Portland Horror Film Festival returns to the historic Hollywood Theatre and Clinton Street Theater June 5-9th for its 9th annual event!
Continuing their mission of presenting a diverse and inclusive program of the best independent horror films, this year’s lineup includes 70 short and feature films from 16 countries, including films from Black, Asian, Latinx, and Queer filmmakers, with nearly half of the films directed by women!
This includes the West Coast Premiere of GHOST GAME, directed by acclaimed filmmaker Jill Gevargizian (The Stylist), psychological horror feature DID I? by Sarah Tice, Queer Horror feature CARNAGE FOR CHRISTMAS (Australia) by Alice Maio Mackay, and found footage shocker IT DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS co-directed by Rachel Kempf.
The festival spans 5 days at two venues, starting on Wednesday, June 5th at the Hollywood Theatre, with the World Premiere of the religious horror feature IN THE NAME OF GOD (Sweden), written and directed by Ludvig Gür, and Italian Creature Feature THE COMPLEX FORMS, directed by Fabio D’Orta. Thursday brings the hilariously bloody JURASSIC PARK homage THE INVISIBLE RAPTOR (featuring Sean Astin!) with filmmakers Mike Capes and Johnny Wickham in attendance! Director Jill Gevargizian and lead actress Kia Dorsey will be in attendance for Friday’s West Coast Premiere of home invasion horror feature GHOST GAME, with Q&A afterwards, followed by the World Premiere of Portland-made SOV horror feature HIDING HENRY with director Sean Whiteman in attendance!
Weekend screenings at the Clinton Street Theater feature Horror by Women on Saturday with 3 feature films and 2 short film blocks. A woman grapples with her dissociative identity disorder in DID I?, followed by Q&A with director Sarah Tice. A vengeful ghost arises from a true-crime podcaster’s visit to her small hometown in Alice Maio Mackay’s CARNAGE FOR CHRISTMAS, and IT DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS tops off the evening. Only available in theaters, this found footage film about 3 friends uncovering the mystery of a haunted duplex and the cult of strangers drawn to it, has been scaring audiences across the country!
Sunday closes out the festival with 2 US Premiere features + short films! In giallo slasher, ROAD TO THE MOUTH OF HELL (Brazil) directed by Julio César Napoli Filho, a group of friends offer a ride to a teenage girl, but become stranded themselves and are soon the targets of a psychotic killer. DASTUR (Kazakhstan), directed by Kuanysh Beise explores the plight of many women who are oppressed in Kazakhstan. A young woman is forced to marry her assaulter in accordance with local traditions. Revenge is swift and supernatural.
A bevy of short films (60 of them!) rounds out the programming, boasting some notable talent, including Zach Galligan (Gremlins) in Charles de Lauzirika’s “Honk”, Barbara Crampton (Jacob’s Wife) in Brea Grant’s “MLM”, Andrea Bang (Kim’s Convenience) in Allison Miller’s “Hollow”, and Lucy Davis (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) in Lisa Soper’s “Have a Good Day”.
International short film highlights include the World Premiere of Indonesian folk horror “Heirlooms” directed by Devina Sofiyanti, the visually stunning and harrowing journey of “Juggernaut” from Italy, directed by Daniele & Emanuele Ricci, Icelandic holiday horror “Krampuss” by Guðni Líndal Benediktsson, “Poppy’s Saturn”, a terrifying Lynchian nightmare from Belgium directed by Nicole Tegelaar, and “Dead End” an allegoric queer horror from Russian filmmaker Dima Barch (in attendance).
The infamous Shorts Gone Wild caps off the weekend with the weirdest, most hilarious, and uncanny short films of the festival! Look for “The Connoisseur” by Seattle filmmaker Eric Morgret, and “Yummo Spot” dir. by Ashley Brandon.
Horror fanatics who can’t make it in person can stream a selection of more than 20 hours of films, including 7 feature films, available through the Portland Horror Film Festival’s Eventive portal. The streaming program begins Thursday June 6th (available anywhere in the US only).
For ticket information, the full schedule, film listing, and more, please visit https://portlandhorrorfilmfestival.com
