The last weekend of April provides quite the treat for those of you horror fans in the Long Beach, CA area. StokerCon 2017 is taking place on the Queen Mary and the convention’s accompanying film festival is packed with some incredibly eerie content!
I was fortunate enough to be asked to judge this year’s films and I, alongside fellow judges Mike Flanagan (Director of Ouija 2: Origin of Evil, Oculus, Gerald’s Game), Rebekah McKendry (Blumhouse.com), Mike McCarty (KNBFX / Autonomous), Lisa Morton (pres. Horror Writers Association), Mark Alan Miller (Seraphim Films), John Skipp (Splatterpunk pioneer, author and filmmaker, Tales Of Halloween) and Daniel Knauf (creator, Carnivale / producer, writer, The Blacklist) are super stoked – see what I did there? – to check out the finalists. For those of you thinking about checking out the festival, I highly recommend it. Though I haven’t checked out all of the following films yet, I have seen two of them, and absolutely love both! You can see a quote from me on the poster for PYOTR495 below, which should give you an idea of what you’re in store for!
For tickets and info on the convention/festival, check out their official website HERE!
DAWN OF THE DEAF
Director: Rob Savage
U.K. / 12 min. / 2016
When a strange sound infects the hearing population, a small group of deaf people must band together to survive.
I WANT YOU INSIDE ME
Director: Alice Shindelar
U.S. / 13 min. / 2016
An introverted teenage girl searches for her boyfriend when he mysteriously disappears after she convinces him to take her virginity.
DEATH METAL
Director: Chris McInroy
U.S. / 5 min. / 2016
A metalhead gets passed down a satanic guitar that riffs to shreds.
RITES OF VENGEANCE
Director: Izzy Lee
U.S. / 5 min. / 2017
A trio of nuns take matters into their own hands when a priest commits a terrible sin.
BARK
Director: Amanda Kramer
U.S. / 12 min. / 2016
An argument between friends becomes a tricky, bizarre mind game, escalating into an alarming physical altercation.
PYTOR495
Director: Blake Mawson
Canada / Germany / 13 min. / 2016
Set one evening in present day Moscow, 16 year-old Pyotr is baited by an ultranationalist group known for their violent abductions and anti-gay attacks bolstered by Russia’s LGBT propaganda law, but Pyotr has a dangerous secret his attackers could never have accounted for.
SHELL
Director: Daniel Aherns
U.S. / 4 min. / 2016
A hallucinatory animated riff on a disease that has plagued so many individuals and families for far too long.
TETHERED
Director: Daniel Robinette
U.S. / 13 min. / 2017
Abandoned by his mother, Solomon is left to live in isolation while abiding by three rules. Having grown accustomed to his routine, he begins to realize the rules may be a hindrance to a life-changing discovery.
WHEN SUSURRUS STIRS
Director: Anthony Cousins
U.S. / 10 min. / 2016
A body horror tale like no other. The story of one man’s bond with a parasitic creature that could result in the end of us all.
HOPE
Director: Adam A. Losurdo
Norway / 12 min. / 2016
A senseless wandering ghoul roaming through a world of the hunger-less undead and accepting yet resentful humans will soon discover a craving that leaves him completely and utterly without hope.
