Scene In Nevada: Atelophobia

Shot entirely in the Las Vegas, NV area, Atelophobia (2015) is about a girl named Meredith who desperately tries to fit in with a group of beauty pageant girls. When Meredith’s attempts fail and she continues to be the target of the group’s bullying antics, Meredith snaps and plays a terrifying “life or death” game with the girls who treated her terribly. In Meredith’s game, they must either kill themselves or live their lives with some sort of imperfection.

Watch the official trailer below:

“Atelophobia – Official Trailer” by Carcass Studios

Written and directed by Las Vegas filmmaker Joe Lujan, the horror movie’s title Atelophobia is fitting. Atelophobia is defined as the fear of not being good enough; in other words, the fear of imperfection. While it ties into the film’s storyline, it also ties into Lujan’s filmmaking process. Lujan poured his blood, sweat, and tears into creating the film, which was three years in the making, “ironically all in the name of perfection” (source).

Lujan built all of the sets himself, made all of the costumes, and even used real-life personal experiences from high school as inspiration to ensure that his horror film truly made an impression on audience members. It even inspired the creation of “The Atelophobia Room,” an escape room game in Las Vegas. Watch the commercial for the escape room below (no longer open):

“The Atelophobia Room – Count Down Live Escape Games Commercial” by Carcass Studios

Atelophobia: Chapter 2 was released earlier this year and had its world premiere at AMC Town Square 18 & IMAX Las Vegas on April 8, 2018. A third installment, Atelophobia: Chapter 3 (also known as Atelophobia: Nithe of Allure), has also already been announced.