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| A little rain never hurt anyone |
Scary Season is upon us and my lovely wife and I have just returned from our annual trip down to Telluride, Colorado for the Telluride Horror Show. It’s a three day celebration of independent horror stories on film and in print, with several notable horror authors and filmmakers making the long journey into Telluride’s scenic box canyon for a weekend of fun. The vibes are mellow, the gatekeeping is nil, and the willingness to strike up a conversation with strangers in line is at a peak for even the most introverted of scary movie aficionados.
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| Just what you want to follow to a Horror Show |
We took in nine feature films and another 17 short films across the three days of Telluride Horror Show (or THS for short) along with some great food, gorgeous sights, and friendly chats with old friends and new acquaintances alike. This was our seventh straight THS, an event we look forward to every year since my wife first took me down there to celebrate my 40th birthday. However, this year I was a little conflicted about the show. Rising popularity of the show has meant a steady rise in rental prices as well as longer lines. The scheduling for this THS also bothered me a little, especially Sunday’s lack of features going against a couple shorts blocks and some episodes of season two of the Shudder TV series The Creep Tapes. We ended up taking it easier than usual for this festival -- “just” the nine films against the 12 or so from years past -- but I worried that what’s been a small, fun outing might be growing into an event that’s just another big festival with folks who can’t shut up and watch a movie.
For the most part, I was proved wrong, with the universe sending me some great folks to just talk movies with and have a great time. And while, yeah, there was a full-volume talker in Saturday’s first showing, a loud admonishment from a fellow moviegoer definitely made that living TikTok reaction video mostly shut up. More importantly, while I was venting about that guy with my wife in line before Deathgasm 2, the gal in front of us happily joined in and shared her own story about a loud talker before we went on to share our favorite movies so far, upcoming movies we were looking forward to, and just a general fantastic conversation before our film started. Sam, you’re awesome, and I hope you had a great rest of the show.
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| Me and my birthday twin! |
I met my “birthday twin” while we were waiting for Good Boy to start, a nice guy who was born on the same day, month, and year as me! Who happened to be in the seat right next to mine! What are the odds of that? We talked about birthdays, the movies we’d seen up to that point, and astrology. What my new pal Arvind Palep failed to mention was that he was the director of a short film at the festival, a fact I only learned when several shorts directors were introduced at the beginning of Saturday night’s Sinister Stories short film block! Fortunately I had the chance to admonish/grill him about his film Inheritance as well as his other work, before the show-closing Shelby Oaks, since Arvind and his friend/producer happened to get in line behind us for that one. I swear, the more I learn about what goes into making a film -- even a short film -- the more I believe it’s a miracle movies are made at all.
We had some fun talks with other strangers-turned-show-pals as well, including a couple that was enjoying the show while doing some marketing for Vic’s tattoo business in Denver, and a couple that we saw multiple times throughout the show but only interacted with right after the final movie to … I guess to agree that the movie should have leaned into infanticide? We sat behind the most thoughtful group of theater kids for Dust Bunny, which was refreshing. And we got to hang out with our festival pals, friends we met on The Last Drive-In Twitter/BlueSky watchalongs years ago and now look forward to seeing IRL at the Horror Show every year.
All in all, it felt like the universe did its best to make me focus on the positives of the Show. It rained pretty much all weekend, and even snowed on our drive home, but a mountain town in the rain has its charms. The smells, the sounds, the mountaintops obscured by clouds, the pop of bright colors from the tops of aspens along the canyon’s walls…they all worked together to bring a calm quiet to the crowded little town. We saw the biggest rainbow I’ve ever seen as we drove out of town on Monday morning with our pocket burritos and coffees from Baked in Telluride. And we saw some great movies, as we do every year.
I took quick notes after each show, and I’ll lead with those and give you my thoughts. I’m no professional critic, but I have been watching horror for my entire life, and spent my formative years in a mom-and-pop video store that my mom worked at. So, without further ado:
LET’S WATCH SOME WRE -- er, LET’S WATCH SOME SCARY MOVIES!
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10
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| from Demons |
“Bonkers, classic Italian gorefest”
I mean, it is what it says on the tin. Demons takes place almost entirely inside a German movie theater that’s holding an invitation-only premiere for a horror movie. Unfortunately, a promotional mask set up on a kickass dirtbike in the theater lobby cuts a person, who is then transformed into a demon, who then attacks her friend who is also turned into a demon, and before long we’ve got a theater full of demons. There’s not a lot of sense to the plot (why is there a helicopter? Why do we introduce four new characters when we already had a theater full? Why did the blind guy’s assistant have her lusty partner meet her at the theater while she was describing the movie to said blind guy?) but we aren’t here for plot. We’re here for gore and that bright red Italian movie blood, and we got buckets of both.
I’ve seen Demons several times, but it was the first watch for my wife as well as plenty of others at the Sheridan Opera House according to the preshow poll. The whole crowd absolutely ate this one up. Four skulls out of five.
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| from Man Finds Tape |
“Creepy, went in a direction I did not expect”
Going in, I thought I had a good bead on what Man Finds Tape was going to be -- a straightforward found footage film, something like Poughkeepsie Tapes or even 2024 Telluride Horror Show selection Strange Harvest. What we got was something very different, a kind of mixed-media presentation that combined found footage, interviews, security camera footage, and home movies to create a story about a town that could be “shut down” by outside forces. What seems at first to be a familiar tale of a religious leader with questionable motives quickly becomes something bigger and more surreal.
Three skulls. A lot of fun, with maybe too many special effects shots but a really solid story to tell. I wouldn’t mind a sequel that builds off the lore this one establishes.
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| from Dolly |
“Weird! 70s-y! Gross!”
The producer of this film, Noah Lang, was in attendance, and he described what they were trying to make as “an 80 minute shotgun blast to the face.” I think the crew largely succeeded. Shot on 16mm film and giving the grimy vibes of 70s grindhouse horror, this slasher-abduction movie featured a surprisingly good cast that included Sean William Scott (of Final Destination, Goon, and American Pie fame) in a role he could easily have said no to, given what his character goes through. Wrestling fans probably won’t recognize them under the mask, but Max the Impaler plays the titular Dolly, and producer Noah Lang said they were a pleasure to work with. This movie is a little mean, a lot gory, and will make you want a shower after watching. A prequel is already in development, according to Lang.
We’re going 5 skulls for this one -- it knows what it’s about and it does it well.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11 (happy birthday to me!)
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| Bryan Fuller and Meredith Borders |
VAULT OF HUMOR Short Film Block
“Hilarious! Like literally every film funny”
In hindsight, that’s not entirely true. I laughed at all of these short films, but a couple didn’t quite hit as hard as the rest. This was also the first show of Saturday, and I already mentioned the talker that felt the need to describe everything on screen and overreact with a loud OH MY GOSH at every bit of gore/humor/plot on screen. However, we’re not gonna let one loud jagoff get us down mid-review, so we shall move on.
Damsel in Geekstress was the one short I was kinda low on, as it was just kind of a version of geek culture that makes me cringe a bit. Maybe it hit too close to home? WHO’S TO SAY? Wall Udder was more unsettling than funny, but it still got a lot of the gross-out groans in the theater to call it successful -- and they even mounted the titular wall udder in the lobby for photo ops. Mo refused to let me take one, which was probably the right call for all involved.
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| from Weak in the Knees |
As for the best, my personal favorite was Weak In The Knees, which revolved around a killer with a particular ailment. Telluride Horror Show regulars Chris McInroy and Carlos LaRotta made CHÄIR, which was about the instructions-ignoring person inside all of us and the consequences of that. Museum of Regret, Five Star, and Whitch were also hilarious, but all of the short films in this block are worth a look.
I guess it’s an overall four skulls for the block?
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| from Good Boy |
“Kinda sad but still good”
This is probably one of the most anticipated movies of the year for a certain segment of the horror audience. A good story from a truly unique perspective that featured one of the best performances of the Horror Show from Indy the dog. A short intro sequence introduces the audience to Indy and his owner, and if you don’t immediately fall in love with that dog and prepare to riot if anything happens to him, you may not have a soul.
Still, the hard part about taking a chance and telling a story from the perspective of the dog is that the camera is either on the dog itself, or low to the ground in a first-person (first-dog?) perspective, and it can be tough to tell a story from there. Tension is easy to build, as the dog is clearly seeing something his person is not, and the metaphors are not at all subtle in this one, but it’s the technical achievement that shines throughout.
Three skulls. It’s a solid entry-level horror for dog lovers who aren’t into scary movies and even kids, with some jump scares and creepy images but no real gore or violence to worry about.
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| from Mother of Flies |
“Sad but hopeful and beautiful”
I think we’re a little biased in that we’ve seen all four of the Adams family’s movies at Telluride Horror Show. John Adams, Toby Poser, and Zelda Adams mostly make their movies in and around their family home in the Catskills of New York, and they have come to THS with their films for four of the seven Shows we’ve attended. I even happened to stand in the concessions line with Zelda, a kid who was too good a person to big-time the line despite my assurances that no one in that crowd would begrudge her. The Deeper You Dig and Hellbender were great movies that Mo and I both loved, and while Where The Devil Roams wasn’t our favorite, it was still a good story with some gnarly effects to boot.
Mother of Flies was about Mickey, a kid with cancer, her dad, and a powerful witch who came to her in a dream with a promise of healing. The movie gets tastefully gory, but the story is great. There’s a scene in which Mickey’s dad tells her he admires her, and you could just feel that this was a speech John really believed when he said it to his daughter.
We stuck around for a Q&A after this movie, and the family was as charming, honest, and forthcoming with their answers as ever. It’s hard not to root for every movie John, Toby, and Zelda (and Lulu, whose appearance in MoF drew a smile and a hand squeeze from us during the film).
Four skulls. A beautiful folk horror film full of reverence for nature and hope in the darkest of times.
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| from Dust Bunny |
“Literal movie magic. Spielberg with a dash of violence”
Bryan Fuller was in attendance for his first feature film, and he told us before the screening that he had hoped to make a horror movie for kids in the vein of the Spielberg/Amblin films of the 80s. What we got was one of the most visually pleasing movies I’ve ever seen, with Fuller’s signature wide, colorful shots and playful takes on violence. Every shot felt like a composition, with symmetry and art deco style oozing from the screen. The plot was a kinda heartbreaking tale of a kid who loses her family, and decides that she needs to hire a hitman to kill the monster under her bed -- the monster she believes is responsible for their deaths.
Mads Mikkelsen is so good as the lead in this, keeping mostly quiet until he starts to interact with Aurora. The cast is fantastic overall, and I think that this is definitely a movie that would be perfectly fine for a kid to watch, with themes that resonate with adults and little ones alike. It’s not horror in the strictest sense, but it does feel like a story that, as Fuller himself said, would be relatable for kids with “tricky” upbringings like his own. And while I was fortunate enough to not really have to deal with that personally, several folks I spoke with around the festival said it really hit home for them.
Five skulls. Go see this on a big screen, and take your kids if you got em!
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| from the short Inheritance |
SINISTER STORIES Short Film Block
“Scary! Fun!”
We usually only check out the Vault of Humor shorts block at Telluride Horror Show. We’re more feature film people, and usually only use the other shorts blocks as filler when there’s not a movie we’re interested in. This worked in our favor here, as we’d decided on shorts instead of subtitled French film Flush (say that three times fast) because of the late hour and our dwindling sobriety/alertness. As I mentioned, this was the block that featured my birthday twin’s short film, but there wasn’t a stinker in the bunch.
Inheritance, Heirlooms, Harvester, and The Night Within all had themes of messing around with stuff you shouldn’t -- you know, the FAFO the kids are all talking about these days. They all had some good scares and great worldbuilding for such short films, and I’d love to see any of these expanded into features. Turn It Off was a great short tale with a twist, and Animas Forks was a good old fashioned “something in the woods” film. Nightfall was more of a melancholy paranormal thriller, but the leads (Teri freakin’ Hatcher!) sold the story incredibly well.
Really, all of these were good stories that worked well in the short film format. Four skulls overall.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12
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| Things cleared up for day three! |
“Looked good, had moments, more a sad reflection on loss than a scary zombie movie. Also Daisy Ridley can't maintain an American accent”
I think I liked We Bury The Dead more than most people at the Show -- everyone I spoke to when we were reviewing what we’d seen so far made kind of an “eeehhhh” noise if they saw this one. It was an interesting story that held my attention throughout, but it did tread ground that basically every “more than just a zombie movie” zombie movie has at this point. You know the drill -- a reflection on what we’ve lost and what we’ve become, humans as the worst monsters, a search for closure in a world that doesn’t offer that easily anymore.
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| from We Bury The Dead |
Oh! And Daisy Ridley! I like her in most stuff, but her American accent stood out in this film, and not in a good way. She was in Tasmania, and the story could have been tweaked to make her British, or Australian, or South African. But because America was the reason for the accident in Tasmania, she played American -- a fact I didn’t even realize until a member of the Australian military said that they should have banned Americans from volunteering since they were responsible.
Anyways, if you overlook that, you’ve got a Walking Dead style story with a hunky sidekick and some good looking zombies that don’t really do much. It was a good looking film, and had some jumps and some dread, but overall it just wasn’t all that interesting. Two skulls.
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| one of the few scenes from Deathgasm 2 without a dick on screen |
“Dumb fun for metal heads that went on a little too long”
A sequel to the New Zealand horror comedy Deathgasm, and a movie that isn’t necessarily for everyone, as evidenced by my wife’s opinion of the film versus my own. And that’s fair -- we didn’t all grow up hanging out in Benny’s basement, listening to Pantera and Metallica while playing GoldenEye and watching WCW. But I did, so I have a soft spot for this kind of metal-worship mixed with zombie horror.
The problem is that the third act could have been a whole third movie, and Deathgasm 2 could have been a tight 80 minute blast. Instead, the movie drags a little at the end. There’s some fun cameos, including the second pro wrestler of the show for me, but the story is a little light and the dick jokes are … man, there’s a lot of dick trauma in this movie. As my festival pal texted me after I said we watched this one, it’s just “cocks, cocks, and more cocks.”
Three skulls. Or three dongs, if we’re staying on brand.
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| We met this friendly local while on our way to lunch |
“Probably the scariest movie of the festival. Jump scares, demons, cults, and an interesting blend of found footage, documentary style, and traditional film”
I hold that observation, but they did a Horror Show no-no in the build up for this one by calling it the “scariest movie of the year.” You just can’t set the bar that high in a theater full of horror junkies and expect it to deliver. The scares mostly came in two forms: jump scares with loud noises, and slow camera movements that lead to reveals or more jump scares. And those were effective! I jumped! My hand was clasped by my wife!
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| from Shelby Oaks. Those bangs are maintained throughout, despite dire circumstances |
The story was really good, and the mixed-media approach of Man Finds Tape was effectively used in Shelby Oaks too. The premise was that a paranormal researcher and her team of YouTubers went missing after going to investigate Shelby Oaks, a ghost town in Ohio. We saw some of their footage, along with skeptical reviews from other YouTubers, and then documentary footage from a crew that was interviewing that researcher’s sister months later. With the police uninterested and social media having moved on, the sister gets her hands on some evidence that leads her to continue the investigation on her own. We switch to a regular movie at that point, and while we do get a few more interview bits it’s mostly a standard horror flick from then on.
I don’t want to get too far into it for fear of spoiling anything, but Shelby Oaks is definitely worth your time. It’s not the scariest movie, but it is a scary movie, and an effective one that will have you talking afterward. Four skulls.
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| Until next year, Telluride! |
So Long For Now
And that’s it! We also enjoyed three days of fantastic food, specifically from Stronghouse Brew Pub, Uno Dos Tres Tacos & Tequila, Baked in Telluride, and Telluride Truffle. If you ever have a chance to go to Telluride Horror Show, or just to visit Telluride in general, I cannot recommend it enough. It’s a beautiful small town with everything you probably imagine a Colorado mountain town would have -- there’s even a gondola that you know my acrophobic ass ain’t ever riding.
Hey, thanks for reading! We’ll get back to Project Lucha Underground and the usual wrestling blog soon, although history does tell us that Octobers are usually slow for me due to my deep love of all things horror.
Follow me on BlueSky for updates on Let’s Watch Some Wrestling, as well as live watch-along commentary for most episodes of AEW Dynamite (and occasionally Collision). And, if you’re looking into purchasing anything from a smart fridge to a new drill, check out the writing I do over at SlashGear -- my automotive, tech, and tool-related lists are heavily researched, and ranked after thorough aggregation of expert opinions, reviews, and my own experience as a professional auto mechanic, an unprofessional handyman and a somehow even less professional homeowner.
Until next time…Let’s Watch Some Scary Movies! And/Or Some Wrestling!