Ripcord’s Halloween Film Festival has announced a “dirty dozen” of short films that earned their way to the top.
The dozen will screen for a live audience at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood this Thursday, October 29th, where the finalists will compete for over $200,000 in cash prizes, including a $100,000 first-place prize, the largest ever awarded at a short film festival.
The finalists were chosen from a field of 50 shorts, itself curated from more than 500 submissions to the festival’s inaugural edition, that continue to screen for free at ripcord.film during the festival’s online run ahead of the live event. Originally planned as a Top 10, the lineup grew to 12 after fan voting came down to the wire and the festival directors couldn’t bring themselves to cut two more standout films.
“We built this festival on a simple idea: put great genre filmmaking in front of fans and they’ll tell you what’s special. More than 500 filmmakers trusted us with their films, and the response to the final 50 has been incredible. This festival is a first step toward a direct line between filmmakers and fans, and a $100,000 prize can change a career.”
The festival also announced the five jurors who will watch the finalists alongside the TCL Chinese Theatre audience and determine the winners:
- Tim Miller is the director of Deadpool and Terminator: Dark Fate. He began as a visual effects artist and founded Blur Studio, and he co-created the Emmy-winning Netflix anthology Love, Death & Robots with David Fincher. He is also the creator of Prime Video’s Secret Level.
- Jean Lauer is Director of Short Film Programming at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, where she has worked since 2013. She previously directed the Cine Las Americas International Film Festival.
- Lisa Ogdie is a Short Film Programmer for the Sundance Film Festival, where she has helped select the shorts slate from more than 10,000 submissions each year since 2009. She is also Head of Cinema Programming in North America for Soho House & Co.
- Neville Page is an Emmy Award-winning designer whose credits include Avatar, TRON: Legacy, Prometheus, Star Trek and Star Trek: Discovery, where he created the character Saru.
- Peter Phok is an independent film producer with more than two decades of experience in independent horror and genre cinema. He was executive producer on A24’s X trilogy (X, Pearl, MaXXXine) and earlier produced films including The House of the Devil, The Innkeepers and Stake Land with Glass Eye Pix. He was also executive producer of SXSW Grand Jury Prize winner Most Beautiful Island.
Fans can get closer to the finalists before the live event. Ripcord is hosting daily Q&As on ripcord.film with the filmmakers behind the top 12 shorts, giving viewers a chance to ask about the making of their films, their influences and what comes next. Fans can continue to register for free at ripcord.film to participate as well as screen the fest’s top 50 short films.
The horror, sci-fi, thriller and fantasy finalists will screen at the TCL Chinese Theatre on October 29 with winners announced the morning of October 30.
Watch the trailer compilation below and check out the full dirty dozen lineup shortly after.
The Dirty Dozen
BLOSSOM NEEDS A RIDE HOME (9:19), directed by Tim Schwagel: After defeating a bloodthirsty maniac, Blossom needs a ride home. What a hassle.
BREEDER (7:14), directed by Sapphire Sandalo: A woman on the fence about having kids is hunted in her home by a demonic horse-man of Filipino folklore.
DIRTY FUZZ (15:00), directed by Daniel Chimes: When an idealistic rookie cop accidentally shoots her corrupt partner in the slimy underbelly of Shit City, she must team up with a surprising crew of underworld characters to cover her tracks.
DREAM CREEP (12:34), directed by Carlos A.F. Lopez: A couple awakens in the night to sounds emanating from an unlikely orifice.
HAROLD EATS MAUDE (12:32), directed by Carl Fry, Maxwell Nalevansky: An unlikely friendship between the infamous cannibal Coffin Feeder, who can’t stop eating priests, and his cannibal-curious stalker Faith.
HOUR OF BLOOD (17:29), directed by Marcella Ochoa: In 1915 Texas, when ranchers mysteriously go missing, a young girl must defend her family ranch against the dark threat.
IT HELPS (9:07), directed by J. Zachary Thurman: Spencer, sleepless due to her brother’s eerie sleep machine, discovers it isn’t designed to soothe — but to keep an unspeakable presence at bay.
LONG’S LONG LOST & MINI MART (17:53), directed by Julian Doan: In the back of a Little Saigon convenience store, a young customer reanimates his dead father for one last conversation.
MAKE ME A PIZZA (12:00), directed by Talia Shea Levin: BORED HOUSEWIFE seduces HOT PIZZA GUY for free pizza, but is desire worth $29.99?
RAT! (16:48), directed by Neal Suresh Mulani: When a disgruntled music journalist accuses a global pop star of queerbaiting, the singer’s devoted fans descend on his remote cabin to seek retribution.
SPANKED BY A GHOST (11:50), directed by Katelyn Douglass: Alone in her home, a woman is spanked by an unseen entity, awakening a force she cannot control.
ZIPPY’S HOUSE (12:40), directed by Sophia Parella: Forced to attend his strange classmate’s birthday, a teen discovers he’s the only guest at a house where the host’s brother is in permanent time-out.