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VAFF 19

Nov 8: Program 9 – Closing Night: Crush The Skull

The hunter becomes the hunted: an enduring trope, but one used more often for screams than for laughs; soldier vs. alien, cop vs. vigilante, and now, with Vietnamese American Viet Nguyen’s “Crush The Skull,” burglar vs. serial killer. If you’re a fan of chiller-comedy hybrids, including Sam Raimi’s classic “Evil Dead” franchise and its recent homage, “Cabin In The Woods,” don’t miss our CLOSING NIGHT film (a Canadian premiere) that combines a heist caper with an old-school slasher flick—a successful Kickstarter crowdsourced project, and winner of the Nightfall Award at the 2015 Los Angeles Film Festival. Preceded by a couple of creepy shorts: festival award winner “Teaspoon” from India’s Aban Bharucha Deohans, about how the frustrations of traditional Asian extended family living can lead to a disturbing end; and Chinese director Tong Zhou’s “Fish Eye,” in which a housekeeper suspects her employer has more than one skeleton in his closet.


  1. Crush The Skull

    Viet Nguyen / Nov 8: Program 9 – Closing Night: Crush The Skull / USA / 2015 / Thriller / 80 mins
    On the surface, Ollie and Blair are a typical fun, young couple—comfortable enough to be constantly picking at each other's flaws, secure enough to start making long-term plans together.

    Preceded by: Fish Eye, Teaspoon


  2. Fish Eye

    Tong Zhou / Nov 8: Program 9 – Closing Night: Crush The Skull / China / 2015 / Thriller / 15 mins
    A paranoid young maid is hired by a mysterious, neurotic man; while cleaning, she finds evidence which might be related to an unapprehended serial killer.

    Precedes: Crush The Skull


  3. Teaspoon

    Aban Bharucha Deohans / Nov 8: Program 9 – Closing Night: Crush The Skull / India / 2015 / Drama, Thriller / 20 mins
    Rajiv, Kavita and Rajiv’s father, live together in a small apartment. Kavita works from home, as she cannot leave her paralytic father-in-law alone.

    Precedes: Crush The Skull