2018 PROGRAM

FILMS

The 2018 Feature film lineup screened April 19th – 22nd, 2018.

BLOOD FEST

Dir. Owen Egerton | 2018| USA | 93 min

When the most exciting horror festival in the country turns the tables on its zealous fan base by trapping them on the grounds and murdering them en masse, a group of teens armed with the knowledge of a thousand horror movies must fight their way through the bloodbath in this hilarious send-up of horror culture.

BLUE MY MIND

Dir. Lisa Brühlmann | 2017| Switzerland | 97 min

During the process of moving cities with her parents and trying to start over with a new group of friends, 15-year-old Mia begins to discover unexpected changes to her body that she dare not speak about to anyone. In spite of her radical attempts to halt the process, Mia is forced to face the horrifying reality of who she truly is. Equal parts tender, surreal, and grotesque, actor-turned-director Lisa Brühlmann’s first feature is a worth addition to the adolescent body horror canon.

CANIBA

Dir. Véréna Paravel & Lucien Castaing-Taylor | 2017| France | 97 min

Sensory ethnography documentarians Lucien Castaign-Taylor and Véréna Paravel turn their cameras on notorious Japanese cannibal cum manga author, pornography director, and sushi critic, Issei Sagawa. In an unprecedented and shocking interview, Sagawa reveals gruesome details about his life and crimes, as well as a peak into his fraught relationship with his mysterious brother.

DON’T LEAVE HOME

Dir. Michael Tully | 2018 | USA | 86 min

An American artist accepts a strange invitation to a secluded Irish manor to construct an original sculpture for a priestly painter whose work has been shrouded in a sinister urban legend involving the disappearance of an 8-year-old girl in this creepy, offbeat cinematic discovery from indie stalwart Michael Tully (SEPTIEN).

DOWNRANGE

Dir. Ryuhei Kitamura | 2017 | USA | 90 min

Macabre mastermind Ryuhei Kitamura (VERSUS, MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN) comes crashing back with a frenetic new film of murder and mayhem. Stranded by the side of the road in the middle of nowhere from a tire blowout, a group of carpoolers become suddenly besieged by flying bullets from an unseen shooter with incredible precision and a savage will.

THE FARM

World Premiere

Dir. Hans Stjernswärd | 2018 | USA | 80 min

The classic horror tale of a young couple who takes a wrong turn and stumbles into a small town full of people with nefarious intentions is turned on its head in this disturbing manifesto about food production. Seeping with eerie atmosphere, this unnerving first feature from newcomer Hans Stjernswärd finds as much fear in its silences as it does in its sickening, insidious images.

GHOST STORIES

Dir. Jeremy Dyson & Andy Nyman | 2017 | UK | 97 min

After stumbling across a long-lost folder of material from his childhood hero, Goodman, a TV investigator known for debumking psychic hoaxes, digs deep into three cases of ghoulish hauntings. Determined to find rational explanations, Goodman quickly realizes he’s in over his head. Featuring Martin Freeman, this spine-tingling anthology, adapted from the hit stage play, tells enough tales to keep you up for nights to come.

GOOD MANNERS

Dir. Juliana Rojas & Marco Dutra | 2017 | Brazil/France | 135 min

A surprising, imaginative and engaging twist on classic genre stories told with a sophisticated cinematic technique, GOOD MANNERS begins unassumingly with a near destitute nurse becoming the caretaker for a wealthy, isolated pregnant woman exhibiting strange behavior. But soon her habits turn into a sleeping hunger that changes both of their lives forever.

PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH

World Premiere

Dir. Sonny Laguna & Tommy Wiklund | 2018 | USA/UK |

During a roadtrip to a convention for the 30th Anniversary of the infamous Toulon Murders, a comic book nerd, his new girlfriend and his best friend come face to face with a set of sadistic nazi puppets out for blood. A reimagining of the Charles Band classic, this uproarious horror comedy starring Thomas Lennon, Udo Kier, Barbara Crampton, Nelson Franklin, and Charlene Yi pays homage to the Full Moon features of the late 80s, early 90s.

THE RANGER

Dir. Jenn Wexler | 2018 | USA | 80 min

A band of punks on the run from trouble with the local law hide out in the woods, only to stumble onto the radar of a deranged park ranger with a malicious approach to justice and a mysterious connection to a member of their group. Longtime indie horror producer Jenn Wexler makes her directorial debut with this manic, punk-rock take on the traditional slasher flick.

REVENGE

Dir. Coralie Fargeat | 2017 | France | 108 min

First time filmmaker Coralie Fargeat subverts expectations of the exploitative rape-revenge film tropes from the grind house age for this explosively shocking assault on misogynistic culture that stunned unsuspecting audiences at both the Toronto and Sundance film festivals. Don’t miss one of the most intense debuts of the year.

SATAN’S SLAVES

Dir. Joko Anwar | 2017 | Indonesia |106 min

When Mawarni, a famous Indonesian singer, dies of a mysterious illness, her husband and four children are left behind to pick up the pieces, only to discover that they are being haunted by a pack of rabid spirits headed by Mawarni herself. Technically billed as a remake of the 1982 Indonesian remake of Don Coscarelli’s PHANTASM, celebrated director Joko Anwar’s SATAN’S SLAVES is its own chilling throwback to 70s supernatural thrillers, packed to the brim with jump scares and iconic imagery.

SEX MADNESS REVEALED

World Premiere

Dir. Tim Kirk | 2018 | USA | 67 min

Notorious comedian Patton Oswalt and renowned magician Rob Zabrecky star in Tim Kirk’s (DIRECTOR’S COMMENTARY) latest experiment in how to tell tales of terror. Taking the form of an audio commentary that plays out over the little known 1938 STD propaganda film SEX MADNESS, the voice of a persnickety film blogger interviews the descendant of the original motion picture’s director who harbors a nefarious secret.

SHORTS PROGRAM 1

Includes:

TAMMY’S TINY TEA TIME (Episode 1: Strangers) | Dir: Peter Gulsvig | 2018 | USA | 4 min

GOOD MORNING | Dir. Elaine Mongeon | 2017 | USA | 12 min

ACID | Dir. Just Philippot | 2018 | France | 18 min

BLOOD RUNS DOWN| Dir. Zandashé Brown | 2018 | USA | 15 min

COYOTE | Dir. Lorenz Wunderle | 2018 | Switzerland | 10 min

AMY | Dir. L. Gustavo Cooper | 2017 | USA | 7 min

THE BEANING | Dir. Sean McCoy | 2017 | USA | 9 min

WE SUMMONED A DEMON | Dir. Chris McInroy | 2017 | USA | 6 min

PAN| Dir. Anna Roller | 2017 | Germany | 17 min

SHORTS PROGRAM 2

Includes:

HAIR WOLF | Dir. Mariama Diallo | 2017 | USA | 12 min

THE PLAGUE | Dir. Guillermo Carbonell | 2017 | Uruguay | 10 min

BEASTLY THINGS | Dir. Zev Chevat | 2017 | USA | 5 min

THE SERMON | Dir. Dean Puckett | 2018 | UK | 11 min

THURSDAY NIGHT | Dir. Gonçalo Almeida | 2017 | Portugal | 8 min

CERULIA | Dir. Sofía Carrillo | 2017 | Mexico | 13 min

MÖBIUS | Dir. Sam Kuhn | 2017 | Canada/USA | 15 min

MILK | Dir. Santiago Menghini | 2018 | Canada | 9 min

LATCHED | Dir. Justin Harding & Rob Brunner | 2017 | Canada | 17 min

TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID

Dir. Issa López | 2017 | Mexico | 83 min

In one of the most imaginative (and award winning!) features traveling the genre festival circuit in recent months, a young girl with a missing mother joins a band of street misfits in effort to survive amidst rampant cartel violence in modern-day Mexico City. Populated with fairy tale imagery, TIGERS is at turns harshly real and terrifyingly surreal, reminiscent of films like THE DEVIL’S BACKBONE and CITY OF GOD as it details a tragic and engulfing nightmare.

UPGRADE

Dir. Leigh Whannell | 2018 | Australia | 96 min

Fan favorite Leigh Whannell, whose work on the SAW and INSIDIOUS franchises have made him a modern genre icon, thrills and delights with this gory and action-packed foray into a science-fiction dystopia. An experimental procedure infuses a sentient computer chip into the body and mind of paralyzed Grey Trace (Logan Marshall-Green), fueling a spiraling mission for vengeance that leads to a terrifying endgame.

Leigh Whannell received The Overlook Film Festival’s 2018 Visionary award before the film’s first screening. The Visionary Award was established to honor a contemporary horror figure or company elevating the genre, while fostering the community by providing opportunities for new talent to thrive.

VAMPIRE CLAY

Dir. Soichi Umezawa | 2017 | Japan | 81 min

A group of unwitting art school students find themselves in a brutal showdown against a pack of evil of modeling clay in this campy, inventive, practical effects extravaganza from Japanese FX artist turned filmmaker Soichi Umezawa.

WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE

Dir. Colin Minihan | 2018| Canada | 98 min

For their first wedding anniversary, Jackie and Jules retreat to a cozy cabin near a beautiful lake. The sudden appearance of Jackie’s childhood best friend sets off a chain of unlikely events that turn a quiet vacation into the deadliest game of cat and mouse in Overlook Alum Colin Minihan’s (writer of STILL/BORN) claustrophobic survivalist thriller.

WOLFMAN’S GOT NARDS: A DOCUMENTARY

Dir. André Gower | 2018 | USA | 91 min

August 14, 1987 saw the release of what has become one of the strangest, scariest and most iconic kids film to ever grace the silver screen – THE MONSTER SQUAD. In this endearing documentary, director Andre Gower takes us not only behind the scenes on the production, but also into the heart of the fandom surrounding the movie and the magic that made it such a defining cinematic experience for so many in the genre community.

SPECIAL EVENTS

The Overlook’s 2018 special event lineup of Virtual Reality, Live Shows and exclusive immersive performances was presented April 19th – 22nd, 2018.

BLACKOUT

Immersive Performance

WORLD PREMIERE

Creators: Kristjan Thor, Josh Randall

In 2009, an underground immersive horror experience swept through the NYC art scene and began a path that would transform the international theater community. BLACKOUT, the X-rated fear experience designed for adults over 18 to walk through completely alone. Created by directors Kristjan Thor and Josh Randall, BLACKOUT has had productions in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Now at the Overlook Film Festival, BLACKOUT presents the world premiere of a rare and unique opportunity for the adventurous to make their way through what the NEW YORK TIMES has called the “most extreme theater event of the year.” WARNING: This is considered an extreme experience. Participants are required to sign a waiver.

CAMPFIRE CREEPERS: THE SKULL OF SAM

Virtual Reality Experience

Director: Alexandre Aja

From master of horror Alexandre Aja, the director of films such as The Hills Have Eyes, Piranha, and Horns, comes an original anthology series that brings classic campfire stories to life in stunning Virtual Reality. Produced by Oculus and Future Lighthouse and distributed by Dark Corner, Campfire Creepers invites viewers to join the fire circle at a summer camp called Camp Coyote as a group of kids take turns telling spooky tales. Inspired by cult classics like Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt, every episode of Campfire Creepers is a wild ride that will have you laughing and screaming in equal measure.

THE CANON PODCAST LIVE

Live Show

Host: Amy Nicholson

What films should be included in the list of all-time greats? Film critic Amy Nicholson and a guest debate, discuss and sometimes harmoniously agree about whether a film should be Canon-ized. Ultimately, the decision is yours. Cast your vote, and decide the legacy of each movie forevermore. No pressure. The 2018 Overlook Film Festival welcomed guest Thomas Lennon (PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH) to debate THE EXORCIST Vs. THE EXORCIST III (with special guest Udo Kier joining the proceedings).

DEAD RIGHT HORROR TRIVIA

Do you consume horror as voraciously as zombies eat flesh? The hit Los Angeles horror event comes to the Overlook Film Festival! Join your hosts Ryan Turek (Blumhouse Productions) and Sam Zimmerman (Shudder) to test your horror knowledge in eight rounds of terrifyingly titillating trivia. Scare yourself with how much you actually know about horror.

DELUSION: LIES WITHIN

Virtual Reality Experience

WORLD PREMIERE

Director: Jon Braver

Set in the 1940’s American South, beloved author Elena Fitzgerald goes missing before releasing the final novel in her epic dark fantasy that has captivated fans Daniel and Virginia. As many believe her to be dead, Daniel and Virginia must leave their grim reality behind to save Fitzgerald from her own literary nightmare. The VR series from Skybound Entertainment is a fully immersive, 360 degrees episodic story. Delusion is based off Jon Braver’s 2014 immersive theatrical performance in Los Angeles.

GHOST STORIES HAUNTED WALKING TOUR PRESENTED BY IFC MIDNIGHT

Disease, disaster, sinister spirits, and murder most foul, a New Orleans Ghost and Vampire Tour combo! Join French Quarter Phantoms at the Overlook Film Festival on a walking tour for historically accurate tales of local hauntings and vampire lore. Tours will depart from Bourbon Orleans Hotel at 8pm on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at the festival for a 2 hour walking tour brought to you by upcoming IFC Midnight release Ghost Stories.

HOMETOWN HORROR: MAKING GENRE WORK

Panel Presentation

New Orleans lays claim to more than 200 years of haunted history and lore. The city’s one-of-a-kind ambience and atmosphere has made it a hotbed of  countless film and television productions and a home for all manner of unusual storytellers Hear from a variety of local artist working within the horror medium as they talk about the joys, challenges, trials and tribulations of making genre work locally.

Panelists: Michael Arcos (Ex-Den Film Productions), Zandashe Brown (Blood Runs Down), Darcy McKinnon (NOVAC), Misty Talley (Fable House), Additional panelists TBA

HOW TO BUILD AN INTERACTIVE STORY: THE SECRETS OF OPENMIND

Panel Presentation

For the last 9 months, an eclectic band of experience designers with a variety of skill sets has been embedded in Austin, TX for the world’s first long-form workshop to train the next generation of leaders in applied interactive performance techniques: The Interactive Deep Dive. After crafting several groundbreaking performances, including an evening-long horror experience for curious audiences, the Deep Dive’s most ambitious effort was achieved last month at SXSW, with support from national installation powerhouse Meow Wolf: a singular, multi-day show designed for just two participants with a story that spanned multiple dimensions. In this special case study, join some of the creators, writers, directors, and performers, as well as the main participant himself, as they break down this cutting-edge experience.

Panelists: Christy Casey (Deep Dive), Carlo D’Amore (Deep Dive), Joanna Harmon (Deep Dive)
Moderator: Bryan Bishop (The Verge)

IN ANOTHER ROOM

Immersive Performance

Directors: Austin and Aaron Keeling

Last summer, E3W Productions’ surprise hit ‘In Another Room’ invited guests to explore the richly storied rooms of a notoriously haunted house in Los Angeles, introducing audience members to the inhabitants who lived and died within its walls. Now, E3W Productions is pleased to offer exclusive access to one of the rooms from their debut show, transported to the Bourbon Orleans Hotel for the duration of the Overlook Film Festival. Audiences of three will be invited to step inside this room, where they will meet a previous inhabitant and learn of the tragedies that befell them. ‘In Another Room’ sold out in just three days upon its initial run, and this excerpt promises a haunting, moving, and extremely intimate experience. We invite those of you most attuned to the psychic and supernatural to join us for a once in a lifetime opportunity to come face to face with the unknown.

INFINITELY DINNER SOCIETY: MIDNIGHT SNACKS

Immersive Performance

Creator: Annie Lesser

Infinitely Dinner Society’s Midnight Snacks presents Bananas Foster. IDS Midnight Snacks are late night pairings of food and art with the math and science behind infinity. Previous snacks have included donuts paired with the infinite points of a circle, cheese cubes paired with hypercubes and oyster shooters paired with the intangible nature of infinity. Each snack features food sourced from local bakers, shop owners and farmers markets. For the Overlook Film Festival, creator Annie Lesser has designed a piece based on the cosmic horror of the multiverse featuring Bananas Foster made from Louisiana cane sugar and rum.

MASTERS OF THE SUN

Virtual Reality Experience

Director: will.i.am

This interactive comic book series from Oculus Studios, born from the mind of will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas), is a retro futuristic B-boy zombie thriller about a hip-hop group from East LA that must battle an ancient god who is turning black drug dealers and gangsters into zombies. This epic journey, spanning 13 episodes, explores gang culture, hip-hop origins, and cloaked conspiracy theories—from ancient Egypt to the streets of LA. Starring Queen Latifah, Rakim, Jamie Foxx, Ice-T, and KRS-One.

NIGHT NIGHT

Virtual Reality Experience

Director: Guy Shelmerdine

It’s time to drift off to dreamland…but first your mom is going to read you a short bedtime story. Take a journey into your childhood nightmares with Dark Corner’s sense-stunning immersive experience. Produced by Dark Corner and MPC VR.

PAPERBACKS FROM HELL

Live Show

Creator, Writer, Performer: Grady Hendrix

In the early Seventies, three books changed horror forever: ROSEMARY’S BABY, THE EXORCIST, and THE OTHER. The first horror novels to hit bestseller lists since 1940, they opened the floodgates for an avalanche of horror paperbacks to pour onto supermarket shelves throughout the Seventies and Eighties until SILENCE OF THE LAMBS slit the genre’s throat in the early Nineties. Writer Grady Hendrix delivers a mind-melting oral history of this now forgotten world of Nazi leprechauns, skeleton doctors, killer crabs, killer jellyfish, killer babies, pretty much killer everything. Prepare yourself for a tour of this long-lost universe of terror that lurked behind the lurid, foil-embossed, die-cut covers of…the Paperbacks from Hell!!!!

THE PUMPKIN PIE SHOW: BEST OF SHOW

Live Show

Creator, Writer, Performer: Clay McLeod Chapman

Come join us for an encore presentation of the best Pumpkin Pie Show stories from over the last 20 years. Author Clay McLeod Chapman will lead the audience through the back-catalogue of his personal favorite tales, offering a view into the sordid lives of Southern Gothic monstrosities that explore the domestic horrors of the everyday, finding terror within our own households. This is Edgar Allan Poe for the modern age, people.

THE PUMPKIN PIE SHOW: NEW SKULDUGGERY

Live Show

Creator, Writer, Performer: Clay McLeod Chapman

Author Clay McLeod Chapman is bringing BRAND NEW STORIES to the Overlook! The Pumpkin Pie Show has remained a staple of the fest – and this year they’re offering an even sweeter treat: original tales that have never been inflicted upon an audience anywhere. Flesh-eating bacteria, killer baby carrots and haunted comic books are all on the menu. These new campfire stories will be sure send a shiver up your spine. Hear them first before they’re unleashed upon the rest of the world!

THE PUMPKIN PIE SHOW: ONE-ON-ONES

Immersive Performance

Creator, Writer, Performer: Clay McLeod Chapman

A returning favorite from last year’s fest, please join author Clay McLeod Chapman as he takes one audience member at a time on a dark ride through this depraved, intimate storytelling experience. Think of it as a heart-to-bleeding-heart with madmen, murderers and monsters telling their own story. No fourth wall, no escape. Sessions will last 20 minutes.

SHOCK WAVES PRESENTS

Live Show

Host: Ryan Turek

Overlook welcomes Ryan Turek, co-host of Blumhouse’s hit horror podcast Shock Waves for an insightful discussion with one of the festival’s guests.

SUMMERLAND LOST

Live Show

Creator, Writer, Performer: Grady Hendrix

The Wall Street Journal calls him “a national treasure.” His mother calls him “Sunshine.” Now author Grady Hendrix brings his one-man show about psychic teenagers and shaved cats to New Orleans with Summerland Lost: A Ghost Story. Telling the all-shocking, all-true tale of drunk Victorian teenagers who spoke to the dead, this is the real life story of how biomechanical sex cults, the ghost of Ben Franklin, suffragettes, abolitionists, anarchists, and Arctic explorers all teamed up to answer the ultimate question: is there life after death?

TOTAL HORROR EXPERIENCE: A CONVERSATION WITH IMMERSIVE CREATORS

Panel Presentation

The Overlook makes no secret of its love of immersive theater, live experiences and tactile environments as tools for the next frontier of storytelling; one that puts the audience in the center of real-time narratives with agency to explore and choices to make. Join the masters of this ever-evolving form to learn what it takes to create stories that aren’t just watched….they’re lived.

Panelists include Darren Lynn Bousman (The Tension Experience), Jon Braver (Delusion) and the artists behind this year’s crop of Overlook experiences.

WOLVES IN THE WALLS (CHAPTER 1)

Virtual Reality Experience

Director: Pete Billington

Eight-year-old Lucy suspects that wolves live in the walls of her family’s home. She has no one to believe her … but you. Forging a groundbreaking blend of film, theatre, audience agency, and sleight of hand, this exquisitely crafted animated experience, adapted from material by Neil Gaiman and choreographed by immersive theater company Third Rail Projects,casts you as an active performer in a narrative where you interact, have a relationship with, and go on a quest with the central character in ways that leave your mark on the experience.

THE OVERLOOK IMMERSIVE GAME

For the signature event of the Overlook Film Festival, 2018 introduces a new alternate reality game and welcomes experience designers Scott Gillies and Nick Tierce.

Producer: Mali Elfman

Throughout the entire weekend, uncover an interactive horror mystery that permeates the festival, featuring live actors inhabiting unique locations, hidden clues, tactile puzzles, and surprising twists that each player can engage with at their own level of comfort and curiosity. Follow the clues to become the protagonist of an engaging and thrilling narrative that no two players will experience in exactly the same way. Details of the game’s story will remain locked away until the festival begins, but you may wish to seek out the celestial raven, instantly. All registered players must attend a game orientation upon festival check-in. Over the course of the game, curious players may receive invitations to engage further for additional immersive depth, which they may opt-in for when the opportunity is presented.

ABOUT THE 2018 GAME DESIGNERS

Scott Gillies expert on interactive design and games in most any medium, and has worked on a broad range of pieces from educational media to interactive theme park attractions to  Emmy® Award-winning transmedia storytelling. He has worked with companies of every size from EA, Disney, Microsoft, Niantic, and Google to grassroots start-ups. Find him escaping rooms in a city near you.

Nick Tierce is a writer, designer, and one-time comic book colorist in Los Angeles who has worked with companies including Google’s Area 120, Niantic Labs, Disney, and No Mimes Media. You can find him on Twitter @NickyTea.