
Tucked away in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, the Old West town of Telluride has long been associated with films and film festivals. A ski resort for much of the year, Telluride hosts the long-running Telluride Film Festival in late August/early September. For horror fans, though, the real film fest takes place in October. With the tenth edition of the Telluride Horror Show having concluded this past weekend, the gore-fest has established itself as a premiere destination for fans of fright.

The town of Telluride is as much of a draw itself as is the impressive lineup of feature films and shorts. Due to its small size, everything is within walking distance. Colorado Avenue, Telluride’s main thoroughfare, is littered with great restaurants, old school saloons, and fascinating gift shops. The real attractions, though, are the locals. Super friendly and helpful, they make visitors from all over the world feel welcome and right at home.

The Telluride Horror Show kicked off a day early this year with a pair of screenings on Thursday to benefit Scares That Care. Friday saw Joe Bob Briggs bring his comedy show How Rednecks Saved Hollywood to the Sheridan Opera House and it was a huge hit with the horror hounds, as you might expect. Joe Bob and his The Last Drive-In co-star Darcy the Mail Girl met with adoring fans following the show. Film highlights from the day included Sator, Girl on the Third Floor, and Z.
Related Article: Joe Bob Briggs talks How Rednecks Saved Hollywood at SXSW

On Saturday, Briggs stuck around to handle hosting duties for a special presentation of Tucker and Dale vs. Evil with director Eli Craig. The screening held extra meaning for the Telluride Horror Show, as it was the film that closed the very first edition of THS in 2010. Some highlights from the Q and A that followed:
- Zach Galifianakis and Bradley Cooper were originally tapped to play Dale and Tucker, respectively. Due to delays in beginning production and financiers not believing in Galifianakis and Cooper being able to pull off the roles, the film lost them to The Hangover.
- The film began with the simple concept “What if Leatherface didn’t do it?” This expanded to Craig’s experiences with fraternities at the University of Colorado. He thought it odd that during the rush process to become a member of a frat, the members would torture and degrade prospects and then want to be best friends with them after. As Craig noted, “You shouldn’t be afraid of the woods, you should be afraid of frat kids.”
- When the original actor cast as Tucker dropped out to take a part in an undisclosed Jennifer Aniston rom-com, Alan Tudyk flew to Calgary and replaced him with only 36 hours notice.
- A rough cut of the film was stolen and uploaded to torrent sites. It became the 3rd most downloaded film at the time, behind Star Wars (Craig didn’t indicate which ones). Despite the leak, Craig was perfectly okay with it, as it got the film out there and generated buzz for it.
- Joe Bob Briggs said he is a big fan of the film, calling it a “perfect movie.” He went on to say, “This (coming) from a guy who is not a fan of horror-comedy. The stereotype of hillbillies as crazed, gap-toothed predators and turning it on its head is a genius comedy idea.”
- Both Craig and Joe Bob picked the woodchipper death as their favorite of the movie. Craig and his team had an elaborate set-up to pull off the stunt. When he approached the stuntman to explain the process, the stuntman simply responded, “Or I could just jump in the woodchipper.” He did it in one take, but Craig nearly ruined it because he was laughing so hard at the amount of blood used.

Sunday saw the Colorado premieres of Blumhouse’s island survival tale Sweetheart, Brett and Drew Pierce’s witch flick The Wretched, and the highly anticipated isolation horror film The Lodge. (Check out our review here.)


Once again, Telluride Horror Show did a fantastic job with their film selections,a strong mix of horror and horror-comedy, indie and studio fare, short films, and insightful Q and As with filmmakers and actors. Throughout the weekend, there was an ice cream social, pig roast, karaoke, and trivia. The fest concluded Sunday night with a lively closing party at the historic Last Dollar Saloon that everyone who goes should attend.
Well organized and meticulously planned out, the Telluride Horror Show is a thing of movie buff beauty. I can’t stress enough how well the setting and the festival work together. From the magnificent turn-of-the-century theaters to the cosplayers and the chance to talk all things horror with fellow fans and filmmakers, the weekend is a true delight. Without a doubt, Telluride Horror Show should absolutely be on every horror fan’s bucket list.


All Photos Courtesy of Mary Pacheco Photography
Related Article: ‘Joe Bob’s Halloween Hootenanny’ will Premiere Oct. 25 on Shudder