For their 4th annual edition, the Minneapolis Underground Film Festival is pulling out all the stops, spotlighting great local and international filmmaking talent over the course of three days, Dec. 2-4, on two screens at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design (MCAD).

The fest opens with an ambitious Minneapolis-based move: Tyler Jensen’s 30 Films 30 Days. Working with hundreds of local participants, Jensen and his team completed a short film a day over the course of one month and this feature compiles all of them into one package. Plus, also screening on the same night is the groovy grindhouse horror flick The Disco Exorcist by Richard Griffin.

Over the course of the next two full days and nights, two of the best highlights of this year’s MUFF include Usama Alshaibi‘s masterful mix of sex and religion Profane, Stuart Simpson‘s retro-sleazetastic monster flick El Monstro Del Mar!, neither of which are to be missed!

Some great international flicks to keep an eye out for are Australia’s Nude Study by Stefan Popescu, the European punk rock documentary Noise & Resistance by Francesca Araiza Andrade and Julia Ostertag, the British horror movie documentary Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape; plus two horror flicks from Norway and Sweden: Dark Souls and Marianne.

On the homegrown front, there’s Bob Ray‘s Austin-based documentary Total Badass and Damon Russell’s Atlanta crime fueled Snow on Tha Bluff, plus a couple docs about the transgendered community: Genderf*kation: A Gender Emancipation and This Is My Journey.

And there are also several short film programs, including the horror block on the 3rd that includes Greg Hanson and Casey Regan‘s now classic nunsploitation romp Thy Kill Be Done.

The full fest film lineup is below. For more info, please visit the official Minneapolis Underground Film Festival website.

Dec. 2

7:00 p.m.: 30 Films 30 Days, dir. Tyler Jensen. This feature-length production is actually composed of short films all produced by and utilizing local Minneapolis talent.

8:00 p.m.: The Disco Exorcist, dir. Richard Griffin. Who’s the funkiest exorcist on the block?

Dec. 3

10:00 a.m.: Nude Study, dir. Stefan Popescu. A female filmmaker believes she’s found the perfect model for her latest project, but her involvement with her subject develops into a frantic passion.

10:00 a.m.: Glass, dir. Daina Krummins. Two orphaned siblings are taken in by a glass artist who must all work together to disposed of a dead body.

11:45 a.m.: Genderf*kation: A Gender Emancipation, dir. Chris Durant. This documentary profiles a half-dozen transgendered individuals trying to survive in a society that doesn’t understand them.

12:00 p.m.: Johnny Ghost, dir. Donna McRae. An ex-punk rocker decides to have her creepy old tattoos removed, which unleashes the ghosts of her past back into her life.

1:00 p.m.: Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape, dir. Jake West. An examination into the horror boom of the early ’80s and the cries for censorship that swiftly followed.

1:30 p.m.: This Is My Journey, dir. Kate Brickman. This documentary profiles three transgendered individuals who all live in central Illinois.

2:15 p.m.: Noise and Resistance: Voices From the DIY Underground, dir. Francesca Araiza Andrade and Julia Ostertag. This documentary examines the world of European punk rock and how that subculture is helping and hoping to transform their way of life.

2:45 p.m.: “Narrative Short Film Selection”
The Curse of Yig, dir. Paul Von Stoetzel
Dying for Franjibelle, dir. Hong Zhou
Freak, dir. Eric Casaccio
Night Train, dir. Hong Zhou

4:00 p.m.: Bronze, dir. Steven Strauss. Three teenage girls endure a harrowing night together after they leave their comfortable suburban confines.

4:30 p.m.: “Love, Loss & Animation Short Film Selection”
Another Day, dir. Chiara Armentano
Chief Serenbe, dir. Evan Curtis
Create, dir. Dan MacKenzie
The Dance, dir. Pardis Parker
The End, dir. Jens Josephs
I’m 14 & I Hate the World, dir. Kenneth J. Harney
The Innocent, dir. Jose A. Rodriguez
Revise/Disguise, dir. Mark Minax
Linden & Vine, dir. Eric Spivey
The Mother’s Day Harvest, dir. Nick McManus
Portrait of a Filmmaker, dir. Mark Mamalakis
Simulacra, dir. Sumie Garcia
The Suitcase, dir. Nick Collingwood
14.7p51, dir. Jeanette Bonds

5:15 p.m.: “Themes of Horror Short Film Selection”
Assisted Migration, dir. Matt Mullins
Best Movie of the 90’s, dir. Chris Weiderman
Candyland, dir. Whitney Mornson
Double-Kill & Replace, dir. Johannes Lierfeld
Dope Sick, dir. Elijah Woodcock
Facing Rupert, dir. Gegory Erdstein
Ethereal Chrysalis, dir. Syl Disjonk
Repetition Compulsion, dir. Emma Varker
Thy Kill Be Done, dir. Greg Hanson, Casey Regan (Read the review)
Veritable Red, dir. Jesse Esparza, Evan Curtis & Vivi Qin

6:15 p.m.: Profane, dir. Usama Alshaibi. A Muslim sex worker has a devastating spiritual crisis after she believes her “jinn” — an Islamic demon — has been exorcised from her body. (Read the review)

7:00 p.m.: Last Caress, dir. Francois Gaillard & Christophe Robin. Five people looking to spend a comfortable weekend together at an old manor house are instead terrorized by an ancient family curse and a homicidal maniac.

7:45 p.m.: Snow on Tha Bluff, dir. Damon Russell. An Atlanta crack dealer steals a video camera during a drug deal and begins documenting his own tragic, crime-filled life.

8:30 p.m.: Dark Souls, dir. César Ducasse, Mathieu Peteul. A young woman who’s been murdered returns home to live with her father. (Streaming Online)

9:15 p.m.: El Monstro Del Mar!, dir. Stuart Simpson. A trio of sexy gals must do battle with a tentacled monster from the sea. (Read the review)

Dec. 4

10:00 a.m.: “Red Eye Short Film Selection”
The Astronaut on the Roof, dir. Sergo Portabella
The Black Earth, dir. James T. Warbington
Recreation, dir. James Vogel

10:00 a.m.: Enter the Hamster, dir. Paul Vorrasi. A once-popular band decides to reunite after splitting up years earlier, only to have their new dreams shattered by an evil record company CEO.

10:45 a.m.: Paul’s House, dir. Adam Mient. A man’s life is slowly unraveling and the only person whom he can talk to about his troubles is a mysterious roommate who never fully opens the door to his room.

11:45 a.m.: Made in Berlin, dir. John Ervin. A Michigan senator is terrorized by a woman who thinks he’s Satan and a hotel clerk who thinks he’s a spy.

12:00 p.m.: Total Badass, dir. Bob Ray. Dive deep into the lunatic world of Austin, TX’s seedy underground music and arts scene with your tour guide Chad Holt, a local deviant, sex fiend, Guinea pig enthusiast and hip-hop impressario.

1:00 p.m.: Potpourri, dir. Elliot Diviney. A group of students take lots of illicit drugs in an attempt to expand their consciousness so they can ace their final Philosophy exam.

1:45 p.m.: The Language of Time, dir. Sebastian Araya Serrano. A man and a woman relive their tragic past together.

2:45 p.m.: Invincible Force, dir. Dan Schneidkraut. This documentary chronicles one man’s amazing transformation from slob to superstar over the course of 90 days.

3:15 p.m.: Marianne, dir. Filip Tegstedt. A widowed man is left to raise his two daughters alone while he is haunted by an evil spirit that gives him nightmares.

5:00 p.m.: All Over the Walls, dir. Ryan Anderson, Greg Paape, Joe Galegher, Jake Johnson, and Alex Grangaard. This documentary follows a mixed-media artist as he attempts to build an art gallery in downtown Minneapolis.

5:15 p.m.: Some Guy Who Kills People, dir. Jack Perez. A put-upon loser whose been released from a mental asylum kills those he feels are responsible for his miserable life. (Watch the movie trailer!)

6:30 p.m.: The Man Who Saw Frankenstein Cry, dir. Angel Agudo. This documentary profiles the legendary B-movie icon, Paul Naschy.

7:00 p.m.: “MUFF Awards Ceremony”
With video produced by Channel Z

8:30 p.m.: Beg, dir. Kevin MacDonald. A retiring police detective helps out a rookie stop a serial killer.

8:30 p.m.: “Special Closing Night Screening”
TBA