Final Frame Film Competition
If there’s one thing that unites us, it is darkness.
Horror cinema has long been a medium used to explore the most savage sides of society and expose our collective paranoias and fears. It is within that darkness that we seek out those flickers of light, some hope or understanding, and it becomes even more exciting when we explore it together.
What started as a small reprieve from the hustle of convention life, a communal gathering to enjoy our horrors in visual form, the Final Frame Short Horror Film Competition instantly became one of the must-attend events of StokerCon. Culled from an international array of short films, Final Frame presents two hours of films as diverse in its subject matter as its creators.
As Final Frame is an awarded competition, we have been honored to include some of the greatest minds in the genre, hailing from all sides of the culture, to bestow their expertise in judging the night’s selections. Our previous judges include:
Mike Flanagan (director of Gerald’s Game, Ouija: Origin of Evil and The Haunting of Hill House); Ryan Turek (VP, Development/Producer, Blumhouse Productions); Rebekah McKendry (editor-in-chief of Blumhouse Productions); Tony Timpone (former editor of Fangoria); Craig Engler (GM, Shudder/Co-Creator, Z Nation); Lisa Morton (author and president of Horror Writers Association); Tony Wash (Creator, World of Death/Contributing Writer, Bloody-Disgusting); Monica S. Kuebler (former managing editor, Rue Morgue magazine); Daniel Knauf (creator of HBO’s Carnivale and writer/producer of Blacklist); Grady Hendrix (author, Paperbacks From Hell, My Best Friend’s Exorcism), Michael Gingold (writer/editor, Fangoria, Rue Morgue), Lynne Hansen (filmmaker, Chomp); John Skipp (director of Tales of Halloween and pioneering horror author); Mike McCarty (special effects industry expert, formerly of KNB EFX Group, currently at Autonomous FX Inc.); and Mark Allan Miller (VP at Seraphim Films).
It thrills us every year to to continue bringing the StokerCon audience the terrifying visions of these talented visual artists and their collaborators.
JONATHAN LEES, Final Frame Director
Previous competition winners have included:
2016
QUENOTTES (PEARLIES)
Directors: Pascal Thiebaux, Gil Pinheiro
A story about a little mouse, but not just any mouse. It is THE little mouse, or tooth fairy, of your childhood. If a tooth is missing, it simply must be replaced. By any means necessary…
2017
WHEN SUSURRUS STIRS
Director: Anthony Cousins
A body horror tale like no other. The story of one man’s bond with a parasitic creature that could result in the end of us all.
Based on the short story by Jeremy Robert Johnson
2018
GREAT CHOICE
Director: Robin Comisar
An uproarious and horrifying account of a woman who gets stuck in a Red Lobster commercial.
Hope you join us in 2019 at StokerCon for Final Frame and, as always, we’ll see you in the dark.
Jonathan Lees
Director of Film Programming, StokerCon
Organizer, Final Frame
OUR 2019 JUDGES:
ANTONIO D’INTINO is a Literary Manager at the management/production company Circle of Confusion. His clients have been recognized by numerous organizations and festivals including The Nicholl Fellowship, The Oscars, Sundance and The Black List.
LYNNE HANSEN is a horror artist who specializes in book covers. Clients include Cemetery Dance, Bloodshot Books, Jeff Strand, Christopher Golden, Rick Hautala, Amber Benson, James A. Moore, and more. See her portfolio at http://www.LynneHansenArt.com. Lynne is a returning Final Frame judge
JONATHAN MABERRY is a New York Times bestselling author, 5-time Bram Stoker Award-winner, and comic book writer. His vampire apocalypse book series, V-Wars, is in production as a Netflix original series, starring Ian Somerhalder (Lost, Vampire Diaries) and will debut in late 2019.
JOSH MALERMAN is the author of the books Bird Box, A House at the Bottom of a Lake, Black Mad Wheel, Goblin, and Unbury Carol. He’s also the singer/songwriter of the High Strung, whose song “The Luck You Got” can be heard as the theme song to the hit Showtime show “Shameless.” He lives in Michigan with Allison Laakko.
LISA MORTON is a screenwriter, author of non-fiction books, and award-winning prose writer whose work was described by the American Library Association’s Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror as “consistently dark, unsettling, and frightening”. She is the author of four novels and more than 130 short stories, a six-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award®, and a world-class Halloween expert. Lisa is a returning Final Frame judge.
JOHN SKIPP is a bestselling author, filmmaker, editor, and one of the seminal splatterpunk authors. He is a returning Final Frame judge.
OUR 2019 FINALISTS:
AV CLUB
7 min. 37 sec. / 2018 / UNITED STATES
Director: Nicholas Markart
Writer: Nicholas Markart
As a high-school A.V. club faces the absurdity of egomania, tensions flare between the director and lead actress.
BEAUTIFIED
9 min. 15 sec. / 2018 / UNITED KINGDOM
Director: Emily Haigh
Writer: Emily Haigh
Three girls are immersed in beautiful surroundings. What is hidden beneath all this beauty and perfection?
BLACK EYED CHILD
9 min. / 2018 / SPAIN
Director: Tony Morales
Writer: Tony Morales
Since 1998, the appearance of the Black Eyed Child has been constant and the consequences of looking directly into their eyes has been irreversible.
CHERRY
6 min. 24 sec. / 2018 / UNITED KINGDOM
Director: Paul Holbrook
Writer: Jaleelah Galbraith
A sensual fantasist recounts her first time.
CREAKER
4 min. / 2019 / NORWAY
Director: Vidar T. Aune
Writer: Vidar T. Aune
A girls wakes up at night when her bedroom door creaks open.
KNOCK KNOCK
13 min. / 2018 / UNITED STATES
Director: Kennikki Jones
Writer: Kennikki Jones
Sinia does the best she can to help the kids next door, however when they are in danger, she does nothing.
MOTHER RABBIT
11 min. 33 sec. / 2018 / SWEDEN
Director: Emma Skoog
Writer: Emma Skoog
As a child, Ylva visits her mum in secret. Her mum sort of looks like a rabbit.
SALT
2 min. / 2017 / UNITED KINGDOM
Director: Rob Savage
Writer: Jed Shepard & Rob Savage
A woman protects her dying child from a demonic force.
STANDBY
9 min. 14 sec. / 2018 / UNITED KINGDOM
Director: Ethan Evans & Sean Toshach
Writer: Ethan Evans & Sean Toshach
A secluded young boy discovers a darker truth to the happy facade within the magical world on his television.
THE BLIZZARD
12 min. / 2018 / ANDORRA
Director: Alvaro Rodriguez
Writer: Alvaro Rodriguez
Marie, a French refugee of WWII, wakes up wounded and disoriented in the middle of a blizzard. Her daughter is missing.
THE RAT
13 min. / 2019 / UNITED STATES
Director: Carlen May-Mann
Writer: Carlen May-Mann
It’s Halloween night and 18-year-old Renee is madly in love with her boyfriend Jim. They’ve made plans to go to a frat party but after he picks her up he takes a detour. Renee will be forced to confront a terrifying situation and come face to face with the thing, deep down, she’s most afraid of.
YES
6 min. / 2018 / ISRAEL
Director: Oren Rehany
Writer: Oren Rehany
A female surgeon takes justice into her own hands.