The Telluride Horror Show Announces First Wave… And Devin Faraci

I'm really proud to announce that I'll be heading to the Telluride Horror Show this October to host a Q&A with Henry Selick for the legendary, magical The Nightmare Before Christmas. And while I'm up there I'll be checking out an awful lot of excellent genre films - at least if the first wave announcement from the show is any indication. 

This is the sixth edition of the Telluride Horror Show, a three day horror festival nestled in the peaks of Telluride. Colorado has become a haven for horror fests, but the Telluride Horror Show is the first, and I've been following them with real interest over their entire existence. When they offered to bring me out to chat with Selick I jumped at the opportunity - there's nothing as perfect as watching extraordinary dark genre films in one of the most beautiful environments possible. 

Besides me and Selick there's a lot to look forward to at this year's fest. The first wave announcement is loaded with films I've been looking forward to: 

GERMAN ANGST
Germany | 2015 | 112 min| Directors: Jörg Buttgereit, Michal Kosakowski, Andreas Marschall

Three German tales of love, sex and death in Berlin from Germany’s most shocking directors: Jörg Buttgereit (NEKROMANTIK, DER TODESKING), Michal Kosakowski (ZERO KILLED), and Andreas Marschall (TEARS OF KALI). 

HE NEVER DIED 
USA/Canada | 2015 | 97 min | Director: Jason Krawczyk
Followed by a Q&A with director Jason Krawczyk and producer Zach Hagen.

Jack (HENRY ROLLINS) is in a rut. Depression and severe anti-social behavior has whittled down his existence to sleeping and watching television. Seeing the human race as little more than meat with a pulse, Jack has no interest to bond with anyone. There’s little purpose for him to make friends with someone he’d eventually eat or outlive by more than a millennia. The fuse is lit when Jack's past comes back to rattle him. Jack must now walk a tight rope of sobriety and try to eat as few people as possible in this violent tale of personal responsibility.

HELL HOUSE, LLC 
USA | 2015 | 91 min | Director: Stephen Cognetti
Followed by a Q&A with director Stephen Cognetti.

Five years after an unexplained malfunction causes the death of fifteen tour-goers and staff on the opening night of a Halloween haunted house tour (Hell House), a documentary film crew investigates what really happened that night.

INNER DEMON 
Australia | 2014 | 84 min | Director: Ursula Dabrowsky

A teenage girl is abducted by a serial killer couple and manages to escape and find refuge in an isolated farmhouse, only to discover it is home to greater horrors and a malevolent spirit... 

THE INVITATION 
USA | 2015 | 100 min | Director: Karyn Kusama

In this taut psychological thriller by Karyn Kusama (Girlfight, Jennifer’s Body), the tension is palpable when Will (Logan Marshall-Green, Prometheus) shows up to his ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard, Into the Woods) and new husband, David’s (Michiel Huisman, “Game of Thrones”) dinner party. The pair’s tragic past haunts an equally spooky present: Amid Eden’s suspicious behavior and her mysterious house guests, Will becomes convinced that his invitation was extended with a hidden agenda. Unfolding over one dark evening in the Hollywood Hills, The Invitation blurs layers of mounting paranoia, mystery, and horror until both Will—and the audience—are unsure what threats are real or imagined.

LANDMINE GOES CLICK
Georgia | 2014 | 104 min | Director: Levan Bakhia

Three American tourists are backpacking through the remote countryside of European Georgia when one of them gets trapped on an armed landmine. But that seems to be a minor threat compared to the nightmarish happenings the rest of the afternoon will bring. A psychopath takes advantage of the tourist's immobility and brutally assaults the woman he loves. 

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS
USA | 1993 | 76 min | Director: Henry Selick
After a special presentation of the classic stop-motion animated film, join us for a conversation with famed director Henry Selick, moderated by Devin Faraci, editor-in-chief of Birth.Movies.Death.

Bored with the same old scare-and-scream routine, Pumpkin King Jack Skellington longs to spread the joy of Christmas. But his merry mission puts Santa in jeopardy and creates a nightmare for good little boys and girls everywhere. 

NINA FOREVER
UK | 2015 | 98 min | Directors: Chris & Ben Blaine

Holly loves Rob and tries to help him through his grief - even if it means contending with his dead girlfriend Nina, who comes back, bloody and broken, every time they make love.

This is just the first wave. There's a lot more coming. And also: me! I'm incredibly excited to host this Q&A. Do you guys think I should tell Selick about the time I went to see Nightmare while tripping acid? Do you think he'd be into that story?

For more information, to get tickets and to secure lodging, click here. This is going to be an amazing weekend, and Telluride alone makes the trip worth it - the great movies are just the bloody icing on this meat cake!