Welcome to the fifth year of The Great Canadian Horror Film Festival!

The Great Canadian Horror Film Festival is an international film festival based in Toronto Canada. We are dedicated to showcasing the works of horror filmmakers from around the world. We accept both short and feature films that consist of elements based on horror. Our festival offers cash prizes based on audience vote.

We plan to feature 50+ films this year. We watch and review every film we receive.

The festival will be taking place from October 2nd - October 3rd, 2025. Our selected films will be shown at The Royal Cinema.

We will be accepting film submissions from now until August 31st. We will reveal the final selections on September 3rd.

We also produce a Comedy Film Festival. Please follow the link if interested.

Comedy:
https://filmfreeway.com/TheGreatCanadianComedyFilmFestival

Awards & Prizes

The festival gives out the following awards:

Best Director
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best International Film
Best Canadian Film

Ticket holders for the festival will have the opportunity to vote for best film of the film block they viewed. The film with the most votes will receive an American cash prize.

Best Short Film - $300 USD prize

Note: Our festival features multiple film blocks made from short films. We expect to give away two prizes this year. Two for best short film blocks.

This may be subject to change based on how many film submissions we receive.

Rules & Terms

Entries must be related to horror. This includes puppets, animation, web content, performance theatre and music videos.

Entries do not need to be premiers to be submitted

Short Film entries must be under 20 minutes in length

If selected to screen at the festival, entries must be provided in a high resolution (24 fps) ProRes QuickTime format. It is okay to submit films in a lower resolution to review for selection.

Only three entries per filmmaker

No refunds will be given

Foreign films are accepted but English subtitles must be added

The Great Canadian Horror Film Festival confirms that the festival has the permission to exhibit your film(s) during the festival and/or at any other festival event. Submission of work implies that the festival can employ moving image excerpts and reproduce stills of exhibition promotion. Credit will be given to any filmmaker or screenwriter if such material is used in festival promotion. The original copyright holder retains all rights to their work.
20 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Ringling College of Art + Design Computer Animation

    The support team and communication has been lovely; They were on top of responses and put a ton of effort into handmaking their commercials. We are thrilled to have been a part of this passionate festival!

    June 2024
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  • Renee Cox

    Awesome experience and a wonderful and positive time. Many showed and the organizer was on point. :)

    October 2023
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  • Hunter Collins

    Well-attended big screen event with impeccably curated selections. Organizer communication is super prompt and at the event he wore a badass pumpkin tuxedo. Full marks! Ling love the GCHFF!

    October 2023
    Helpful
  • Richard Rotter

    Had a lot of fun at this fest! Love the Royal Theatre, loved the crowd, and deeply appreciate how welcoming Tyler was to us filmmakers. Submit to this one horror peeps!

    October 2023
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  • Steven DeRock

    It was great to be part of this festival. Good communication and organized event. It was a nice venue with a good crowd. Thank you for letting my film take part and screen in this years show.

    October 2023
    Helpful