Okay Angelenos. It is that time of year again. Autumn is approaching and with it the promise of another scary season come October. To help get you into the mood Screamfest is back for its seventeenth year. The festival is announcing the first wave of titles today. It is an all North American lineup of titles featuring a festival circuit fave Tragedy Girls. Canada is also well represented with two titles, Todd & The Book of Evil: The End of the End and Trench 11.
The festival is also announcing that this year's ambassador will be Dominic Monaghan, your third or fouth favorite hobbit.
Read the press release below for all the first wave titles and information about getting tickets to this year's festival.
SCREAMFEST HORROR FILM FESTIVALANNOUNCES FIRST WAVE OF 2017 LINE UPDominic Monaghan to Serve as Festival AmbassadorHOLLYWOOD, Calif. – August 29, 2017 – America’s largest and longest running horror film festival, Screamfest Horror Film Festival, is proud to announce the first wave of its official 2017 film line up. In its 17th year, the festival, which will run from Oct. 10-19, 2017 at the TCL Chinese in Hollywood, has launched careers - providing a platform for filmmakers and actors to showcase their latest work to enthusiasts and general audiences. Actor and producer Dominic Monaghan (Lord of the Rings trilogy, X-Men Origins:Wolverine, TV’s “Lost”) will serve as this year’s festival ambassador.“I am extremely honored to serve as this year’s Screamfest ambassador,” said Monaghan.“I applaud Screamfest and its Founder and Festival Director Rachel Belofsky forembracing the work of filmmakers and actors in the horror genre. I’m a big fan of this space, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be a part of a fest that truly acknowledges unique and creative work.”Screamfest Horror Film Festival will offer unique access to some of the most creative forces in the horror genre through film screenings, Q&As and conversations with some of the most captivating artists working in the industry today.“We are thrilled to partner with Dominic Monaghan at this year’s Screamfest,” saidBelofsky. “He is an amazing actor and filmmaker who understands the vision of thisfestival. His experience in the industry alone, I am certain, will inspire other actors,filmmakers and horror film enthusiasts.”The festival is best known for discovering Paranormal Activity in 2007. Other pastpremieres include 30 Days of Night, Let the Right One In, The Grudge, The Fourth Kind, The Collection, Trick ‘r’ Treat, The Human Centipede and Diary of the Dead. Wes Craven, John Carpenter, Sam Raimi, Clive Barker, Eli Roth, James Wan, Zack Snyder, William Friedkin, John Landis and James Gunn are just some of the filmmakers who have supported the festival year after year.Film festival badges are currently on sale at www.ScreamfestLA.com and individual film tickets will be available end of September 2017. All screenings are open to the general public. Winners will receive a 24 karat gold dipped skull trophy designed by the legendary, Academy award-winning special make-up effects creator, Stan Winston, who partnered with the festival until his passing.Screamfest Horror Film Festival is proud to announce that the following films have beenadmitted to the festival – the first wave of the 2017 line up.DEAD ANT (USA) 2017Directed by Ron CarlsonWritten by Ron CarlsonProduced by Ron Carlson and Stephanie HodosCast: Tom Arnold, Sean Astin, Jake Busey, Ryhs Coiro, Leisha Hailey, CameronRichardson and Danny WoodburnWorld PremiereWhen the "one-hit-wonder" glam-metal band "Sonic Grave" embark on a trip to coachella in hopes of a comeback, their peyote trip pit stop in Joshua Tree incites an "unworldly" viscous attack, and they must "rock" themselves out of harms way.LEATHERFACE (USA) 2017Directed by Julien Maury, Alexandre BustilloWritten by Seth M. SherwoodProduced by Carl Mazzocone, Christa Campbell, Lati Grobman, Les WeldonCast: Stephen Dorff, Lili Taylor, Sam Strike, Sam Coleman, Vanessa GrasseNorth American PremiereIn Texas, years before the events of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in the early days of the infamous Sawyer family, the youngest child is sentenced to a mental hospital after a suspicious incident leaves the sheriff’s daughter dead. Ten years later, the Sawyer teen kidnaps a young nurse and escapes with three other inmates. Pursued by authorities including the deranged sheriff out to avenge his daughter’s death, Sawyer goes on a violent road trip from hell, molding him into the monster now known as Leatherface.RUIN ME (USA) 2017Directed by Preston DeFrancisWritten by Trysta A. Bissett, Preston DeFrancisProduced by Rebecca G. StoneCast: Marcienne Dwyer, Matt Dellapina, Chris Hill, Eva Hamilton, John Odom, CameronGordon, Sam AshdownLA PremiereAlexandra reluctantly tags along for Slasher Sleepout, an extreme event that is partcamping trip, part haunted house, and part escape room. But when the fun turns deadly, Alex has to play the game if she wants to make it out alive.TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID (MEXICO) 2017Directed by Issa LópezWritten by Issa LópezProduced by Marco Polo ConstandseCast: Paola Lara, Hanssel Casillas, Rodrigo Cortes, Ianis Guerrero, Juan Ramón LópezLA PremiereWe are in a Mexican City turned into a ghost town by the drug-war. Estrella is 11, and when her mother vanishes, she makes a wish: she wants her mother to come back. And mom does return—from the dead. Terrified, Estrella escapes and joins a rag-tag gang of other children orphaned by the violence, all escaping their own past. But she learns that in a city ruled by death, you can’t simply leave the ghosts behind; they walk with you wherever you go.TODD & THE BOOK OF PURE EVIL: THE END OF THE END (CANADA) 2017Directed by Craig David Wallace and Rich DuhaneyWritten by Charles Picco, Craig David WallaceProduced by Andrew Rosen, Sarah Timmins, Jonas DiamondCast: Alex House, Maggie Castle, Bill Turnbull, Melanie Leishman, Jason Mewes, Chris LeavinsU.S. PremiereContinuing where the cult TV series left off, Todd & The Book of Pure Evil: The End of The End: The Animated Feature Film returns to Crowley Heights to find Todd, Jenny and Curtis grieving the loss of their dear friend Hannah. The three must reunite to fight evil when the Book of Pure Evil returns to Crowley High, bringing with it some familiar faces as well as some new foes. But these enemies are merely warm-ups to the final battle with their greatest nemesis yet: The New Pure Evil One.TRAGEDY GIRLS (USA) 2017Directed by Tyler MacIntyreWritten by Chris Lee Hill, Tyler MacIntyreProduced by Armen Aghaeian, Tara Ansley, Anthony Holt, Edward Mokhtarian, Craig Robinson, Cameron Van HoyCast: Brianna Hildebrand, Alexandra Shipp, Kevin Durand, Jack Quaid, Craig RobinsonLA PremiereBest friends Sadie and McKayla are on a mission to boost their social media fandom as amateur crime reporters hot on the trail of a deranged local serial killer. After they manage to capture the killer and secretly hold him hostage, they realize the best way to up get scoops on future victims would be to, you know, murder people themselves. As the @TragedyGirls become an overnight sensation and panic grips their small town, can their friendship survive the strain of national stardom? Will they get caught? Will their accounts get verified?TRENCH 11 (CANADA) 2017Directed by Leo SchermanWritten by Matthew Booi, Leo SchermanProduced by Tyler LevineCast: Rossif Sutherland, Robert Stadlober, Charlie Carrick, Shaun Benson, KarineVanasseU.S. PremiereIn the final days of WWI a shell-shocked tunneller must lead an Allied team into a hidden German base...100 hundred feet below the trenches. The Germans have lost control of a highly contagious biological weapon that turns its victims into deranged killers. The Allies find themselves trapped underground with hordes of the infected, a rapidly spreading disease and a team of German Stormtroopers dispatched to clean up the mess. The only thing more terrifying than the Western Front... is what lies beneath it.