When the Stanley Film Festival kicks off April 24-27 in Estes Park, the horror gathering is not likely to suffer a sophomore slump. A zombie crawl maybe — thanks to opening night’s “Doc of the Dead,” by local director and chronicler of avid subcultures, Alexandre O. Philippe. But a letup is not bloody likely.
The festival takes its name from the storied, some say haunted, hotel. Architect Freelan Oscar Stanley’s big, white structure set upon a hill was Stephen King’s inspiration for “The Shining.”
Location, location, location turns out to be a fine mantra for film festivals. And John Cullen, founder of the Grand Heritage Hotel group, which owns the stately dwelling, saw an opportunity. He called Colorado film commisioner Donald Zuckerman last year about the Stanley holding the first horror fest.
This year, the Stanley Film Festival has come under the practiced hand of the Denver Film Society. It’s a high-art-meets-nerve-jangling collaboration that may strike some at first as a bit Frankensteinian.
“This fest has the potential to bring together a variety of communities — the film industry, emerging filmmakers, Colorado filmmakers, horror fans and the casually curious alike,” states the film society’s festival director, Britta Erickson.
So while the horror genre doesn’t immediately sound like an obvious fit for the organization, it speaks to the organization’s mission and also the breadth of genre.
Indeed indie horror is getting richer by the slay, ahem, day, due in no small measure to a burgeoning fest scene full of avid but also acutely nuanced fans.
There’s nary a stiff on the fest’s guest roster. Some are known widely; others avidly by chiller aficionados.
Director Joe Dante — “Gremlins,” “The Howling,” “Piranha” — is set to receive the inaugural Master of Horror Award (April 27). Actor-producer Elijah Wood will attend along with his partners in the film-music production company SpectreVision, Daniel Noah and Josh Waller. The trio will receives the Visionary Award and SpectreVision’s sci-fi drama “LFO” screens April 25.
In late March, the festival offered a taste of scares to come when it previewed “Oculus” in Estes and hosted director/co-writer Mike Flanagan, and producers Trevor Macy and Jason Blum.
Founder of the company Blumhouse, Blum has made it his business to find low-budget horror, films, often at festivals. The company released 2006’s mega-hit “Paranormal Activity.”
“Oculus” tells of a sister and her younger brother (recently released from a mental institution), who confront a cursed past and evil looking-glass.
Over the weekend, “Oculus” took the third spot at the box office behind studio biggies “Captain America” and “Rio 2.”
Blum attended the first Stanley Film Festival with “The Purge,” about an annual — brutal — ritual in which a very civil society gives in to its most violent urges for 12 hours.
“I love film festivals that are trying to be different than Sundance or Cannes or Toronto. People are really passionate about the movies,” said Blum, sitting in the green room of a local television station the morning after the screening.
“I think horror is getting a little out of the ghetto. People are starting to realize there’s more to horror than blood and gore. I do believe that horror movies without that are scarier than ones with it.”
After the screening, director Flanagan took the hotel’s ghost tour. “It was awesome,” he said, slightly bleary. “Then I stayed up way too late, taking pictures in all the hallways trying to see ghosts.”
Hey, he was born in Salem, Mass., so all this feels more natural than supernatural to him, he joked.
Asked what’s the most scared he’s ever been in a movie, Flanagan replied, “As a kid it was ‘The Shining.’ ” In a nicely unhinging touch, the hotel’s in-room televisions play Stanley Kubrick’s classic on a loop.
He then sang the praises of a little indie from down under called “Lake Mungo.” “I had to stop the movie — I was watching on TV — and get someone to watch it with me, I was so freaked out.”
Hey, isn’t that what horror fests are? Company for those willing to be freaked out.
Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567, lkennedy@denverpost.com or twitter.com/bylisakennedy
STANLEY FILM FESTIVAL, APRIL 24-27. Second installment of the indie horror fest. Films, parties, panels and, yes, a zombie parade. Opens with local filmmaker Alexandre O. Philippe’s “Doc of the Dead.” Guest include Joe Dante and Elijah Wood. At the Stanley Hotel, 333 Wonderview Avenue, Estes Park. Individual tickets $10-$35; festival passes $40-$295 via denverfilm.org or 303-595-43456 or in person at the Stanley Hotel.
