Films


The films are the reason you’re here, and you can expect to see the best independent horror films, some funny, some gory, some scary, but all cooler and more innovative than anything you can see at the multiplex. Independent filmmakers are the ones creating fresh looks at horror, and you can see the best films from the horror masters of tomorrow at the Portland Horror Film Festival™.

We’re still working on selecting films for the 2024 festival, but check out the archive of amazing horror films we showed our audience in June of 2023.

2023  Feature Films (ARCHIVE)

Photographers Brooke and Tanner find themselves stranded in an abandoned location pitted against an unsuspecting squatter and the dangers that lie deep within the dark halls and corridors of the building.

Black Mold


On their first wedding anniversary, a couple ventures into the mountains for a romantic Chabak (car-camping) trip, but their idyllic getaway turns into a living nightmare when they unknowingly cross paths with a bloodthirsty psychopath. The couple must confront the truth before it’s too late.

Chabak – The Night of Murder and Romance


Set in 1997 South of Chile, a trio of metalhead twenty something girls venture into the woods to shoot their demo tape for their black metal band, Invoking Yell, while also documenting the eerie and unsettling process of recording psicofonias in the woods for the final track.

Invoking Yell



Koki is bullied by other students at elementary school. Wakaba, who can’t stand it, protects Koki from the other students. Wakaba is also bullied at school, but then strange incidents start happening around Wakaba…

Love Will Tear Us Apart


Fledgling occultist Onyx and a group of worshipers attend a once-in-a-lifetime ritual at their idol BARTOK THE GREAT’S mansion.

Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls


While celebrating Christmas break at an isolated cabin in the woods, Jamie and his high school friends are stalked by a sadistic killer obsessed with horror movie icons.

Puppet Killer



Satan Wants You tells the untold story of how the Satanic Panic of the 1980s was ignited by “Michelle Remembers”, a lurid memoir by psychiatrist Larry Pazder and his patient Michelle Smith.

Satan Wants You


When ancient parasites that thrive on hatred rise from beneath a small town, taking the most fearful and susceptible as hosts, a young trans filmmaker struggling to transition in increasingly hostile times for LGBTQ+ people, finds herself the only one who can sense the possessed, and rally the resistance!

T Blockers


In a rural Australian town, a sick Mother fears unspeakable evil will soon snatch her 11 year old daughter, Violett. As bizarre visions and disturbing characters from the neighborhood emerge, Sonya is about to discover more than just one grisly truth.

Violett



2023  Short Films (ARCHIVE)

3:33 Set against the backdrop of Kurdish folklore, Akam moves into a mysterious house, one that has harbored terrible secrets for years before Sheikh Rezgar. And one night everything changes by broken spells.

3:33


A nihilistic young man develops an obsession with snuff films on the internet. With few prospects in his increasingly bleak life, his obsession begins to take on a new dimension: a desire to star in his own.

Annihilator


After returning from academic research in Africa, a man on the verge of his own academic excellence experiences life reforging energy from the remnants of a souvenir.

Ash



Based on outback folklore, a bushranger who mourns the death of his daughter searches for a missing girl who has been taken by the corruptions the Australian settlers call “Banshees.”

Banshees Ridge


Set and filmed in Donegal’s Irish-speaking region, Bean Feasa is an Irish-language supernatural drama inspired by Donegal folktales about the skeptical daughter of a traditional healer who has her certainties challenged when she encounters one of ‘the Good People’.

Bean Feasa (Wise Woman)


Spain, 1979. Irene is an aspiring writer who is obsessed with the delicate ghost at the library she works at.

Bookworm (Ratón de Biblioteca)



Tune in to the blind date woes of Rick and Becky.

Buzzkill


A census enumerator finds herself trapped in a mysterious mansion, where she attempts to help two children in peril while evading their cruel caretaker. CENSUS is a short horror thriller inspired by genre classics from several eras: 1960s television, 1970s cinema, and 1980s literature!

Census


Tortured by toxic beauty standards, thirteen-year-old Rein discovers an unconventional and disturbing way to lose weight. She thinks she’s found a fast track to perfection…but ends up biting off more than she can chew.

Consumer



Every night, two sisters strive to maintain their daily routine in the hopes of finding comfort in the familiar and warding off the unknown.

Cover Your Ears


On Halloween a group of wannabe witches wishing to learn of their future romantic prospects conjure up the dinner guest from Hell during their dumb supper ritual.

Damned Supper


When her father goes missing, young Rhena enters the woods to seek out a mythological creature believed to collect the stories of dying beings.

Darker (Donkerster)



A man struggles to escape the monster in his bed.

Devoured


In 1996 middle-of-nowhere Ohio, a group of kids play ditched—a nocturnal version of hide-and-seek. When it’s Cole’s turn to be ‘ditched’, he quickly realizes how isolated he is. As the search for his friends leads him deeper into the field, he stumbles across a true nightmare.

Ditched


Terrance, a novice theatre actor, asks to stay late after rehearsal to practice his lines onstage. The stage manager agrees but with one rule, “don’t turn off the ghost light.” Poor Terrence should have been more careful, for he’s about to learn that some performances never die.

Don’t Turn Off the Ghost Light



A Korean university student takes on an unusual tutoring job and encounters a young child who refuses to write in English. As the tutor attempts to get to the root of the child’s reluctance, she uncovers a shocking revelation about the child and her mother.

English Tutor


Something strange is here to destroy the world.

Evil Banana Wizards (Bumper)


After he’s fired from his job as a fast-food mascot, a professional clown discovers he may be the only person who can save innocent people from other-dimensional evil clowns.

Evil F—ing Clowns



A teenage girl goes through a bizarre transformation after she gets her first period.

First Blood


40-something Tom has his boyfriend Mikey move in. What seems like domestic bliss at first gives way to creeping dread as a malevolent spirit makes itself known. This gay ghost will stop at nothing to get close to Tom, even if that means eliminating Mikey.

He Watches


When a woman goes to the desert to rescue her best friend from a bad gig, a demon threatens their relationship.

Hell Gig



Jo and her three year old daughter Lulu struggle to adjust to life alone after her divorce. The worst is yet to come, when an evil force inhabits Lulu’s bedroom.

HIMS



After a night out drinking with friends, a voyeuristic young woman communicates with the victim of a fatal car accident.

I Wanna See



Handmade puppet film in which a giant flying monster and her babies wreak bloody havoc on coastal villagers.

Kaiju Fodder (Bumper)


A young health worker tries to place a lonely old man into private care. However, when strange things start happening around the house, she discovers that maybe the lonely old man isn’t completely alone after all and her life may be in grave danger. Starring Shaun Scott (Marvel’s Moonknight).

Maggie


During a trip to Poland, two young American influencers are sent by their employer to photograph an old uninhabited mansion resembling a haunted house deep in the forest. Inside the mansion, the two young girls are confronted by some very strange phenomena…

Maryla



An unexpected message is sent to a young man through his own medicine cabinet mirror.

MIrrored Message (Bumper)


After a mysterious late-night animal attack, a teenage waitress undergoes a strange transformation that forces her to confront her anxieties around growing up, bite back against her tormentors, and break free from her suffocating small-town life once and for all.

Night Shift


Inspired by real events, a homeless man named Simon wanders over to a parked car and accepts a bag filled from an anonymous man behind the wheel. Wandering away after the act of charity, Simon is tempted back by an opportunity at something that may change his downward spiral.

No Good Deed



After inheriting a house from grandparents he never knew, Peter’s heritage and family past starts to haunt him and his wife.

Nonno


Sister Grey travels the world hunting vampires with her trusty chainsaw.

Nun With a Chainsaw


When a drugged-out duo attempts to rob an antique store, they realize the older woman running the shop isn’t as defenseless as she seems…

Oddities



Bikini tops, vodka shots, longing glares and truth or dare. Hell hath nothing on a teenaged girl’s slumber party, and Freya is trapped.

Pool Party


A young man takes his grief-stricken boyfriend to recover at an idyllic desert resort, but awakens to an eerie new reality.

Ringing Rocks


On the first day shooting a popular Tex-Mex food commercial, a Puerto Rican actress strives to meet the demands of culturally demeaning creators for her first big role. The more the stereotypes converge on her beliefs, the more she feels trapped in a character she’s unsure she can escape.

Saborrrr!



A Father/Son weekend adventure becomes a terrifying fight for survival.

Scratch


Sometimes regretful things happen. We still have to deal with those things, of course. It’s best to not bury our mistakes. At least not those kinds of mistakes. They tend to catch up with you. Seeds is all about how we start our day, what we plan for, and what we receive as a result.

Seeds


Jonas visits his father Arend after a long time. Jonas is startled when his father is almost unrecognizable. Has he deteriorated badly or has something taken possession of him?

Shut



In a remote mountain cabin, a young man named Ashkan escapes the city after an unexpected break up, only to be stalked by a ruthless killer, known for deceiving his victims into sharing their locations on a dating app.

SLASHR


A mortally wounded Astronaut awakens in the upper atmosphere after a catastrophic event. He struggles to remember how he got there and latches himself on to the only familiar thing to him, his own severed arm.

Still Up There


A striving actress is invited to a mysterious gourmet club only to discover that her competition has prepared a horrifying banquet.

Swallow (喰之女)



The story takes place in three different time periods. Slowly the characters discover the horrifying truth that emerges, as everyone unknowingly steps into the witch’s trap.

Tears of the Witch


A young woman’s concealed desire haunts her in dreams as voices of her past repeat a sinister warning. “Sins of the flesh let the devil inside.” When she chooses pleasure over fear, the devil does come… and so does she.

The Devil Inside Me


Two Latter-day Saint missionaries bring a Book of Mormon to the home of a wicked lady.

The Handbook



In this LGBTQ+ Comedy Horror 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.

The Haunted Baby Carriage From Hell


The disturbance of a noisy neighbor leads to the discovery of a haunted boombox and a terrifyingly possessed dancer in this tale of internet memes gone wrong.

The Internet Remains Undefeated


After multiple failed rounds of IVF, an artist retreats to her remote cabin to throw herself into work – only to be met by a dark, sinister presence that ultimately forces both a confrontation… and a choice.

The Knowing



A therapist treats an unstable young woman who claims to be harassed by an assortment of malevolent spirits who are demanding something from her.

The Unquiet Dead


A woman discovers a haunted antique and is taken on a ride to hell.

The Wheel


Ah… the Holidays. Filled with joy, laughter, and cheer. And this year, murderous, knife-wielding elves. On Christmas Eve, Tiffany learns that being on the naughty list means more than a lump of coal in your stocking when she encounters a malevolent Imp among the presents under the Christmas tree.

Three Houses Down



A mortician beautician helps her clients realize they don’t need to wait until they’re dead to live their most authentic lives.

Violet Butterfield: Makeup Artist for the Dead


A lonely preteen stumbles onto an antique PC in the attic of his new home, and begins chatting with another boy named Virgil. However, our young hero soon begins to suspect his new friend may have dark designs.

Virgil


A traveller caught in a snowstorm is forced to take shelter with a poor Serbian family. When the family warns him of “beasts” that hunt in the night, he mistakenly dismisses their fears as superstition and fairy tales.

VRDLK: Family of Vurdulak



WAIT FOR IT is a loving deconstruction of the slasher genre, seen from the perspective of a Survivor Girl living in the aftermath of her own encounter with a psycho-slasher killer. She travels home after a night out with friends, always remaining wary of the inevitable return of her tormentor. By the original creator and […]

Wait For It


Two dudes think they found the cure for zombie bites.

We Forgot About The Zombies


Ji-Eun who lives with her sick boyfriend goes out every night in heavy make-up and sexy dress. But, her daily life collapses when she brings a guy she met at a jazz bar to her house.

When Darkness Falls



In the midst of heartbreak and self-implosion, a lapsed writer turned party girl must learn what it truly means to face her pain, when she’s hunted by a subterranean mother and its brood.

When You’re Gone


Four survivors try to out run the whispers.

Whispers


An exhausted sketch artist struggles to complete his newest artwork but a supernatural force blocks him at every turn.  

Who’s There



In 1980s suburbia, a distant family is forced to come together when the Summer’s hottest new toy, a cute aquatic pet, mutates into a repulsive monster.

Wormies


A young photographer, desperately looking for the perfect moment, falls prey to a supernatural camera.

You Will See


Angela is running through the forest! A zombie is running through the forrest! But who is being chased?

Zombie Chase



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