8 Spine Shivering Films at VIFF 2014

Every year, the programmers here at the Vancouver International Film Festival prepares a scintillating and diverse selection of films for the festival-goers to enjoy. This year, among the 350 titles that will screen, there is a selection of critically-acclaimed horror/thriller films from around the would that will appeal to viewers that enjoy a good spine chilling experience.

Alleluia:
United by an online dating site and seemingly bound by some form of sorcery, Gloria, an emotionally erratic mortician, and Michel, a low-rent con artist, embark on a gruesome killing spree in this sinister and twisted romantic horror. Check out the trailer to the film here. Tickets.

Bloody Knuckles:
Travis, a brash underground comic book writer gets his right hand chopped off after offending the Chinatown crime gangster with his obscene comics. While Travis wallows in despair, his decapitated hand takes on a life of its own and vows to avenge its owner and defend the freedom of speech. Directed by BC director Matt O’Mahoney, Bloody Knuckles is an offbeat horror comedy with just the right amount of gore.
Check out the film trailer here. Tickets.

Housebound:
After an elaborate attempt at an ATM heist, twenty something troublemaker Kylie is sentenced to home detention at the secluded abode of her doting mother. As things go bump in the night, Kylie suspects that there may be something housed within the walls more horrifying than her childhood photographs. Finding a sidekick in the hapless security guard who monitors her electronic anklet, they go about their ghost-busting equipped with little more than a Polaroid camera and micro-cassette recorder. Consequently, they’re woefully unprepared when they stumble across something genuinely sinister. Watch the trailer here. Tickets.

It Follows:
A malevolent spirit inexorably stalks one victim after another, always on foot, always walking, but relentlessly and ruthlessly—and always capable of shape-shifting into the image of a family member, friend or perfect stranger. Once this spirit has you in its sights, the only permanent escape is through sexual congress—at which point your partner inherits this supernatural creeper as if it were a particularly virulent form of STD. But if it catches you first, the consequences are dire indeed. Tickets.

The Midnight After:
A night bus in Hong Kong full of strangers cruises out of the urban centre, eventually finding their surroundings to be entirely deserted—aside from some barely glimpsed enigmatic figures in gas masks roaming the streets. Panicked, the characters band together and try to uncover the mystery of what has happened. Watch a clip from the film here. Tickets.

The Editor:
When a series of grisly murders plague a low-rent film production, Rey Ciso, a former master-editor turned emasculated whipping boy, becomes the prime suspect. As obsessed cop Peter Porfiry investigates, Brooks and Kennedy—who also write, direct, shoot and cut the ensuing mayhem—assemble a deranged, debauched ode to ‘70s Italian giallo fare. Check out the movie teaser here. Tickets.

The Well:
In a drought-ravaged Oregon of the near future, a teenage girl resourcefully defends her working well from the greedy and violent water baron. Director Tom Hammock effortlessly combines elements of gritty Westerns and post-apocalyptic thrillers in this nightmarish tale of survival. Check out a clip from the film here. Tickets.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night:
Looking for love (and hemoglobin) in the desolate streets of Iranian ghost town Bad City, an alluring vampire must also navigate the comically offbeat, unequivocally cool reality envisioned by director Ana Lily Amirpour. Check out the creepy trailer here. Tickets.

VIFF 2014 (September 25th to October 10th) passes and tickets are available now, purchase yours today and get ready to hold on tight to those armrests!