This is a list of films shown at the Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival (RIIHFF). The RIIHFF, described by Diabolique Magazine as "one of the top horror film festivals in the world", is the largest and longest-running horror film festival in New England.The Independent Film & Video Monthly. Vol. 29. New York: Foundation for Independent Video and Film, 2006. (pg. 53)"The Definitive 2006 Horror Convention Schedule". Rue Morgue. Issue #53 (January 2006) A jury chooses the festival's official selections to highlight leading horror films from around the world and to draw the public's interest to the New England film industry.Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival (July 2001). "Competition and Awards". Brooks Pharmacy RIIFF’s Horror Film Festival, October 26–28, 2001. Film-festival.org. ("A panel of jurists filmmakers and professionals in the varied fields of cinema will award cash prizes and trophies in the following: Best Short, Best Director, Best Feature, and RI Fest Audience Favorites.") The festival typically receives hundreds of submissions each year, from which only a handful are chosen. The 2012 Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival selected 63 films out of 461 submissions from 20 countries.
Multiple films have made their U.S. or international premieres at the RIIHFF. In 2004, six festival entries made their U.S. premiere, and five made their world premiere. Other films premiering at the festival have included: Dark Remains (2005), Day X (2005), Pretty Dead Things (2006), Sea of Dust (2008), Chloe and Attie (2009), and Sudden Death! (2010).
A number of films are accepted into the festival as non-competition entries. In its early years, the RIIHFF screened formerly lost and restored films, most often silent films with live accompaniment, at the historic Columbus Theatre. These have included Tales of the Uncanny (1919), Der Golem (1920), Nosferatu (1922), and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). In 2010, the festival offered a special world premiere screening of a restored, high definition version of Roger Corman's The Fall of the House of Usher (1960). The festival has also showcased cult and foreign horror films. From 2003 to 2004, the festival featured the "Japanese Horror Film Showcase", from which Shunsuke Yamamoto's The Strange Killers won the Viola M. Marshall Audience Choice Award. The 2006 screening of Day of the Dead was attended by cast member Gary Howard Klar. In addition, exclusive film screenings have included All the Love You Cannes! and Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger Part IV in 2002, with director Lloyd Kaufman in attendance for the latter film, and Scream 4 in 2011.
2000
2001
The festival took place between October 26 and October 28, 2001, at the Columbus Theater in Providence, Rhode Island. It selected a total of 14 films including one non-competition entry.
Feature competition Cradle of Fear (Alex Chandon, ) Terror Tract (Clint Hutchinson and Lance W. Dreesen, ) – Best Feature
Non–competition features The Phantom of the Opera (Rupert Julian, 1925)
Shorts Dead In America (Lawrence Klein, ) Digging Ashley (Todd Cobery, ) – Best Short The Fragile Skin (John Carr, ) Teacher of the Year (Brian Adler, ) Thou Shalt Not Kill (Yuk Ting Chan, ) Tomorrow's Bacon (Bryan Norton, ) – H.P. Lovecraft Award Twitch (Daniel Giambruno, ) Vampire Hunter's Club (Donald F. Glut, ) Veil (B. Mark Seabrooks, )
Source:2001 Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival Schedule film-festival.org
2002
The festival took place between October 25 and October 27, 2002, at the Columbus Theater in Providence, Rhode Island. It selected a total of 23 films including 4 non-competition entries. The event drew record attendance for the historic theater which was then celebrating its 75th year in operation. Feature competition Anacardium (Scott Thomas, ) The Human BEEing (Tony Shea, ) Tomorrow by Midnight (Rolfe Kanefsky, ) – Best Feature; East Coast premiere.
Documentaries All the Love You Cannes! (Lloyd Kaufman, )
Non–competition features Nosferatu (F. W. Murnau, 1922) Robotrix (Jamie Luk Kim Ming, 1991) Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (Nam Nai Choi, 1991) Citizen Toxie (Lloyd Kaufman, 2000)
Shorts Abaddon (Pamela Theodotou, ) Anna's Room (Patrick Boyton, ) Copycat (Christian Davis, ) Daughter (Eduardo Rodriguez, ) Desert People () A Final Wish (Ose Oyamendan, ) First Night Shift (Hubert Cheng, ) Little Ricky (Michael Condro, ) Marcilla (Jenelle Troxell, ) Monkey Trap (Greg Nunes, ) Off (Tyler Polhemus, ) – (tie) Best Short Separation Anxiety (Guido Santi, ) Surface Calm (Mike Miley, ) The Snowman (Rene Dupre and Jim Lindstedt, ) The Terror of the Invisible Man (Adam Roffman and Wayne Kimball, ) Timmy's Wish (Patrick Cannon, ) – (tie) Best Short
Source:2002 Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival Schedule film-festival.org
2003
The festival took place between October 23 and October 26, 2003, at the Columbus Theater in Providence, Rhode Island. It selected a total of 18 films including 4 non-competition entries.
Feature competition Blood of the Beast (Georg Koszulinski, ) – Best Director The Curse of Welwitschia (Adalberto Fornario, ) – New England premiere. Flesh for the Beast (Terry West, ) Ghost of the Needle (Brian Avenet-Bradley, ) – Best Feature King of the Ants (Stuart Gordon, ) – East Coast premiere.
Documentaries Ghost and Vampire Legends of Rhode Island (Scott Saracen and Maria Patsias, )
Non–competition features Der Golem (Carl Boese and Paul Wegener, 1920) Maniac (William Lustig, 1980) Zombi (Lucio Fulci, 1979) Best of the Fest The Human BEEing (Tony Shea, ) – 2002 entry Little Ricky (Michael Condro, ) – 2002 entry Timmy's Wish (Patrick Cannon, ) – 2002 Best Short Japanese Horror Film Showcase Ichi the Killer (Takashi Miike, 2001) Uzumaki (Higuchinsky, 2000)
Shorts Deja Vu (Nossah Kirt, ) Einstein's Brain (Ben Sweeney, ) Filthy (Andy Lalaino, ) – (tie) Best Short Headhunter (Adam Alleca, ) – Best Special Effects The Legend of Aerreus Kane (Lance Maurer, ) Red's Breakfast Experience (Caleb Emerson, ) Red's Breakfast Red's Breakfast 2: Dawn of the Red Red's Breakfast 3: Die You Zombie Bastards! William Wilson (Nicholas Davis, ) – (tie) Best Short
Source:2003 Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival Schedule film-festival.org
2004
The festival took place between October 14 and October 17, 2004, at the Columbus Theater in Providence, Rhode Island. It received 243 official entries, and 12 non-competition films, from 5 countries and 14 U.S. states, of which 27 were selected. Feature competition Freak Out (Christian James, ) – (tie) Best Genre Cross Over Shelf Life (Mark Tuit, )
Documentaries The Vampire Hunters (Tim Hopewell, ) – U.S. premiere
Non–competition features Tales of the Uncanny (Richard Oswald, 1919) Brief Lessons in the History of Rhode Island (Anthony Penta, ) Lesson 1: The Pirate Queen Lesson 2: The Werewolf of Pawtucket Japanese Horror Film Showcase Alive (Ryuhei Kitamura, 2002) Eko Eko Azarak: Wizard of Darkness (Shimako Sato, 1995) The Strange Killers (Shunsuke Yamamoto, 2002) – 2004 Viola M. Marshall Audience Choice Award
Shorts A Reasonable Hypothesis (Jack Ferry, ) Art of the Dead (Brian Purviance, ) The Crypt Club (Miguel Gallego, ) – (tie) Best Short Cube Zero (Ernie Barbarash, ) – Best Visual Effects Dead & Breakfast (Matthew Leutwyler, ) – Best Feature Detained (Jason Tammemagi, ) Disfrasada (Mauro Rubeo, ) Enter...Zombie King (Stacey Case, ) Graveyard Alive (Elza Kephart, ) – (tie) Best Genre Cross Over Hokus Fokus (Brian Edgens, ) The Last Horror Movie (Julian Richards, ) – Best Director London Voodoo (Robert Pratten, ) The People (Michael Noonan, ) Ring of Blood (Kenny Barrickman, ) Un–Real (Paul Natale, ) Thanatos Road (Edward Kishel, ) There's Something Out There (Brian Pulido, ) – (tie) Best Short 3 a.m. (Stewart Hopewell, ) Zymosis (Daniel-James Matrundola, )
Source:2004 Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival Schedule film-festival.org
2005
The festival took place between October 27 and October 30, 2005. It received over 120 submissions, of which 28 films were selected. The festival was held at multiple venues for the first time and included Cable Car Cinema, Columbus Theatre, and Providence Chamber of Commerce Theatre in Providence, and the Courthouse Center for the Arts in West Kingston, Rhode Island.
Feature competition All Cheerleaders Must Die (Lucky McKee and Chris Sivertson, ) August Underground (Fred Vogel, ) – Vanguard Award Cruel World (Kelsey T. Howard, ) – Horror Excellence Award; East Coast premiere. Dark Remains (Brian Avenet-Bradley, ) – Best Feature Day X (Jason Hack, ) – Best Director The Experiment (Daniel Turner, ) Hellbent (Paul Etheredge-Ouzts, ) – Vanguard Award Izo (Takashi Miike, ) The Mangler Reborn (Matt Cunningham and Erik Gardner, ) The Manson Family (Jim Van Bebber, ) Shadow: Dead Riot (Derek Wan, ) Zombie Honeymoon (David Gebroe, )
Non–competition features Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (John McNaughton, 1986) The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974)
Shorts Beaster (Vincent Morrone, ) Blood Jacker Bloody Mary (J. Elizabeth Martin, ) Facility 4 (Colter Freeman, ) Gotham Cafe (Jack Edward Sawyers, ) Home Delivery Means to an End (Paul Solet, ) – Best Short Mom vs. The Undead (James Darling, ) Nothing in the Dark (John Correll Jr., ) Rats (David Brocca, ) The Road Virus Heads North (David Brock, ) School of the Dead (James Raymond, ) Snow Day, Bloody Snow Day (Jessica Baxter and Faye Hoerauf, ) The Tell Tale Heart (Raul Garcia, ) – Best Animated Voices Within (Christopher Vallone, ) We All Fall Down (Jake Kennedy, ) – Best Special Effects The White Mice (Luke Taylor, ) Zombie Movie (Michael J. Asquith, ) Black Cab Films Shorts Human No More (Christopher Alan Broadstone, ) Marburg (Shannon Lark, ) Moondance (Will Bigham, ) My Skin! (Christopher Alan Broadstone, )
Source:2005 Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival Schedule film-festival.org
2006
The festival took place between October 5 and October 8, 2006. It received over 150 submissions, from which 40 films were selected. The festival venues included Cable Car Theatre, Columbus Theatre, and URI Feinstein Campus in Providence, Rhode Island.
Feature competition Bone Sickness (Brian Paulin, ) – Best Makeup FX Die You Zombie Bastards! (Caleb Emerson, ) – Best New England The Entrance (Damon Vignale, ) The Lost (Chris Sivertson, ) Ricky 6 (Peter Filardi, /) Seepage (Richard Griffin, ) – Best Genre Cross Over The Slaughter (Jay Lee, ) – Best Feature Unrest (Jason Todd Ipson, )
Documentaries Horror Business (Christopher P. Garetano, )
Non–competition features Day of the Dead (George A. Romero, 1985)
Shorts All I Want For Christmas (Scott Goldberg, ) The Beach (Matthew Harrington, ) Bed Bugs (Sean Carley, ) – North American premiere Blood Son (Michael McGruther, ) The Boarder (Susan Bell, ) Breezehaven (Patrick Bosworth and Jamie Dufault, ) Call of Cthulhu (Andrew Leman, ) Camp Blood: The Musical (Tanner Barklow, Jefferson Craig and Thomas Hughes, ) – Audience Award Can I Call You (Edward "Ed" Lyons, ) The Day They Came Back (Scott Goldberg, ) – Best New Director Eating Razors (Ron Decaro, ) Eddie Loves You (Karl Holt, ) The Eyes of Edward James (Rodrigo Gudino, ) Grace (Paul Solet, ) – Best Short The Incredible Falling Apart Man (Kenneth Hurd, ) It's Just a Dream (Luke Cote, ) Legion: Word Made Flesh (Robert Sexton, ) The Listening Dead (Phil Mucci, ) Man of the Worm (Brad Eadie, ) Midnight Screening (Annabel Osborne, ) The Need (Chris Young, ) Nightmare (Scott Goldberg, ) Oculus (Mike Flanagan, ) Of Darkness (Gary E. Irvin, ) Penny Dreadful (Bryan Norton, ) The Pit and the Pendulum (Marc Lougee, ) Teddy Scares (William Vaughan, ) The Terrorist Ate My Brain (Brett Young, ) Unexpected Company (Justin Sulham, ) The White Lie (Ron Decaro, ) Witchwise (Joe Harris, ) Zombie Prom (Vince Marcello, )