Send in a short erotic film no more than 7 minutes long and not only will you have a chance to see your film play at the Castro Theatre, but you could win the grand prize of $1,500 smackaroos.  The format of the film is entirely up to you.  It can be animated, a music video, documentary, hardcore, nonexplicit, drama, comedy, etc.  They’re not looking for straight up porn, so try to make your short more along the lines of an interesting take on sexuality.  The submission deadline is June 30, 2012, so get started!

Details on submitting your film along with some fantastic photo stills from some of last year’s highlights can be found after the jump.

Click here to download your submission form

“Barbies Washday” by Cherry Chapman

“Room 33″ by Erika Lust

“Tools 4 Fools” by Kate A. Brandt

“The Fifth Element” by Benjamin Williams & Zan Christensen

“La Putiza”

Bernie (Embarcadero Center Cinema)

In small town Texas, the local mortician strikes up a friendship with a wealthy widow, though when he kills her, he goes to great lengths to create the illusion that she is alive. (Click here for Filmbalaya’s review)

Elles (Bridge Theatre)

On her last assignment a journalist for Elle immerses herself in a prostitution ring run by university students.

Four Adventures of Reinette and Mirabelle (SF Film Society Cinema/New People)

Two young girls, one from the countryside and one from Paris must learn to live together while attending university.

Indie Game: The Movie (Roxie Theatre)

A documentary following the dramatic journeys of indie game developers as they create games and release those works, and themselves, to the world.

Mansome (Lumiere Theatre)

A documentary that explores the question: In the age of manscaping, metrosexuals, and grooming products galore – what does it mean to be a man?

Payback (Lumiere Theatre)

An adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s book examining the metaphor of indebtedness.

Summer AKA La Rayon Vert (SF Film Society Cinema/New People)

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Where Do We Go Now (Embarcadero Center Cinema)

A group of Lebanese women try to ease religious tensions between Christians and Muslims in their village. (Click here for Filmbalaya’s review)

It is my hope that this list will float throughout the blogosphere and land on others radars, thus spreading the word about these must-see and rarely mentioned horror films.  Hopefully with the publishing of this list I have taken one step further towards avoiding that horrific outcome mentioned above and have given people an alternative to the popular classics.

Who Can Kill A Child? (1976)

Forget about Children of The Corn, Village of The Damned, or just about any other movie featuring hordes of bloodthirsty children.  When it comes to scary youth attacking, those efforts and all others like them fail in comparison to Narciso Ibáñez Serrador‘s Who Can Kill A Child?

The premise is a simple one; English tourists set out to go sightseeing on a picturesque island only to find the sights are kids hellbent on murdering them along with every other adult on the island.  From the opening sequence of a most uncomfortable prologue right up to the disturbingly jovial and awesome conclusion this 1970s gem is a cut above all others of its kind and deserves more recognition than it has received thus far.

Dead End (2003)

There’s a good reason as to why this movie has gone under so many people’s radar, in fact there’s a number of reasons.  First of all, aside from the devoted horror junkie nobody is going to pick a scary movie to watch featuring a cast of relative unknowns (not including the fabulous character actor and scene stealing, Lin Shaye), especially one with a generic title such as Dead End.  Now, throw in the fact that the movie’s US release was a straight to DVD one, and that the trailer is equally as generic as the movie’s title.

With all that being said, I can’t urge you strongly enough to ignore these things and pick this movie up the next time you’re in the mood for an actual scary ghost story.  In its telling of one family’s road trip gone terribly wrong the entire road trip genre becomes reinvented.  Not bad for a miniscule budgeted straight-to-DVD movie.

Pontypool (2008)

Just when I was starting to lose faith in anything new and original ever coming out of the zombie genre along comes Bruce McDonald‘s Canadian production of Tony Burgess‘ novel, Pontypool.  Except for one short opening scene the entire movie takes place in a radio station during a zombie outbreak.  Not wanting to give too much away I will say that the film is presented in a way I have never seen zombie outbreaks presented before.  And it’s totally awesome.  The majority of the horror found in Pontypool transpires in the viewer’s imagination, and that’s what makes this movie stand way above most others in the same genre - that and the film’s leading manly man, the charismatic Grant Mazzy.

We Are What We Are (2010)

I share the same sentiments as my fellow Filmbalayan, Nick.  Here’s what he had to say about We Are What We Are last July:

This is the Let The Right One In of cannibal movies and one of the best horror movies I’ve seen in years.  The story follows a family of cannibals living in Mexico City that lose their father, who was the hunter, and now must adapt.  The dark atmosphere and matter of fact style of violence make this a truly stunning film and a must see for all horror fans, or just fans of Mexican cinema.

Dr. S Battles the Sex Crazed Reefer Zombies: The Movie (2009)

Once again, my sentiments are practically identical to that of fellow Filmbalayan, Nick.  Here is what he had to say about this movie back in June of 2010:

News Flash: Weed actually turns people into zombies.  Or at least that’s the case in this clever B-movie spoof.  With a great mix of humor and semi-tension,  presented in grainy old school black and white, this film truly captures what a B-movie is all about.  Part Evil Dead, partNight of the Living Dead, and part Reefer Madness, Dr. S is a must see for Horror fans.  This is one of the funnest movies in recent memory and puts modern Hollywood horror films to shame.  If you are a fan of horror, zombies, or marijuana, go see this movie!

Darling Companion (Embarcadero Center Cinema)

The story of a woman who loves her dog more than her husband. And then her husband loses the dog.

First Position (Embarcadero Center Cinema)

A documentary that follows six young dancers from around the world as they prepare for the Youth America Grand Prix, one of the most prestigious ballet competition’s in the world. (Filmbalaya’s review)

God Bless America (Bridge Theatre)

On a mission to rid society of its most repellent citizens, terminally ill Frank makes an unlikely accomplice in 16-year-old Roxy.

Here (SF Film Society Cinema/New People)

Cartographer Will Shepard hits the road for his latest job: to create a new, more accurate satellite survey of Armenia. During his assignment, he forms a bond with an Armenian expatriate and art photographer.

Last Call At The Oasis (Embarcadero Center Cinema)

A documentary on the world’s water crisis.

Michael (SF Film Society Cinema/New People)

A drama focused on five months in the life of pedophile who keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement.

Otter 501 (Presidio Theatre)

Otter 501 illustrates what we can do to contribute to the growing movement to protect the southern sea otter… and ourselves.

The Perfect Family (Sundance Kabuki)

A devoutly Catholic wife and mother has been nominated for one of the church’s top awards. She then goes about trying to prove she has the “perfect” family, refusing to accept them for who they are.

The Road (Presidio Theatre)

A 12 year old cold case is reopened when three teens are missing in an old abandoned road where a gruesome murder is left undiscovered for three decades.

Follow the jump to see briefs for The Cabin In The Woods, The Avengers, and Sound of My Voice

The Cabin In The Woods

To give a brief plot synopsis of this movie without going into spoiler territory is almost impossible, but I’ll give it my best shot.  Some college students go into the woods and encounter just about every possible horror movie cliché there is – and that’s the point.  There, that’s the best I can do without ruining the fun of seeing this for the first time.  Horror nerds (myself included) will most likely experience something of a horrorgasm about 3 quarters of the way through, whereas fans of self-aware movie making of any kind should find this enjoyable as well.

The Avengers

HULK SMASH!!!

Not the best super hero movie ever.  Top 5?  Maybe.  You should know right away that you did not have to see any of the previous super hero movies (Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor) in order to enjoy The Avengers.  However, you do have to have the ability to ignore plot holes, not care that the villain is lame, tolerate a slew of corny one-liners, and embrace a lot of generic super hero fighting scenes.  Now, throw in a form-fitting leather dressed Scarlett Johansson, some teardrop inducing Hulk smashing, and a bag of Twizzlers and what you’re left with is a grade A popcorn movie, or a Twizzler movie.

Sound of My Voice

I like to think of this movie as an elongated and quickly forgotten lost episode of The Twilight Zone.

How far will an undercover journalist and his girlfriend go to expose an underground cult whose leader believes she is from the future?  That’s the basic premise behind Sound of My Voice.  Everything about this movie seemed average, especially aspects of the film that should have been anything but; mainly the odd activities of the cult, and the predictable twist which exists only to seem more profound than it actually is.  It does have a cool apple purging scene though.  Horray for apple purging.

The Day He Arrives (SF Film Society Cinema/New People)

Sang-Joon is a professor in the film department at a provincial university. He goes to Seoul to meet his senior, Young-Ho, who works as a film critic. Sang-Joon stays in a northern village in Seoul for 3 days. (Read Filmbalaya’s review here)

The Fairy (Lumiere Theatre)

A hotel clerk searches all over Le Havre for the fairy who made two of his three wishes come true before disappearing.

Gerhard Richter Painting (Roxie Theatre)

A documentary on the German artist that includes glimpses at his studio, which has not been seen in decades.

Headhunters (Clay Theatre)

An accomplished headhunter risks everything to obtain a valuable painting owned by a former mercenary. (Read Filmbalaya’s review here)

The Manzanar Fishing Club (Embarcadero Center Cinema)

A documentary that chronicles the WWII internment of Japanese-American from a unique perspective: through the eyes of those who defied the armed guards, barbed wire and searchlights to fish for trout in the surrounding waters of the Eastern Sierra.

Sound of my Voice (Embarcadero Center Cinema)

A journalist and his girlfriend get pulled in while they investigate a cult whose leader claims to be from the future.

However, my star ratings for the movies I saw were…

Meanwhile in Mamelodi

Happy, happy, happy.  Joy, joy, joy.  That’s how I felt throughout most of newcomer Benjamin Kahlmeyer‘s family portrait snapshot of a documentary.

This film is about poor living conditions of those living in the Township of Mamelodi.  This film is about a post apartheid hopeful ideology found within the younger generation.  This film is about generation gaps.  This film is about being a teenager.  This film is about being a boy.  This film is about being a father.  This film is about community.  This film is about fantastic editing, a noticeably impressive sound design, continuous scenes of exquisite cinematography, and an original pulsating kinetic jazz infused soundtrack that I now absolutely must own!  This film is not about football (American soccer), even though the World Cup gets mentioned in some form or another in just about every scene, whether it be on the radio, on TV, in the classroom, at the store, etc.  This film is and is not about all these things, but first and foremost this film is about a family – the Mtswenis.

Kahlmeyer exhibits all the precision of a veteran filmmaker.  His ability to weave together a stream of life-capturing Kodak moments in what appears to be a seemingly ordinary family should not be seen as anything less than enthralling filmmaking.  A very moving film and has my vote for best doc of the fest.

LUV

Sad, sad, sad. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

This is newcomer Sheldon Candis‘ avuncular version of Antoine Fuqua‘s Training Day.  Both movies take place within the course of a day, and both involve an elder manipulating his disciple, but that’s where the comparisons stop.  Aside from what I believe to be this movie’s biggest fault, which is its riddled with a slew of plot holes, it’s also has its share of ridiculously far-reaching character motivations that make zero sense within the film’s reality.  Were the acting not as on point as it was (great cast, by the way) I’m not sure I would have been able to stay for the absurd final act.

In my attempt to not have an overwhelming amount of options to choose from I whittled the selections down to 10 from what started out to be 16.  Even if you haven’t seen all the films listed chances are that there will be at least a few that you have.

So, what are you waiting for?  Make your mother proud and vote now.