The International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival is a sister festival to
The Phoenix Film Festival. It's shorter, cheaper and more fun; and also naturally restricted to genre film, showing everything that range might suggest. There are classic films you've seen with guest appearances from some of the stars; new features, some in competition; plenty of short films from student, amateur or up and coming directors; and a few odd other gems thrown in too. It's also where my better half and I found a scene in Arizona.
Back in 2007, we noticed an ad for this festival so headed out to the Harkins Centerpoint in Tempe to see what it was all about. Neither of us had been to a festival before, so had no idea what we would find, but we loved it. We knew nobody when we got there, but we had found a few friends by the time we left, one of whom was the
Midnite Movie Mamacita, an introduction that led us to become regulars at her shows over the last few years, originally at the sadly defunct Chandler Cinemas and now at
MADCAP Theaters in Tempe. Through her, we've become part of a vibrant local film community that just keeps on growing. It's been a fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable few years and The International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival is where it all began for us. In 2007 we were wide eyed newbies, in 2009 we were part of the viewing committee and we're eager for more.
This year's festival is its fifth year, back at the venue where we first found it, though it's now
MADCAP Theaters instead of the Harkins Centerpoint. Special guests were Casper Van Dien (Johnny Rico in
Starship Troopers), Judith O'Dea (Barbra in
Night of the Living Dead) and Marilyn Burns (Sally Hardesty in
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre). A great time was had by all.
The people running this festival know precisely what they're doing and they're all major players in this local community. 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 is the schedule programmer for
MADCAP Theaters. Festival programmers are Danny and Brandon from
I Can Smell Your Brains for horror; and science fiction writer
Mike Stackpole for scifi.
Here are all the films shown this year, with film titles linking to my reviews and the IMDb pages added for reference. My reviews will fill in over the next week or so.
| | | | | |
| Horror Features |
| Title | Year | H | D | Director(s) | IMDb |
| XII | 2008 | | | Michael A Nickles | IMDb |
| Evil Angel | 2009 | | | Richard Dutcher | IMDb |
| Neighbor | 2009 | 5 | 5 | Robert A Masciantonio | IMDb |
| | | | | |
| Showcase Features |
| Title | Year | H | D | Director(s) | IMDb |
| Blood Moon Rising | 2009 | 4 | 4 | Brian Skiba | IMDb |
| Burial Ground | 1981 | | | Andrea Bianchi | IMDb |
| Embodiment of Evil | 2008 | | | José Mojica Marins | IMDb |
| Necromentia | 2009 | 5 | 4 | Pearry Teo | IMDb |
| Night of the Living Dead | 1968 | 7 | 7 | George A Romero | IMDb |
| Night of the Zombies | 1980 | | | Bruno Mattei | IMDb |
| The Revenant | 2009 | | | D Kerry Prior | IMDb |
| Starship Troopers | 1997 | 6 | 7 | Paul Verhoeven | IMDb |
| The Texas Chain Saw Massacre | 1974 | 7 | 5 | Tobe Hooper | IMDb |
| Trail of the Screaming Forehead | 2007 | | | Larry Blamire | IMDb |
| Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl | 2009 | | | Yoshihiro Nishimura & Naoyuki Tomomatsu | IMDb |
| Zombie Girl: The Movie | 2009 | 5 | 4 | Justin Johnson, Aaron Marshall and Erik Mauck | IMDb |
| | | | | |
| Deadly Event |
| Title | Year | H | D | Director(s) | IMDb |
| Argumentalism | 2009 | | | Aaron Burckle | IMDb |
| Don't Cry | 2009 | | | Jose Rosete | IMDb |
| Eleanor Rigby | 2009 | | | Brenton Covington | IMDb |
| Focal Point | 2009 | | | Ernie Lausten | IMDb |
| The Heart of Evil | 2009 | | | Austin Nordell | IMDb |
| The Killing Hour | 2009 | | | Jordan Pillar | IMDb |
| Sex and Violence | 2009 | 5 | 5 | Charles Peterson | IMDb |
| Soul Survivor | 2009 | | | Angel Ruiz | n/a |
| | | | | |
| Horror Shorts A |
| Title | Year | H | D | Director(s) | IMDb |
| Aaaaagh! A Monster | 2009 | 5 | 5 | Gabriel Renfro | IMDb |
| & Teller | 2008 | | | Frank Ippolito & Teller | IMDb |
| Elder Sign | 2009 | | | Joseph Nanni | IMDb |
| The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon | 2008 | 6 | 6 | Richard Gale | IMDb |
| The Long Night | 2008 | | | Paul Allen | IMDb |
| Smooth Operator | 2009 | 5 | 5 | Alyn Darnay | IMDb |
| Void | 2009 | | | Meredith Ann Berg | IMDb |
| Zombies & Cigarettes | 2009 | | | Rafael Martinez & Iñaki San Román | IMDb |
| | | | | |
| Horror Shorts B |
| Title | Year | H | D | Director(s) | IMDb |
| 1881 Zombies | 2009 | 5 | 5 | Dusty Duprel | IMDb |
| & Teller 2 | 2008 | | | Frank Ippolito & Teller | IMDb |
| The Baby Shredder Song | ? | 5 | 6 | David Avallone | n/a |
| Clowns vs Ninjas | 2009 | | | David Brocca | IMDb |
| Goodnight, Victor | 2009 | 5 | 6 | Andrew Grissom | IMDb |
| Jack the Reaper | 2009 | | | Gregor Habsburg | IMDb |
| Not Quite Dead | 2007 | 4 | 4 | Stephen C Krystek | IMDb |
| Take Out | 2004 | | | Joe Russo | IMDb |
| Thirsty | 2009 | | | Andrew Kasch | IMDb |
| | | | | |
| Sci-Fi Shorts B |
| Title | Year | H | D | Director(s) | IMDb |
| 2095 | 2007 | | | Troy Romeo | IMDb |
| Bohemibot | 2009 | 5 | 5 | Brendan Bellomo | IMDb |
| Fractalus | 2008 | | | James Ward Byrkit | IMDb |
| ID | 2009 | | | Daishi Takiishi | IMDb |
| | | | | |
| Bonus Short |
| Title | Year | H | D | Director(s) | IMDb |
| Treevenge | 2008 | | | Jason Eisener | IMDb |
The International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival is a sister festival to The Phoenix Film Festival. It's shorter, cheaper and more fun; and also naturally restricted to genre film, showing everything that range might suggest. There are classic films you've seen with guest appearances from some of the stars; new features, some in competition; plenty of short films from student, amateur or up and coming directors; and a few odd other gems thrown in too. It's also where my better half and I found a scene in Arizona.
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