Screamfest, the preeminent horror festival in the country, and what the LA Weekly calls “the best place to get a jump on tomorrow’s cult hits”, kicks off its 13th annual event in Los Angeles on October 8 through October 17 at the Laemmle NoHo 7 (5240 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollywood, CA 91601).

First Wave Screening Highlights screening at Screamfest 2013 include:

Beneath (US) – Directed by Ben Ketai,. A crew of coal miners becomes trapped 600 feet below ground after a disastrous collapse. As the air grows more toxic and time runs out, they slowly descend into madness and begin to turn on one another. Inspired by true events. – World Premiere

The Hunted (US) –Directed by Josh Stewart. Chasing their dream of landing their own hunting show, Jake (Stewart) and Stevie (Blevins) head to the dense, secluded mountains of West Virginia. Equipped with only their bow and camera, they have just three days to kill a monster buck big enough to grab the attention of the Outdoor Channel…and they’ve found him. But the sun has set, and they realize they’re not alone. The pair decides it’s time to call it quits and leave the woods and their dreams behind. With the setting sun, their realization may have come too late as they are finding out escaping may not be so easy. Being a professional hunter, Jake has the skills and survival instincts necessary to make it out, but will that be enough? Has the sun set on their lives as well? Have the hunters become The Hunted? World Premiere

Schism (US) – Directed by Adam Gierasch starring Callum Blue. Dylan White has a normal, boring life. Then horrifying visions start to interrupt his waking moments, and he must face the fact that he literally doesn’t know who he is. Following clues that take him to the dark underbelly, Dylan soon finds both his life and soul in danger. Featuring a masterful performance by Callum Blue, SCHISM is a trip to the dark side, noir-style: bad men, bad dames, bad sex and bad intentions. World Premiere

308 (Indonesia) –Directed by Jose Poernomo. Desperate for a job, Naya lucked out as her best friend offers her a job as a housekeeper at a 5 star hotel by the beach. But the hotel has one strange rule… Rule #1: Never ever open room number 308 under any circumstance. Based on the true legend of Nyi Roro Kidul, the spirit of the Queen of the South Sea that supposedly lives in room 308 in Samudra Hotel. US Premiere

Haunter (Canada) – Directed by Vincenzo Natali starring Abigail Breslin. The ghost of a teenager who died years ago reaches out to the land of the living in order to save someone from suffering her same fate. LA Premiere

Cannon Fodder (Israel) –.Directed by Eitan Gafny. Doron, a security operative, who takes on one last mission: to capture, number 3 in the terrorist organization of Hezbollah, in Lebanon. With an elite force, Doron enters Lebanon to complete his last mission. Very soon he discovers that reality is not so simple, and that a new and unknown enemy is to be dealt with – and Hezbollah are the last thing on his mind. Doron has to deal with a ticking clock in the form of extensive I.D.F attack and a bloodthirsty enemy, Now that their enemy has changed its face, it’s up to him and his unit to wage a new war, a different war, to find an antidote, get back across the border, before the middle east conflict is changed forever. LA Premiere

Get tickets at the Screamfest website.