Tuesday 18 July 2000

International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival 2012

The International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival moved in 2011 from being a stand alone festival to being effectively the late night programming at The Phoenix Film Festival.

It wasn't good, but fortunately, 2012 turned out to be a vast improvement. While scheduling was still erratic and there was only one selection of horror shorts, all the technical issues were solved and the number and range of films shown was far more expansive. Also, quite a few of the Phoenix Film Festival movies turned out to sit well with the horror/sci-fi vibe, meaning that it was possible to fill most of the scheduling gaps with films that could easily have been part of the International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival programming.

This year's special guest was Michael Biehn, presenting The Victim. Many other pictures had cast and crew present, not just the local films, so there were plenty of Q&As and many new friendships were forged.

The people running this festival stayed consistent. Check them all out if you're into film in Arizona, beginning with Chris and Jason and the folks at the The Phoenix Film Foundation. Andrea, the Midnite Movie Mamacita handled the horror/sci-fi programming. Program directors remained Danny and Brandon from I Can Smell Your Brains for horror; and science fiction writer Mike Stackpole for sci-fi.

Here are all the films screened in 2012, with film titles linking to my reviews and the IMDb pages added for reference.

Rating System
1 - Abysmal | 2 - Bad | 3 - Poor | 4 - OK | 5 - Good | 6 - Excellent | 7 - Classic

Horror Competition Features
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Below Zero 2011 4 4 Justin Thomas Ostensen IMDb
It's in the Blood 2012 6 6 Scooter Downey IMDb

Sci-Fi Competition Features
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Folklore 2012 6 6 Justin Calen Chenn IMDb
Pig 2011 5 5 Henry Barrial IMDb

Showcase Features
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Beyond the Black Rainbow 2010 5 4 Panos Cosmatos IMDb
The Brain That Wouldn't Die 1962 3 3 Joseph Green IMDb
FDR: American Badass! 2012 6 6 Garrett Brawith IMDb
Monster Brawl 2011 2 2 Jesse T Cook IMDb
Slumber Party Slaughter 2012 4 4 Rebekah Chaney IMDb
The Theatre Bizarre 2011 3 3 Douglas Buck, Buddy Giovinazzo, David Gregory, Karim Hussain, Jeremy Kasten, Tom Savini & Richard Stanley IMDb
The Victim 2011 5 5 Michael Biehn IMDb
With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story 2010 4 5 Terry Dougas, Nikki Frakes & William Lawrence Hess IMDb

Horror Shorts
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Shoreditch Slayer 2011 5 5 Simon Levene IMDb
Follow the Sun! 2011 5 5 MK12 IMDb
Brutal Relax 2010 5 5 Adrián Cardona, Rafa Dengrá & David Muñoz IMDb
Bad Moon Rising 2010 5 5 Scott Hamilton IMDb
Ambush 2011 5 5 Joe Bauer IMDb
The Table 2011 4 4 Shane Free IMDb
Roid Rage 2011 4 4 Ryan Lightbourn IMDb
The Waking 2010 5 5 John Stead IMDb
Employee of the Month 2011 4 5 Olivier Beguin IMDb

Sci-Fi Shorts A
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
The Uncanny Valley 2011 5 5 Dean Law IMDb
Doctor Glamour 2011 5 6 Andrew W Jones IMDb
Hollywood Forever 2011 5 5 Amy Ludwig IMDb
Secret Identity 2011 6 6 Tyler MacIntyre IMDb
20th Century Man 2012 5 5 Dustin Lee IMDb
Solaria 2011 5 5 John Hoey IMDb

Sci-Fi Shorts B
Title Year H D Director(s) IMDb
Alchemy and Other Imperfections 2011 5 5 Zachary Rothman IMDb
Mirage 2011 5 5 Miao Yu IMDb
Y Sci Fi 2011 4 5 Martin Doyle IMDb
How to Kill Your Clone 2011 4 5 Jack McWilliams IMDb
Anaphora 2011 5 6 André Albrecht IMDb
Outsight 2011 5 5 A R Madabushi IMDb
Dream Cleaners 2011 4 5 Craig Phillips IMDb

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