FilmQuest, one of the largest and fastest growing genre film festivals in the world celebrating the very best in sci-fi, fantasy, horror and the beyond, takes place October 23 – November 1 in Downtown Provo, Utah. Along with the fine feature film fare on tap — including Bad Haircut, which we raved about here — is a treasure chest of short films and music videos, as well as an unproduced screenplay competition. Here are some of the standouts from each of those last three categories. All come highly recommended from yours truly. For more information, visit https://www.filmquestfest.com/.
The Man Upstairs
After being kidnapped, Julian wakes up in a stranger’s basement, where another child already lives, and where survival means playing along with the man who calls himself “Dad.” As the boys form a fragile bond, they plot an escape from a twisted domestic nightmare.
Simon
A unique video game character, created by a 13-year-old child in a life simulator, narrates the unfortunate story of his life from the moment he was generated. Full of hatred and resentment, he will seek answers about its world and the malevolent “God” that controls it.
Observer
When contact is lost with Samuel Harth, the Algan Space Corporation looks into his memories to see what unfolded during a mission to Planet COR-73, unraveling a cosmic mystery in the process.
Devil’s Prism
Shown entirely from Gabi’s perspective, the film follows a thief who joins her friends for a routine heist which finds her in an unsettling encounter with a mysterious, evil object that unleashes a dark entity, possessing her.
Next Show in 90 Minutes
A routine both natural and unnatural unfolds in the heart of one of America’s most cherished landscapes.
Defile
A couple’s secluded getaway is interrupted by a strange family who exposes them to the horrors that lie beyond the tree line.
Grima
When Jen’s guilt starts to catch up to her, she begins to experience grima, the sensation you get from nails on a chalkboard. She must choose to confront the past or be consumed by her guilt.
Pearls
Tony and Linda are struggling to grow their family. When Tony is forced to face his fertility issues, he turns to a mysterious oyster dealer, Marvin. Whose oysters deliver more than their promise of virility.
Blindsided
A blind schoolteacher is thrust into a nightmarish game of survival when an alien spaceship crashes and unleashes a monstrous predator. Reviewed here.
Director/Editor Hunter Wayne’s music video for That Handsome Devil’s Buddha Was a Rich Boy
Screenplays
Soft
Screenwriter Matt Moeller’s logline for his short film script Soft is: “When a desperate fitness influencer injects a new experimental steroid called ‘The Dream’ to boost his image and love life, Dante must fight to survive as the drug transforms him into a horrifying, soft-bodied prey hunted by ravenous women — or lose his identity and life in this dark horror thriller.”
Respirar
Respirar screenwriter August Joaquim Soto describes the script as “a folklore-inspired, queer body-horror story rooted in fictional Puerto Rican and Portuguese mythology. It explores dysphoria, cultural shame, and identity through the metaphor of possession and transformation.”
