Slamdance 2010

One of the best parts of this whole "writing about horror movies" gig is that it means I get to spend an obscene amount of time poking around the internet looking for information on horror films. I couldn't venture to guess the number of hours I spend watching trailers, reading gossip, perusing press releases, and scouring YouTube in the standard year, but it's almost assuredly more hours than I'd spend at a real job. Yet, even with the staggering number of hours I spend researching all these films, I still miss out on titles here and there. Case in point: Henry Saine's The Last Lovecraft: The Relic of Cthulhu.

I'm embarrassed that my first exposure to the title came yesterday, when our friends at Bloody-Disgusting debuted the official trailer in advance of the film's Slamdance appearance. How do I let a film inspired by HP Lovecraft slip past me? It's unforgivable. As penance, you'll find the trailer and plot synopsis after the jump.

Personally, I think the clip looks fantastic. It's funny and the special effects look good and I get a very Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer vibe from it. Some in the horror community are decrying the comedic elements of the trailer, but maybe a different approach to the source material is in order. Lovecraft's work has been around for ages and it's not like hordes of studios are racing each other to produce serious adaptations of his stories (it would be cool if they were, though).

The Last Lovecraft: The Relic of Cthulhu is set to make it's Slamdance debut on January 24th. There will be an encore showing on January 26th). Here's to hoping the full feature is as much fun as the trailer.

Behold the new one sheet for Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton's indie horror YellowBrickRoad. The film will make its premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City Utah, which runs from January 21-28. Cassidy Freeman, Clark Freeman, Anessa Ramsey, Lee Wilkof, Laura Heisler and Alex Draper star as the expedition group looking for answers to something horrible in the forest, but the forest finds something horrible in them.

As far as I can tell the story about the town of Friar, New Hampshire's entire population vanishing is fiction but it sounds creepy as hell. Shooting took place in the remote forests of northern New Hampshire, which according to this interview with the crew was a difficult but rewarding experience. "It really adds authenticity to the desolation and isolation that is prevalent in the film," said producer Eric Hungerford.

Check out the trailer and detailed synopsis after the jump.

Running alongside the Sundance Film Festival in Park City Utah this January 21-28 is the 16th annual Slamdance Festival. Out of over 5,000 submissions, 18 films were chosen for the festival run. After the jump check out a selection of the 18 films that may be of interest to horror fans. There's a little something for everyone, including a Cthulhulicious title, a hipster hating serial killer, a backwoods, twisted fairy tale and a Burroughs documentary featuring my boyfriend David Cronenberg. In 2008 the fest screened Oren Peli's indie haunt flick Paranormal Activity which went on to top $100 million at the box office. So there's always hope for little indie turned big money dreams TRAITOR. Just kidding. Now, hit the jump.