remote country road, he sees a radical solution to their supply problems, and a way of finally gaining the respect of his bossy big brother, Lindsay. But things don't quite go to plan when Reg starts forming an attachment with one of their captives, Sophie. Reg must now make a decision: go through with the plan and finally win Lindsay's approval, or save the kids and destroy everything the brothers have worked for. They're not psycho killers... they're just small business operators. "The best low budget horror-comedy since SHAUN OF THE DEAD." - Matt Zoller Seitz of rogerebert.com. "Co-helming their Slamdance-competition-winning screenplay, the Cairnes take time to establish interesting characters and engaging plot strands, which pay off handsomely in the end. Gory and funny!" –Variety.

DIR/SCR Colin Cairnes, Cameron Cairnes. Australia, 2013, color, 91 min, DCP. NOT RATED

Preceded by:

THE HIPSTER WEREWOLF Nick must put aside the bong and rally his crew of stoner friends when their new hipster roommate transforms into a murderous werewolf.
DIR/SCR Edd Benda. US, 2013, 13 min.

THYLACOLEO When an impulsive thrill-seeker takes her conservative boyfriend camping in a mysterious region of the Australian Blue Mountains she gets more than she bargained for.
DIR Edward Lyons. Australia, 2013, 11 min.

THANATOMORPHOSE

"There's something dark and smart and heartfelt going on below the surface of this truly strange horror film." –FearNet. Following her recent move into a roomy Montreal apartment, Laura (the fearless Kayden Rose) begins to literally rot from the inside out. Strange patches appear all over her body. Her teeth fall out and she carries the fetid odor of a corpse. Laura must eventually face the fact that she's trapped in the irreversible process of human decomposition. Her nightmare – and ours – has just begun. One of the goriest and most unrelenting and unsettling experiences you will have at the movies. Controversial. Fresh. Innovative. THANATOMORPHOSE has affected audiences from Roddingham to Sitges to Montreal since its premiere. There is not much you can do to prepare yourself for this poetic and ghoulish nightmare. "With nerve fraying practical effects, an eerily haunting score, and a palpable menace throughout, THANATOMORPHOSE flaunts its brutality without once pausing to pull back or apologize for itself." –The Conduit Speaks.

DIR/SCR Éric Falardeau. Canada, 2012, color, 100 min, HDCam. NOT RATED

Preceded by:

GIRL AT THE DOOR After a night of rough sex with a beautiful woman, a man is surprised when she keeps returning and replaying the events of the night over and over again exactly, word for word. It's GROUNDHOG DAY meets FATAL ATTRACTION.
DIR Colin Campbell. US, 2013, 11 min.

BLOODY BIRTHDAY Edwin the killer clown crashes a child's birthday party to bring some laughs to the world.
DIR David Valdez. US, 2013, 10 min.

BACKWATER
Post-screening Q&A with director Christopher Schrack

Cass and Mark are a couple on a camping trip to the distant countryside. When their seemingly secluded getaway is interrupted by an ominous scream, they start to think someone might be stalking them, and encounter two strangers who are also in the woods near them. Despite everything appearing to be harmless, they can't shake the feeling that something is wrong. The truth, however, is far more disturbing than meets the eye.

DIR/SCR Christopher Schrack. US, 2013, color, 98 min, Blu-ray. NOT RATED

Preceded by:

THE CROSSING A young woman wakes up in the forest, not remembering who she is or how she got there. All she knows is that she has an engagement ring on her left hand and a knife in her right.
DIR/SCR Brandon Bentley. US, 2012, 15 min.

HER WINDOW depicts the traumatic transformation a young woman experiences after having a sexual encounter.
DIR Thomas Colley. US, 2013, 4 min.

MORTAL REMAINS
Post-screening Q&A with directors Christian Stavrakis and Mark Ricche

MORTAL REMAINS is a docu-thriller that sets out to unveil the details surrounding the life, short lived career, and mysterious death of horror filmmaker Karl Atticus; referred to by some as the godfather of the slasher film movement. The film is comprised of interviews with various horror aficionados, including Eduardo Sanchez, director of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, whose 2008 interview amps up what many horror fans had been questioning for over 40 years—Why the story of Karl Atticus has been all but removed from the annals of horror film history. This film hopes to confirm the legacy of a man whose final film, MORTAL REMAINS (now mysteriously lost to the horror canon), is considered by many to be the holy grail of horror films.

DIR/SCR Christian Stavrakis, Mark Ricche. US, 2012, color, 94 min, DVCam. NOT RATED

Preceded by:

THE HOLMES RUN MONSTER Two community college professors get drawn into an urban legend about a living fossil that is eating local dogs.
DIR Thomas Paradis. US, 2013, 18 min.

IMPLEMENT OF DEATH From DC Dogs comes a charming self-referential short. Filmmakers brainstorm plot suggestions as their horror film within the film changes accordingly. You'll never look at house keys the same way again. Fresh and funny! – Eli Savada, Film Threat.
DIR Jonathan Zuck. US, 2012, 6 min.

BALD HEADED BLUES: A DOCTORMENTARY ON SARCOFIGUY
Post-screening Q&A with director C.W. Prather and the documentary's subject John Dimes

BALD HEADED BLUES: A DOCTORMENTARY ON SARCOFIGUY tells the hysterical true-life story of reluctant television pioneer John Dimes and his charming alter-ego Dr. Sarcofiguy as they navigated for more than 15 years the diverse D.I.Y. worlds of modern television horror hosting with cutting edge improv, humor and wit. Featuring interviews with television hosts past and present, including Dick Dyszel (Count Gore De Vol), Jerry Moore II (Karlos Borloff), Bob Hinton (A. Ghastlee Ghoul), Leanna Chamish (Boo dePest), and narrated by Penny Dreadful, BALD HEADED BLUES picks up where the documentary EVERY OTHER DAY IS HALLOWEEN left off, telling the story of how one person inadvertently changed the face of horror hosting forever. "John Dimes is a major talent!" –Fangoria.

DIR/SCR C.W. Prather. US, 2012, color, 90 min, DCP. NOT RATED

Official Website

Preceded by:

SHOW & TELL A class of 2nd graders are eager for show-and-tell. Jeremy brings in a surprise. From the co-director of THE LEGEND OF COOL "DISCO" DAN.
DIR/SCR Joseph Pattisall. US, 2013, 6 min.

DEAD MEAT WALKING: A ZOMBIE WALK DOCUMENTARY

A real-life zombie epidemic is spreading. Inspired by the increasing popularity of zombie movies and television shows, men, women and children across the globe use gruesome makeup and costumes to become a rotting mass of zombies staggering through city streets. Featuring interviews with Norman Reedus, Academy Award®-winning makeup artist and director Tom Savini—who provides new insights into his collaboration with the godfather of zombie cinema, George Romero—DEAD MEAT WALKING is a fun and riveting documentary that offers a unique focus into the extraordinary and ghoulish pastime that has devoured the imaginations of zombie fans.

DIR Omar J. Pineda, 2013, color, 70 min, Blu-ray. NOT RATED

ART OF DARKNESS

Liz (Emily Baxter) is a nurse who had to quit her job as she struggles to cope with the emotional stress of having lost a baby. With the debts piling up and her and her husband Ben (Martin Laurence) at emotional and financial breaking point, she takes a modeling job to help make ends meet. Arriving at the shoot, Liz meets Philip, an intense and successful young photographer and she feels flattered by his interest. But all is not what it seems in this remote middle class area... and while Liz poses for her new friend Philip (Ryan Elliott), she has no idea of the horror that is lurking in the shadow... until... Liz finds a body. Panic stricken, she knows they have to escape and tries her only hope... Ben. Will their strained relationship hold up long enough for him to believe and save her? As the body count rises will she make it out alive? Or will the sinister game of cat and mouse end in a bloody masterpiece. Life imitates art... art imitates death. Winner of "Best Horror Feature" from the British Horror Film Festival.

DIR/SCR Steve Laurence. UK, 2012, color, 87 min, Blu-ray. NOT RATED

SPIRIT CABINET
Post-screening Q&A with director Jay Stern

When Marina finally calls Gideon, he can't believe his luck in hopeful love. But his happiness is short-lived. Marina only wants Gideon to pretend to be her boyfriend so she can investigate a séance as an undercover reporter. It turns out that Gideon and Marina aren't the only ones with something to hide. Ramona, the not-so-typical medium, suspects there are hidden cameras and her creepy sidekick Errol keeps disappearing when the lights go out. Something's unsettling about Marina's editor, Trevor, and his timid wife, Helen. A dead woman's daughter, Lily, is an unbalanced mess, and her boyfriend, David, is less of a rock and more of a stoner. When the séance turns south, a mournful spirit will ensure all of their buried secrets are brought to light.

DIR Jay Stern. US, 2013, color, 78 min, Blu-ray. NOT RATED

Official Website

CHASTITY BITES

Notorious serial killer Elizabeth Bathory believed that bathing in virgin blood would keep her young and beautiful forever. Still alive today she's found a perfect hunting ground for her "botox" as an abstinence educator in conservative America...but will a brave young blogger and reporter for the high school paper finally put an end to the Blood Countess's reign of terror, and save her best friend from becoming the next victim? "Fresh from its world premiere at Dances With Films comes the delightfully cheesy horror comedy CHASTITY BITES, which takes a John Hughes high school world and puts a blackened spin on it." –Eli Savada, Film Threat.

DIR John V. Knowles. US, 2013, color, 93 min, Blu-ray. NOT RATED

BIG BAD WOLVES

A series of brutal murders puts the lives of three men on a collision course: The father of the latest victim now out for revenge, a vigilante police detective operating outside the boundaries of law, and the main suspect in the killings - a religious studies teacher arrested and released due to a police blunder. With elements of horror, crime thriller, revenge drama, and wicked black comedy, BIG BAD WOLVES takes genre-bending to bold new levels. This sense of originality, along with its subversive political subtext, the Israeli directing team behind the 2010 cult smash RABIES (Kalevet) have returned with an unsettling and unforgettable follow-up which is already being heralded as one of the best genre films of 2013. Winner: Cheval Noir Award for Best Film from the Fantasia Film Festival. "Featuring superb performances by the principal actors, BIG BAD WOLVES is mesmerizing from start to finish, including a haunting final image that you'll find impossible to forget." –The Hollywood Reporter.

DIR/SCR Aharon Keshales, Navot Papushado. Israel, 2013, color, 110 min, DCP. NOT RATED

Preceded by:

ZOMBIE! When society grants the undead basic human rights, Jim Turner becomes one of the world's first zombies to be integrated with Humans.
DIR/SCR Paul Kell. Canada, 2013, 11 min.

TORTUROUS A chronicle of an encounter between an employment counselor and a professional torture artist.
DIR/SCR Angus Swantee. Canada, 2013, 6 min.

HALLEY

Alberto is dead and can no longer hide it. Make-up and perfume can no longer conceal his quickly decomposing body. Dismayed, he decides to withdraw from the world. But before surrendering to his living death, Alberto forms an unusual friendship with Luly, the manager of the 24-hour gym where he works as a night guard. Since having its world premiere Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, this directorial debut of renowned visual artist and experimental filmmaker Sebastian Hofmann has gone on to shatter expectations of what makes a "zombie movie" with bold audacity. "HALLEY is one of the most unusual and fascinating horror films ever created ... its execution suggests a diabolical brilliance, and its images and themes have a stunning, visceral immediacy that make it impossible to forget." –Nathan Southern, AllMovie.com.

DIR/SCR Sebastian Hofmann. Mexico, 2013, color, 84 min, Blu-ray. NOT RATED

Preceded by:

'TIL DEATH Four unhappily married husbands wake up to a gruesome surprise the night after killing each others' wives.
DIR Jason Tostevin. US, 2013, 20 min.

AWAKE A young couple struggles to cope when their son's mysterious illness takes a turn for the worse.
DIR Francisco Sonic Kim. US, 2013, 10 min.

BUCK WILD

Craig Thompson's idyllic hunting trip with his two buddies and unstable cousin is wrecked after hearing that his fiancé and best man-to-be have been cavorting behind his back. To make matters worse, his cousin appears on the verge of a murderous rampage while a rapidly-spreading chupacabra virus is turning locals into the undead. After shooting the ranch owner, drugging the game warden, and narrowly escaping an insidious hillbilly gang led by British magnifico, Billy Ray, the boys must not only survive an impending zombie melee but each other. BUCK WILD turns the buddy comedy upside down while tearing zombies inside out in this tongue-in-cheek adventure through South Texas.

DIR/SCR Tyler Glodt. US, 2013, color, 87 min, Blu-ray. NOT RATED

Preceded by:

3:00 AM A creaky farmhouse in the British countryside. Georgia (Charlotte Armstrong), alone, gets disturbing telephone calls in the middle of the night. An edgy thrill ride.
DIR/SCR Lee Matthews. UK, 2013, 10 min.

POLTERGHOST Edward Wyman, a man up to his waist in paranormal activity, turns to legendary Ghost Exterminator Molly O'Malley in the hopes that she can put an end to a grizzly haunting.
DIR Zack Ogle. US, 2013, 7 min.

Closing Night

Count Gore De Vol presents
SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM

1970s exploitation returns to the AFI Silver Theatre! Following February's sold-out sensation HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and July's packed house for PHANTASM, local legend Count Gore De Vol (Dick Dyszel) returns to present another moldy oldie in the spirit of the original broadcasts on CREATURE FEATURE, with interactive intermissions and lots of ghoulish good fun and surprises in store.

The vampire Mamuwalde (Blacula) is brought back to life through voodoo, and only Pam Grier (COFFY, JACKIE BROWN) has the power to end his reign of terror. William Marshall returns as the noble African prince turned bloodthirsty fiend in this sequel to the original BLACULA! "Miss Grier, a real beauty, has a spirit and enthusiasm that's refreshing. Also, she can scream well, and that is always important in these enterprises." –Roger Ebert.

Originally released the year Count Gore first appeared on CREATURE FEATURE, the Spooky Movie Film Festival is thrilled to present the 40th anniversary screening of this 1973 "blaxploitation" classic as our closing night feature.

DIR Bob Kelljan. US, 1973, color, 96 min. RATED PG