San Francisco’s Another Hole in the Head film Festival is an 18-day cinematic excursion into the realms of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and assorted other genre fare. Under the auspices of SF IndieFest, AHITH has an 18-year tradition of pulling together diverse Independent films of all varieties and budgetary considerations — from major productions by professional companies to micro-budget labors of love and everything in between.

Another Hole in the Head provides a unique vehicle for independent cinema. This year’s festival takes place from December 1st – December 18th, 2022. Screenings and performances will take place at the historic Roxie Cinema, 4 Star Theatre and Stage Werks in San Francisco, CA. It will also take place On Demand on Eventive and live on Zoom for those who can not attend the live screenings. You can learn more about how to attend or watch the festival live on their Eventlive site.

Highlights of the fest

Thursday, December 1st at 6:30 pm, the Opening Night film at the Roxie is Satanic Hispanics, an anthology of 5 short films from some of the leading Latin filmmakers in the horror genre, spotlighting Hispanic talent both before and behind the camera. During a raid in El Paso, police find one survivor in a house full of dead Latinos — The Traveler. During questioning, he tells of the horrors he’s encountered in his long time on Earth; about portals to other worlds, mythical creatures, demons and the undead –s tories rooted in Latin American legends. Directed by Mike Mendez (The Convent, Big Ass Spiders!), Demian Rugna (Terrified), Eduardo Sanchez (The Blair Witch Project, From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series), Gigi Saul Guerrero (Bingo Hell) and Alejandro Brugues (Juan of the Dead). This title will not be available online.

Friday, December 2nd at 7:30 pm, Sleepbomb performs the world premiere of their new score for George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead! Experience the terror and tension of the original zombie film that started it all with Sleepbomb’s unique blend of doomy drones and electronics filling the air. You’ll never see the film the same way again! Tickets are $25. For almost two decades, Sleepbomb has been bringing innovative and exciting new scores for a wide variety of genre films. Atmospheric and heavy, ranging from doom and drone to electronic textures, Sleepbomb’s scores have re-contextualized films like Nosferatu, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Conan the Barbarian and Metropolis for mesmerized audiences in the Bay Area and beyond. This is Sleepbomb’s return to Another Hole in the Head after their sold out Conan performance in 2019. This performance will not be available online.

Friday, December 9th at 7 pm, the festival will kick off its engagement at the 4 Star Theatre with the US Premiere of Horror icon José Mojica Marins’ (Brazil’s “Coffin Joe”) long-lost film The Curse (A Praga) and Mojica’s Last Curse, a short documentary about the rediscovery and restoration of the feature. As our host Coffin Joe warns us at the very beginning, you shouldn’t joke about the unknown. A young couple visiting the countryside fail to heed the warnings of a passing villager and draw near to the home of a reclusive witch to take some photos. Despite her protests, they take her picture, with horrifying consequences! The Curse was originally filmed for Marins’ Brazilian TV show in 1967, but that version was lost in a fire. In 1980, Marins began filming a second version, but production was halted due to financial difficulties. The existing footage went missing until 2007, when producer Eugenio Puppo rediscovered it while preparing a retrospective of Mojica’s work. Years of intensive restoration, including recovering the lost dialogue with the assistance of a lip-reader were to follow. Mojica’s Last Curse, a short documentary addressing this arduous process, will screen immediately after the feature. These titles will not be available online.

December 11th, at 9 pm, The Profane Exhibit will close out the screenings at the 4 Star. This extreme horror anthology from infamous directors all over the globe spent 13 years in production hell and was believed to be lost for some time, but will now make its California premiere. Directed by Ruggero Deodato, Sergio Stivaletti, Marian Dora, Uwe Boll, Ryan Nicholson, Anthony DiBlasi, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Michael Todd Schneider, Nacho Vigalondo and Jeremy Kasten. Viewer discretion is highly advised, due to the extreme content of this film. This title will not be available online.

Movies at the AHITH

Alchemy of the Spirit: Artist Oliver Black (Xander Berkeley) wakes to discover his wife Evelyn (Sarah Clarke) has died in their bed overnight. Brimming with magical realism, we enter a world in which the misconceptions of our belief in a solid reality are revealed. Directed by Steve Balderson.

Brightwood: A couple find themselves trapped in a bizarre time-loop while on a run around a pond. Directed by Dane Elcar.

Bundy Manor: When a family moves to a small town they discover an extreme haunted house run by a charming retired surgeon. Things start getting out of hand when they realize he is going too far. Directed by Alexander Watson.

The Creeping: Strange things begin to happen when Anna returns home after a long absence to look after her ailing Grandma. Directed by Jamie Hooper.

Cryptid: A small rural town in Maine is shocked as a mysterious animal leaves a local resident brutally ripped apart.Directed by Brad Rego.

Don’t F*** In The Woods 2:  s the counselors of Pine Hills Summer Camp are getting the grounds ready for the season, a mysterious girl enters the camp after a night of bloodshed. And there are things following her…Directed by Shawn Burkett This title will not be available online.

Guiltless: When an intruder breaks into the home of Teen-Queen Samantha with a dark revelation, her night spirals into revenge-fueled chaos in this coming-of-age thriller. Directed by Kevin Schultz.

Hypnotica: A young psychiatrist tries hypnotism to save a patient but will soon wish to God he hadn’t. Directed by A.T. Sharma.

Kick Me: A nightmare comedy about a school counselor whose compassion, generosity and dedication destroy the lives of everyone around him. Directed by Gary Huggins.

Laced: On the evening of a record-breaking blizzard, a young wife’s plans to kill her abusive husband begin to unravel in this taut thriller. Directed by San Francisco native Kyle Butenhoff.

Living With Chucky: In this feature documentary, a filmmaker who grew up alongside Chucky the killer doll seeks out the other families surrounding the Child’s Play films as they recount their experiences working on the ongoing franchise and what it means to be a part of the “Chucky” family. Directed by Kyra Elise Gardner. This title will not be available online.

Night of the Bastard: After chasing away a group of youths trying to party near his desert home, a disgruntled hermit’s peaceful life is violently upheaved when a group of savage cultists lay siege to his house. Directed by Erik Boccio. This title will not be available online.

Regicide: On a remote farm, an attempt to start anew is shattered when a group of friends find themselves trapped by an unexpected guest, and what hides beneath the surface is capable of unimaginable terror. Directed by Daniel McLeod.

Swallowed: After a drug run goes bad, two childhood friends must survive a horrific night in a backwoods hell of drugs, bugs, and obscene intimacy in this queer horror nightmare. Directed by Carter Smith. This title will not be available online.

On-demand only movies

Agatha: In this surreal art/experimental feature, a man suffering from a terminal disease witnesses an incredible event involving his mysterious neighbor Agatha. Hoping to find a cureto his sickness, he agrees to follow her on a strange and risky journey into a forgotten but not entirely deserted urban wasteland. Directed by Roland Becerra and Kelly Bigelow Becerra.

Alien Danger with Raven van Slender: A family-friendly science fiction adventure. Ravenvan Slender and The League of Scientists must save the galaxy from evil and find a pizza delivery spot in the cold dark regions of space. Directed by James Balsamo.

Cognitive: When a young couple abducts Alisha, she is forced to consider the possibility that she may not be who she thinks she is. A Hitchcockian-style thriller presented in reverse chronology that keeps the audience guessing until the final frame. Directed by Evan Richards.

Dickhead!: A deadbeat detective investigates a cryptic note that leads to the discovery of an incomprehensible kitchen sink. Directed by Justin Petty.

Do Not Disturb: A narcotic nightmare ensues when couple on their Miami honeymoon take a peyote trip to strengthen their marriage. As they confront their troubled relationship, they discover that this strand of peyote awakens a desire to consume human flesh, and their suite becomes an insatiable den of love, lust and carnal desire. Directed by John Ainslie.

Extraneous Matter: Sensuously filmed in black & white, this episodic tale melds tentacle hentai with a philosophical examination of isolation and the effect it has on the human psyche. Beginning with a woman in a sexually unfulfilling relationship who is seduced by a bizarre creature she finds hiding in her apartment, it progresses to the stories of others who are touched both physically and emotionally by the creature. Directed by Kenichi Ugana.

Friday the 13th Vengeance 2: Bloodlines: This fan film relates the epic conclusion of the Jarvis storyline. Angelica and Ashley Jarvis are looking for their missing father when their search is derailed by Elias Voorhees, who has sinister plans for the duo. Director’s Statement:We set out to create a fan film that would be the collective dream of Friday the 13th fans everywhere. Working with the original cast and crew of Friday the 13th Part 6 and Jason Lives, as well as several other horror icons was a dream come true. I feel that we have accomplished what we set out to do and have written a big love letter to the franchise and fans. Directed by Jason Brooks.

The Haunting of the Murder House: In October, four filmmakers disappeared in a haunted house while live streaming on social media. A year later, their footage was found. Directed by Brendan Rudnicki.

Hayseed: After their reverend is found dead, an insurance investigator questions a church congregation in a small Midwestern town. Directed by Travis Burgess.

HeBGB TV: A retro-horror TV cable box infiltrates a neighborhood and curates nostalgic killer content to its audience. Drawing on television themes throughout the decades; this feature is jam packed with fun shorts, scary songs and creepy characters all for a cheap laugh. A movie about watching TV! Directed by Jake McClellan, Adam Lenhart and Eric Griffin.

A Life On The Farm: When filmmaker Oscar Harding’s grandfather passed away, his family inherited an extraordinary video tape — a feature-length home movie from neighbour Charles Carson, which can best be described as “Monty Python meets The Texas Chainsaw Massacre“. But there’s so much more to the man than his bizarre videos — Charles was an inventor, an outsider artist, and a pioneer of death positivity. In this documentary, Charles’ life and work are examined by those who knew him best. Directed by Oscar Harding.

logger: Based on the fable Death and the Logger by Jean de la Fontaine (1668) and inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon (1950). A logger discovers a brutally mutilated body in the woods. Falling into a catatonic state, he gets the unexpected help of Death herself. From there, the story is told from three different points of view: that of the forester, the jogger, and the doctor. Going back in time, the surreal truth slowly unravels until the final battle with Death turns everything back to normal. Directed by Steffen Geypens.

SAWrannosaurus Rex: A chronological retelling of the SAW film series, including Saw 1-6, Saw 3D, Jigsaw and Spiral. Constructed by Josh Nitsche.

TRAP – Facing life in prison, a hood dreams of the violent streets that forged his identity, but cursed his soul. Directed by Anthony Edward Curry.

A Zombie Movie (Una Película de Zombies): This film was created entirely using deepfake technology, exchanging the actors’ original faces for others in a hyper-realistic way. A modern adaptation of George A. Romero’s 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead, the film integrates Chilean comedians and actors with new dialogue to create a hilarious zombie comedy. Directed by Cristóbal Ross.

Special events

The Warped Dimension VHS Show! at the Roxie Theater on December 3rd at 9 pm: This performance art hybrid of Live interactive theater and movie screening experience will be hosted by MC Benji, AHITH programmer and host of the underground virtual show Warped Dimension TV. Special guests include award-winning actor Michael Kane and his personal VHS copy of Jaws: The Revenge, which will be screened after a brief Q&A session.

Live on Stage! A Special Edition of The Twilight Zone Parody Show at Stage Werx on Wednesday, December 14th and Thursday, December 15th, at 7 pm (Doors at 6:30): Dreams On The Rocks & Another Hole in the Head invite the audience to immerse themselves in the sights, sounds and scents of this double feature, re-imagining two classic episodes: In “Eye of the Beholder,” a woman wrapped in bandages awaits the results of her doctors’ latest attempt to correct her facial deformities. “Nightmare as a Child” concerns a school teacher visited by a strange young girl. Completing the “TV” experience, a selection of commercial parodies will be performed during the break between episodes. Dreams On The Rocks Productions is a Bay Area-based theatre company specializing in satirical remakes of cult classics through a modern gaze.

December 7th at 9 pm: Local film director Christopher Coppola presents a special surprise screening at the Roxie (TBA).

Curated short film collections, including Dark Rainbow (LGBT+ Genre films), Strangers with Eye Candy (Animation from across the globe) and multiple editions of Strictly Local (diverse works from over 25 SF Bay Area filmmakers).

For more info

Visit the official Another Hole in the Head site and the Eventlive site. You can also keep up with all of my AHITH film watches with this Letterboxd list.