SF IndieFest’s Another Hole in the Head Film Fest celebrates its 16th anniversary this year with a December 1st –15th run at New People Cinema in San Francisco’s Japantown. According to the festival’s website, this will be “a two week cinematic excursion into the realms of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other assorted genres . . . [pulling] together a diverse collection of films representing all varieties and budgetary considerations. From your buddy Keith’s skateboarding footage in an enchanted forest to Burt Reynolds in Space, to tomorrow’s cult classic destined for Lionsgate, Another Hole in the Head provides a unique vehicle for independent cinema.”
With an outstanding array of feature films and short films — many making their world, U.S., or regional debuts — Another Hole in the Head has many selections to get excited about. Following are five of the features that Gruesome Magazine is especially looking forward to, with official descriptions from the festival’s website.
The Dead Ones
For four outcast teens, summer detention means being assigned to clean their high school after a horrific incident. But they are not alone; a macabre gang wearing guises of The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse — Famine, Pestilence, War and Death — has locked them inside and is hunting them through the school’s ravaged hallways. As the four students battle to survive, each must confront the supernatural echoes of past traumas they have struggled to forget — and may be condemned to relive. Directed by Jermey Kasten.
Rot
A grad student breaks up with her boyfriend to focus on her thesis, not realizing something has infected him and that he’s going to wreak havoc on her life. Directed by Andrew Merrill.
Get Gone
Hoax Busters, an internet “fake video” team, takes a weekend retreat to do some team building after busting another online lie. They travel to Whiskey Flats, Oregon and meet with Craig Eubanks, a shifty, bossy, know-it-all outdoor guide who promises them that his company, “Rocks and Roots,” will build their team confidence. At the same time, an invasive drilling company — with rights handed over by the Federal government — are moving onto the land of a family that has lived on the property illegally for over 30 years. When the drillers attack the family and the Hoax Busters get caught in the middle, things quickly go awry. Directed by Michael Thomas Daniel.
Beast Mode
In this dark comedy/horror 1980s throwback, a has-been Hollywood producer on his last leg accidentally kills his lead actor and meal ticket. He strikes a dark deal with a strange man and unwittingly unleashes a band of bloodthirsty monsters on the City of Angels. “Bad boy” actor Huckle Saxton lets fame get to his head and turns into a ferocious beast, ripping Hollywood to shreds. Will he sink his teeth into the role of a lifetime or succumb to the dangers of the Hollywood lifestyle? Directed by Chris W. Freeman and Spain Willingham.
Eat Brains Love
An ordinary lunch hour explodes in an orgy of spurting blood and flying organs when stoner Jake Stephens and cheerleader Amanda Blake suddenly gut-munch half their class in the school cafeteria. Afflicted with a zombie virus, they hit the road in search of a cure while outrunning Cass, a telepath charged with hunting and killing the infected. A romantic triangle blossoms as Jake forms a psychic bond with Cass while Amanda weighs the existential question of who deserves to be eaten alive. Can Jake and Amanda find love while eating their way through the national sex offender registry? Rodman Flender, the director of Idle Hands, delivers an outrageous, gore-soaked zom-rom-com.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the festival’s official website at https://www.ahith.com/.
He is a contributing writer for the "Phantom of the Movies VideoScope" and “Drive-In Asylum” print magazines and the websites Horror Fuel, Diabolique Magazine, The Scariest Things, B&S About Movies, and When It Was Cool. He is a co-host of the "Uphill Both Ways" pop culture nostalgia podcast and also writes for its website. Joseph occasionally proudly co-writes articles with his son Cohen Perry, who is a film critic in his own right.
A former northern Californian and Oregonian, Joseph has been teaching, writing, and living in South Korea since 2008.
