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If you aren’t already exhausted and out of breath from this past weekend’s Fantastic Fest (much like all of us here at FANGORIA), there’s already another exciting film festival around the corner: Beyond Fest, dedicated to all things weird and wild in genre cinema, specifically in Los Angeles. And, just after announcing their full feature-length line-up, they’ve just dropped the full list of short films that’ll be playing at the festival starting this weekend.
The fest features four different themed shorts blocks with over thirty mind-bending selections across genres, featuring stars Barbara Crampton, Haley Joel Osment, Sam Raimi (yes, that Sam Raimi, in front of the camera!), and more. According to the fest’s official press, “each block will lead you down the psychedelic rabbit hole, leaving you to question reality—and craving more,” which sounds exactly right for the insane celebration of genre filmmaking that is Beyond Fest.
Block one, “A Miracle of Rare Device,” explores all kinds of subjects through the lens of dark comedy, including societal pressure, family secrets, and gruesome technology, featuring titles like Sam Fox’s The Blue Diamond, Attachment Theory out of New Zealand, and MLM, from Torn Hearts director Brea Grant. (Two Crampton titles in one block — score!)
On the other sides of things, block two, titled “Between the Desire and the Spasm,” explores liminal spaces and the “razor’s edge between control and unraveling,” spilling into endless days and nights of torture and chaos. Titles like Emma Raimi’s Stop Whining & Start Winning and Stereo-Vision highlight the themes of this block, alongside The Yellow from Simone Faoro and Longlegs’ Maika Monroe and Mike Williamson’s Mr. Static.
Block three plays with “Desires and Dream and Powers,” as characters are transformed through surreal and often hilariously dark circumstances into something completely different as they explore their own ambitions. These themes are highlighted by titles like MAKE ME A PIZZA and Meat Puppet, exploring the absurdity of our own wants and news in life.
And finally, block four, “Not Waving But Drowning,” explores heavier themes of “isolation, violation, and alienation,” all through the lens of everybody’s favorite gross-out subgenre: body horror. Titles like FEMME, CHEW, and the appropriately titled Out of Body round out the experience for audiences, provided they aren’t too squeamish to check this block out.
All four blocks of shorts join an already insane lineup of full-length features at Beyond Fest, which includes the headed-to-Max remake of Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot, Damien Leone’s grindhouse slasher Terrifier 3, and Nightbitch, starring Amy Adams. The entire festival runs from September 25 to October 9 in Los Angeles, with shorts blocks playing at the Los Feliz Theatre 3 on September 28 and October 5.
For tickets, check out Beyond Fest’s website, and be sure to check out the full list of shorts down below:
SHORTS BLOCK 1: A miracle of rare device
/HAAW/ / Joey Scoma / USA
Memory Box / Oliver Bernsen / USA
Izzy / Yfke van Berckelaer / The Netherlands
Pushover / Brian Lederman / USA / LA Premiere
Attachment Theory / Katherine Jackson / New Zealand
Defect / Guust Mulder / The Netherlands
The Blue Diamond / Sam Fox / USA / West Coast Premiere
MLM / Brea Grant / USA / LA Premiere
The Flacalta Effect / Rochée Jeffrey / USA / LA Premiere
Swollen / Roxy Sophie Sorkin / USA
SHORTS BLOCK 2: Between the desire and the spasm
Stop Whining & Start Winning / Emma Raimi / USA
The Yellow / Simone Faoro & Maika Monroe / USA / LA Premiere
Matryoshka / Joseph Ros / Cuba / LA Premiere
Devotee / Richard J. Bosner / USA
Stereo-Vision / Jackson Stewart / USA / US Premiere
The Power of the Strike / Dima Barch / Germany, Russia, UK / West Coast Premiere
Nocturna / Pablo Olmos Arrayales / Mexico / US Premiere
The Curse of the Velvet Vampire / Christoffer Schuricht / Denmark / LA Premiere
Mr. Static / Mike Williamson / USA / World Premiere
Pumpkin Guts / Bryan M. Ferguson / Scotland / LA Premiere
SHORTS BLOCK 3: Desires and dreams and powers
Beach Logs Kill / Haley Z. Boston / USA
A Shade Rolls In / Kenneth Ruddy / USA
Alouette / Lillian Vargyas, Emmanuella Zachariou / USA / World Premiere
Baggage/ Tim Hendrix / USA
Meat Puppet / Eros V / UK / West Coast Premiere
how i see me / Alec Scholzen / USA / World Premiere
Belly Belly / Gabriel Carnick / USA / World Premiere
The Burger / Nathan R. Smith / USA / World Premiere
MAKE ME A PIZZA / Talia Shea Levin / USA
Cakes!/ Johnny Herbin / Scotland / LA Premiere
SHORTS BLOCK 4: Not waving but drowning
Don’t talk to strangers / Imanol Ortiz López / Spain / West Coast Premiere
The Cost of Flesh / Tomas Palombi / France / West Coast Premiere
Never have I ever / Joyce A. Nashawati / France / US Premiere
Pretty Sad / Jim Cummings / USA
CHHAYA / Sophiyaa Nayar / USA / West Coast Premiere
Out of Body / Joseph Le / USA
FEMME / Nina Noël Raaijmakers / The Netherlands / World Premiere
CHEW / Félix Dobaire / France / US Premiere
FACES / Blake Simon / USA / West Coast Premiere
