Saturday’s trek up to the Timberline Lodge was not without hiccups. In addition to the festival, the venue was also hosting a wedding as well as ideal snow conditions from the Shining-esque storm on Thursday night. The skiers were in full force and the parking lots were full. Luckily we were able to snag a spot in the back lot without too much hassle.
The second shorts program screened eight unique films to a full audience. My personal favorite out of the bunch was The Cleansing Hour, which offered top notch social commentary, great acting, and fun exorcism thrills. Honorable mentions include The Itching, a cute and weird claymation piece, and Don’t Ever Change, a comedic murder that was well loved by the audience.
If you like good dogs as much as we do, you’d be in for a treat here at Overlook. One of the two Timberline resident pups, Heidi, entertained guests in the lobby. She is a beautiful one and a half year old Saint Bernard who is just as soft and fluffy as she looks.
After the screening of his 1963 classic X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes, Roger Corman was presented the festival’s Master of Horror award for his 60+ years of involvement in the horror/sci-fi community. He quipped about how he will get his axe-shaped trophy through TSA before offering this fun trivia tidbit on X:
“The last thirty seconds were as I shot them. Stephen King saw the picture and wrote just one additional line to go on at the end, and the line was, ‘I can still see.’ And I thought, ‘That’s a great line. I wish he had told me in advance. I would have used it in the picture because it added a whole different dimension.”
Overlook’s secret screening created much buzz and anticipation among festival goers. After Still/Born, Hounds of Love, and Great Choice were announced as prize winners (special jury, grand jury, and short film, respectively), the secret was finally out: Trey Edward Shults’s It Comes At Night would be receiving the world premiere treatment here before the official June 9 release date.
