Prepare to be terrified at this year’s Dances With Films festival, where the eerie atmosphere of the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood will set the stage for a spine-chilling cinematic experience. From June 22 to July 2, horror aficionados will be immersed in a harrowing array of upcoming films that will haunt their dreams for weeks to come. Expect blood-curdling suspense, bone-chilling thrills, and heart-stopping jump scares as this festival showcases the most sinister and unsettling tales ever brought to the silver screen. Below is a listing of everything horror coming to Dances With Films 2023.
Features
WRITER/PROD: Jennifer A. Goodman
DIR: Vincent Shade
CAST: RJ Mitte, Christian Stolte, William Mark McCullough, Jennifer A. Goodman, Rebekah Kennedy, Candice Rose, Kimberly Michelle Vaughn, Ava Bianchi, Sue Cremin, Niko El Santo Zavero, Lacianne Carriere, Larry Biela, Jeremy Warner, Oscar Mansky, Kylie Klunder, Lori Langvis, Martin Davis, Sarah Charipar
A law student finds himself in a twisted web of murder and deceit brought on by a dark force from his past.
WRITERS: John Barnard, Carrie May Siggins
DIR: John Barnard
PRODS: Tony Wosk, John Barnard, Kyle Bornais, Michael O’Sullivan
CAST: Niamh Carolan, Solange Sookram, Jeremy Walmsley, Jessie Nobess, Colleen Furlan, John B. Lowe, Michael O’Sullivan
Beth, a volunteer watch person of an isolated northern city battles a plague of depression that transforms the few remaining residents into empty, zombie-like automatons. She discovers that by entering an alternative dimension through her own dreams, she’s able to stave off the illness during the long, possibly endless winter. But will her power be enough to sustain her?
WRITER/DIR: Cassie Keet
PRODS: Benjamin Dunn, Brian Flaccus, Chadwick Hopson, Cassie Keet, Claire Dellamar, Mandie Cheung
CAST: Harley Bronwyn, Claire Dellamar, Mandie Cheung, Geri Courtney-Austein, Rochelle Anderson, Brian Flaccus, Skyler Bible, Joan Kubicek, David St. James
Five best friends, all struggling in their personal lives, head to the desert for a girls weekend of drinking, drugs, and restorative scream therapy. Their vacation takes a sharp turn when they cross paths with a cult of incels who are on a very pressing human sacrifice deadline.
WRITER/DIR: Jake Macpherson
PRODS: Jake Macpherson, John Angeli, Katie Mamie
CAST: Faye Tamasa, Robert Brettenaugh, Burt Thakur, Max Carpenter
When struggling artist Lola has nowhere else to go she is forced to stay with her estranged brother Louis and his unbalanced roommate Cage. For unknown reasons, the city of Los Angeles shuts down and overnight a mysterious packet of seeds arrives on their doorstep. Once planted, the trio’s reality turns upside down and Lola must fight to survive a surreal landscape of fate, family, and flora.
Shorts
WRITERS: Michael Gabriele, Danny Rhodes
DIR: Michael Gabriele
PRODS: Amy Stewart, Danny Rhodes, Scott Marvel
CAST: Mickey O’Sullivan, Angela Aiello, Lashonda Barton, Brittanie Boeck, Jay Cabrera, Jeff Zarinelli, Scott Marvel, Danny Rhodes
When a sound guy’s attempt to capture “room tone” is constantly thwarted by the noisy antics of his coworkers, he takes extreme measures to achieve silence.
THE HAUNTED BABY CARRIAGE FROM HELL
WRITER/DIR: JT Seaton
PRODS: Dylan Wayne Lawrence, JT Seaton
CAST: Dylan Wayne Lawrence, John Reddy, Kelli Maroney, James Sharinghousen, Noelle Guest, Paul Bright, Laura Welsh
In this LGBTQ+ Horror Comedy Short Film, Spencer and Cameron move into a new house that just so happens to be haunted by an old baby carriage. As the carriage endeavors to scare the couple, the attempts ultimately fail because the couple just doesn’t care… like… you know… at all.
WRITER/DIR: David Cornue
PRODS: Adam Huss, Adam Bucci, Livi Zheng, Margaret Scarborough, Brian Nolan, Milena Govich
CAST: Adam Huss, Adam Bucci, Dionne Gipson, Cord Jackman
A disaffected American soldier asserts to his superiors that an enemy combatant is innocent, only to discover his new friend may be concealing a far more sinister secret.
WRITER/DIR: Virginia Powers Hendry
STORY BY: Virginia Powers Hendry & Christy Rubenstein
PRODS: Miguel Lima and Ben Rock
CAST: T’Keyah Crystal Keymáh, Bennie Arthur, Stacy Citron, Taylor Lee Marr, Anastasia Washington
Wendy is a middle-aged woman who is constantly dismissed and made to feel invisible by the men in her life. One day while working in her garden, she pricks her finger on a thorny cocoon, and is infected with something… inhuman. After she is suddenly let go and replaced with a younger woman by her boss at a job she’s enjoyed for decades, her rage, (along with alien DNA), transforms her into a powerful creature, hellbent on revenge.
WRITER/DIR: Joseph Matarrese & Phillip Matarrese (The Matarrese Bros)
PRODS: Mandi Reno, Roy Ellis, Will Springhorn Jr., Jesse Hagy, Anne Everton
CAST: Michael Jamison, Myles Brown, Katie Krueger, Dov Hassan, Will Springhorn Jr.
Anthony’s got a killer new car that everyone is dying to ride in… Getting your first used car is a right of passage for any teenager, and Anthony is no exception. But his new used car comes with a deadly price from its previous owner, serial killer James Katz.
WRITER/DIR: Shane Bannon
PRODS: Celina Bernstein and Shane Bannon
CAST: Celina Bernstein, Kevin Owyang, Jesse Howland
Late at night, deep in the woods, a woman cries in her car. A light flickers through the trees. At the edge of her headlights’ reach, she can just make out the shape of a man. He’s coming closer.
DanWith its relentless pursuit of fear-inducing storytelling, Dances With Films promises an unforgettable journey into the darkest recesses of the human psyche. Brace yourself for a cinematic nightmare like no other.
