Silicon Valley's ONLY horror-centric film festival is preparing for a massive 2021 season. We'll be taking over the 3 Below Theaters And Lounge in downtown San Jose in late September or October. Due to COVID-19 we have postponed 2020, and will carry all submissions into our 2021 season. Official event date TBD.

For our second official season our inspiration will be DREAD. What really frightens you? What kind of stories seep into your skin? Show us what drives you to create that wonderful, terrifying, insidious art. Show us the passion, the energy!

It is our goal to provide you, the filmmaker, a dark and brooding platform to display your talents within the horror genre. The Death's Parade Film Festival will carefully select the best of the best in regards to horror shorts, features, and animations to present to our San Jose audience.

The festival will feature short films and feature films from around the world, with an emphasis on paranormal, psychological and body horror, found footage, experimental, killers, monsters, zombies, gore, and dark comedy. For 2020 we are expanding to include suspense and thrillers. Visit https://www.deathparadefilmfest.com/ for more.

The DPFF is looking for:
• Films that scare the pants out of us, or make us question our sanity!
• Horror films not released to the public yet, meaning they shouldn't be commercially available on blu ray/DVD, or any streaming platform such as Netflix, Prime Video, Youtube etc.
• Films generally less than three years old - we'll consider films of any age, but prefer newer projects.
• Films that are local (San Francisco Bay Area), or California based.

Just like last year the festival may feature Q&A from selected filmmakers. We had a blast with our attending filmmakers and look forward to meet more this year. Due to budget constraints we are unable to cover expenses to the festival, however, any attending filmmakers will be given a specially named badge and the opportunity to interview with Kevin Nickelson of HorrorNews.Net and the Joe Flynn show.

New for 2020 - The Grim and Bloody Podcast features guests across the horror genre spectrum: from films, books, music to illustrations. Helmed by Kevin Nickelson of Horror News Net, Joe Flynn and DPFF founder Anthony DeRouen. You can find the Grim and Bloody Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast, Anchor, andRadio Public.

You can find The Grim and Bloody Podcast on Spotify, Anchor and Pocketcasts. Episode 1 now available!

We're already lining up guests, stay tuned!

Awards & Prizes

We call our awards The Grimmies!! That's a take on the Grim Reaper, not that other cheesy award show.

Best Short Film
Best Writing
Best Makeup Effects

** Selected films may be reviewed by special guest Kevin Nickelson of Horrornews.Net **

** Films that are considered for the Best Writing award will be contacted late August to have their respective scripts submitted for review. The scripts do not have to follow any particular format, but we want to see the written dialogue that went into the film. **

Rules & Terms

[Please read the all of the Rules & Terms before submitting]

Updated for 2020:

TERMS:
Final screening format must be MP4, H.264, WMV, M4V, MPEG, please! By submitting to the Death’s Parade Film Fest (DPFF) through FilmFreeway, you are stating that you are the owner of your entry, and it's your original work. We are NOT accepting any .MOV files, please have any .MOV files converted prior to submitting.

While we understand that you retain all rights to ownership of the work, you hereby give the Death’s Parade Film Fest permission to feature, advertise, display, in whole or in part, the work titled and described herein, for festival purposes including promotion.

You also understand that your entry is valid only upon completion of the following conditions: (1) receipt of a copy of the work, (2) the processing of the entry fee by the festival organization (DPFF), and (3) when the work is found to be original and owned by you or those you represent.

Each work is judged solely on its own merits.
RULES:
1. Please select only one submission category per project. Films submitted in multiple categories could be subject to disqualification.
2. All films MUST be submitted via online screener (Vimeo preferred, but not required). No physical DVDs or Blu-Rays accepted for submission.
3. There is no completion date. DPFF will accept films from any year.
4. No Premiere Status required.
5. Films can have a distribution deal, but should not be available online (VimeoOnDemand, Netflix, Amazon Prime etc.) prior to the festival dates.
6. Foreign films (in their original language) must be presented with English language subtitles.
7. Student film submissions require proof of enrollment. Entries by filmmakers UNDER 18 years of age MUST be submitted by a parent or legal guardian. Student films are ONLY ELIGIBLE for the Best Student Film Award and do not qualify in any other award category.
8. All submitted films must be complete. The DPFF will not accept Work-In-Progress submissions.
9. The DPFF does not pay screening fees.
10. Due to the conflict in the Middle East and

3 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Tony Reames

    I cannot say enough about this festival, Anthony puts on a wonderful fest!!!!! From the films to the coverage this is top notch!!!!

    October 2019
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    Response from festival:

    We were honored to screen your film Tony, best of luck on your future projects!

  • Marcia Denice

    Great festival with a great audience. I'm very proud my film was a part of the line up.

    October 2019
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    Response from festival:

    It was a pleasure to meet you, Marcia! Hope to see you back.

  • Roshni "Rush" Bhatia

    For a first year festival, I've had value through and through. Anthony is so communicative and quick at responding. Although I didn't get to attend, I did get to do an interview and be nominated for Best Writing. I'm extremely proud of being a part of Death's Parade Film Fest. MUCH RECOMMENDED.

    October 2019
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you for the kind words, Roshni! It was a pleasure to interview you and screen PLASMID - a wonderfully done horror short.