The best month of the year is coming up. And the best part of that month has begun its enticing tease. The first wave of films/shorts for Telluride Horror Show have been released!!! You can follow the red link to view the shorts and films yourself, but we'll feature a handful that stand out at our first glance below! Telluride Horror Show will be October 11th through the 13th this year. It can't come soon enough! Get your passes here!
Telluride Horror Show 2019: First Wave
Feature Films
1BR
Psychological horror can be a difficult thing to pull off, in great part due to the struggle to find a balance between the surreal and reality. An imbalance can take an audience out of the film or destroy the pacing. 1BR seemingly promises a strong balance given the reviews at the end of this clip. After watching it, I am very intrigued.
Making Monsters
I can't tell what this movie is going to be, and perhaps that is what makes it so interesting. It starts out traditionally enough, along the path of a self-aware meta film of the social media variety. Then it seems to drop into a Creep-type approach. But then it just spirals into Texas Chainsaw Massacre chaos. I'm looking forward to this one.
Sator
Despite some haunting visuals of a mystical creature, it is apparent this film isn't a creature feature at its core. It gives me this Mothman or Black Phillip vibe, like a dark and/or mysterious entity that operates in the shadows of the psyche. With what appears to be a Fourth Kind-esque approach to its style, with realistic interviews intertwined with "reenactments", this could be an enthralling pseudo-documentary thriller.
The Wretched
Efrit and I were both very excited to see this movie on the list, as we were already lured in by the trailer weeks earlier. A familiar tale of voyeurism that takes a disturbing turn, the tale appears to take a grotesque and visceral angle on the witch mythos, with almost a feral, creature-like vein. Anything that has a woman crawling out of a deer corpse to start the shenanigans has to be good, right?
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
Easily regarded as one of the best modern horror comedies, the instant-cult classic holds a special place in my heart, as it does with THS. Due to stalls in its release, the film was shown in consecutive years at THS and quickly linked itself to the festival's history. And now, the director will be joining the screening! This will be a great time!
Z
There is a lesser-known horror movie (mostly because it just isn't that good) called Cameron's Closet. And there is the recently released Before I Wake. Both feature a child with unique "psychic" abilities that inadvertently manifest imaginary demons (and some not-so imaginary). This story of a boy's malevolent imaginary friend is right up my alley, and hopefully can find a happy medium of execution between the highly flawed Cameron's Closet and the underwhelming Before I Wake...and preferably avoiding Hide and Seek altogether...
Short Films
(I'm not going to openly encourage viewing clips and/or trailers for shorts given that the relatively short runtimes (hence, "shorts") make clips dangerous ground for giving away too much. But still...I will supply them for temptation's sake.)
Abyssus
I get this Buried meets the THS short from 2016, Curve, vibe. This little clip has me immediately hooked.
Hellevate
It's kind of fun to try and pick out which shorts are going to be a part of the "Ha-Ha-Horror" block. This one looks like a strong candidate given its premise of a man stuck in an elevator with incompetent service attendants.
In Sound, We Live Forever
True works of art in the genre are often born in short films. And sometimes pure gems are created that simply could not exist in a feature film format due to the unique style of filmmaking (e.g. the brilliant, Great Choice). This looks like one of those pieces.
Bad Hair
Body horror involving a mysterious Rogaine-ish treatment? How could it get any better?
Most Steps Ever
A premise centered around a hiker and their smart watch while they are hunted by a killer sounds like potential for dark comedic gold.
O.I.
This short film actually looks like a short film. It has this theatrical feel to it. I can't wait to see this one!
La Noria
This animated short shows potential for being the highlight of the animated block.
Nest
A father uses his son's nightmares as inspiration in his book. Sounds awesome.
Night Crawl
Inmates escaping a prison underground encounter monsters. What's not to love? And that screenshot promises some fun creature effects.
The Procedure 2
The first Procedure was arguably the loudest I've heard an audience laugh, perhaps mostly out of pure shock. I am embarrassingly enough looking forward to the sequel with much anticipation.
We already can't wait for wave 2 to give us the whole tease! This looks to be another THS for the ages! Telluride Horror Show is happening October 11th through the 13th in Telluride, CO. We hope to see you there!