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Joseph Perry

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Sharks, Slashers, and Cocktail-Making Robots Descend on Austin’s Hybrid Fantastic Fest 

Renowned genre-focused film festival Fantastic Fest has announced a jaw-dropping, drool-inducing lineup of films and in-person events — and those unable to attend in person in Austin, Texas, can enjoy a virtual experience with some chilling, thrilling new releases in the comfort of their own homes. This year’s dates are from September 22nd–29th at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin and on the web via the virtual FF@Home experience from September 29th–October 4th. Following is the official press announcement. There’s only one place where you’ll find killer teddy bears, man-eating sharks, elderly zombies, cocktail-serving robots, and Park Chan-wook . . . all under one roof. That’s right, world-famous genre festival Fantastic Fest is back for its seventeenth edition featuring 21 World Premieres, 14 North American Premieres, and 21 U.S Premieres. The festival will once again take over the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, TX from September 22nd – 29th and on the web via a virtual FF@Home experience

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Aug 17, 2022

Movie Reviews: “Next Exit” and “Bubba Ho-Tep” (North Bend Film Festival)

Next Exit Writer/director Mali Elfman’s Next Exit is a science-fiction drama with supernatural elements that raises big questions, such as the ever-discussed “Is there life after death and if we discovered there was, how would we handle it?” but eschews attempting to answer such mysteries by instead focusing on the strained relationship between two strangers sharing a car together to willingly end their lives as part of a scientific experiment after it is confirmed that there is, indeed, an afterlife. Rose (Katie Parker of The Haunting of Hill House and Absentia) is haunted by what she has done wrong in the past as well as by a ghost, and she is bitter, angry, and ready to die. Teddy (Rahul Kohli of The Haunting of Bly Manor and iZombie) has issues from being abandoned by his father as a child and sees this opportunity as his chance to finally do something big. The pair are at odds from the beginning but

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Aug 14, 2022

The Netherlands’ BUT Film Festival Focuses on Vigilante and Female Revenge for Its 2022 Edition

BUT Film Festival (BUTFF) is announcing its line-up of special guests, movie screenings, music shows, and performances. The festival takes place between August 31 and September 4 in Breda, the Netherlands. The main guests this year are Pollyanna McIntosh, the star of The Walking Dead and Vikings, and Robert Bronzi, a performer, actor, stuntman, and Charles Bronson’s clone. BUTFF will show several of the movies in which the guests starred, such as Revenge Ride or The Woman for McIntosh and Escape from Death Block 13 and Death Kiss for Bronzi. The guests will introduce their respective films and hold a Q&A session. FILMS This year’s theme is “Eye for an Eye”, which encapsulates vigilante and female revenge films. For the former, BUTFF will show, among others, New York Ninja, Black Gestapo, or Deadbeat at Dawn. Female revenge movies at the festival will include A Gun for Jennifer, I Spit on Your Grave, and Thriller: A Cruel Picture. BUTFF runs several

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Aug 9, 2022

North Bend Film Festival Offers Chills and Thrills This Week

North Bend, Washington, is the home of North Bend Film Festival, which features intriguing, offbeat cinematic offerings this year from August 4–7. Naturally, Horror Fuel readers are most drawn toward the more dark and diabolical films, and the fest comes through with some bold selections. Among the horror, thriller, and horror-adjacent features scheduled are director Clay Tatum’s terrific supernatural comedy The Civil Dead, of which I wrote in my review for the film’s Sundance run, “The Civil Dead packs some emotional wallops along with its unconventional humor, making for one of the most unusual cinematic offerings of the year so far.” Also on tap is LGBTQ chiller Swallowed, which I reviewed during its Overlook Film Festival screenings: “[Director Carter] Smith serves up body horror scenes not for the squeamish and plenty of suspense to keep viewers glued to the screen.” Writer/director Mali Elfman makes her feature directorial debut with Next Exit, which according to North Bend Film Festival’s official description,

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Aug 4, 2022

HollyShorts Film Festival Delivers the Horror in Its Hybrid Edition This Month

With 67 films on offer this year, horror and thriller fans can get stuck into the fantastic selection of films screening at this year’s HollyShorts Film Festival. This exciting strand includes Sam Max’s CHAPERONE starring Zachary Quinto, Double OSCAR® Winner Paul J. Franklin’s FIREWORKS, Thomas Simon’s BOWLHEAD starring John Hursley (Dad), Brian Sepanzyk’s IN THE SHADOW OF GOD starring Sara Canning (The Vampire Diaries), Alexandra Magistro’s LOVE YOU MAMA starring The Haunting of Hill House’s Samantha Soyan, Eli Powers’ SKIN AND BONE starring Amanda Seyfried, Evan Miller’s THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS starring Adrianne Palicki alongside Zachary Levi and more. The Oscar® Qualifying HOLLYSHORTS FILM FESTIVAL returns for its much-anticipated 18th edition from August 11-20th, 2022, with an impressive 5,000 entries this year! Epic Dread sponsor this year’s scary strand. As previously, the winners of HollyShorts’ three top prizes will be eligible for nomination at the 2023 Oscars®. Six HollyShorts films were nominated for the 2022 Academy Awards® with two wins for

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Aug 4, 2022

Movie Reviews: “Cult Hero” and “The Breach” (Fantasia)

Cult Hero Canadian horror comedy Cult Hero finds disgraced cult deprogrammer, reality television star, and self-described “cult buster” Dale Domazar (Ry Barrett of The Chamber of Terror) living off the grid a few years after an episode of his series featured him leading to the suicide of several cult members. It’s hard to tell whether his mannerisms are an affectation based on his favorite action heroes of yore or if he really lives his schtick. When high-strung, ill-mannered real estate agent Kallie (Liv Collins of Creep Nation) begins to suspect that the male retreat at which she dropped off her beta-male husband Brad (Justin Bott) may actually be a suicide cult, she contacts Domazar, who sees the paid gig as his potential comeback for a second series of his Cult Buster program. Director Jesse Thomas Cook, whose previous works include Monster Ball, The Hexecutioners, and The Hoard, delivers a fun, goofy feature that delivers plenty of laughs along with some

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Aug 2, 2022

Movie Review: He’s Watching

He’s Watching, the latest feature from director Jacob Estes (Mean Creek; Don’t Let Go) is bound to frustrate some viewers while keeping others glued to the screen. I fell toward the latter; this film that started out as a family project filmed during COVID-19 lockdown has its share of slow moments and found-footage tropes, but it also delivers an effectively eerie atmosphere and believable performances from two real-life siblings, Estes’ teen daughter Iris Serena Estes and his younger son Lucas Estes. Iris and Lucas are left to their own devices when a virus that affects only adults puts their parents in the hospital. The kids send messages to Jacob and their mom (Gretchen Lieberum) that go unanswered but are seemingly being watched by the parents. The siblings think that each one is being pranked by the other, with tension and incidents escalating and lots of bickering going on, but soon enough they realize that something called The Closet Creeper has

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 23, 2022

Popcorn Frights Outdoes Itself with Amazing Second Wave Lineup Announcement

Mere days after unleashing its fabulous, fright-filled first wave lineup on an unsuspecting world, Florida’s Popcorn Frights has raised the bar even further with its second wave announcement! Check out the terrific fare in store for both in-person attendees and those who can watch at home across the country! Following is the official press announcement/ It’s all been building up to this! Popcorn Frights’ second wave of programming presents its most ambitious lineup yet with 36 feature film premieres, embracing 20 countries, with industry sessions, rooftop parties, an under-the-stars movie night & Bruce Willis tribute, magic shows, horror trivia, live comedy, and more! Running August 11-21, this year’s cinematic mayhem is unleashed both online across the US and in-theater through South Florida. As the Southeast United States largest gathering of genre films and fans, Popcorn Frights is bringing the most electrifying and provocative genre cinema from around the globe to the Sunshine State. First up is the world premiere of

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 22, 2022

Arrow Video FrightFest Recruits for New Blood Writers Initiative Class of 2022

With Arrow Video FrightFest unleashing the fearsome hordes into London’s West End cinemas in late August, the search resumes for new writers in the horror genre through its New Blood initiative. New Blood reunites FrightFest with Giles Edwards of Queensbury Pictures in its mission to find emerging UK-based writers dedicated to the genre and nurture their projects from script to screen. Queensbury Pictures is ultimately interested in acquiring scripts ready for production rather than just an idea, and so, all successful final candidates, if selected, should be able to send even a rough draft of the first ten pages of their script through with their acceptance. The successful shortlisted applicants will workshop their ideas in a group setting under the guidance of top industry professionals and genre experts. This year’s panel will be announced shortly. Applications are open for 10 days from 19th July with potential participants asked to submit a 400 word proposal through the dedicated New Blood page

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 20, 2022

Milwaukee’s Twisted Dreams Film Festival Sets the Dates for Its Seventh Edition

After presenting two fine virtual versions, Milwaukee’s Twisted Dreams Film Festival is back in the cinema this year for some big-screen and in-person fright-fare fun. Following is the official press announcement so that you can mark the dates in your calendars! Twisted Dreams will be returning to its roots for a star studded 7th annual Film Festival. Films and all live events will be at the historic Avalon Theater Friday October 14–16. Friday Night’s Launch party will include a burlesque performance by Grindhouse Tease Burlesque Troupe, and a once in a lifetime premiere of Shakespeare Shitstorm. Saturday events will include a meet and greet with the Legendary Troma creator Lloyd Kaufmann, and Horror Icon Brinke Stevens. On Sunday, Ratbatspider will be performing an original score live during a screening of Nosferatu. All other Q&A’s will be live and free from our social media pages. This year we are honoring Mark Krawczyk with the Backbone of Wisconsin Horror award. For over

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 20, 2022

More from Joseph Perry

Sharks, Slashers, and Cocktail-Making Robots Descend on Austin’s Hybrid Fantastic Fest 

Renowned genre-focused film festival Fantastic Fest has announced a jaw-dropping, drool-inducing lineup of films and in-person events — and those unable to attend in person in Austin, Texas, can enjoy a virtual experience with some chilling, thrilling new releases in the comfort of their own homes. This year’s dates are from September 22nd–29th at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin and on the web via the virtual FF@Home experience from September 29th–October 4th. Following is the official press announcement. There’s only one place where you’ll find killer teddy bears, man-eating sharks, elderly zombies, cocktail-serving robots, and Park Chan-wook . . . all under one roof. That’s right, world-famous genre festival Fantastic Fest is back for its seventeenth edition featuring 21 World Premieres, 14 North American Premieres, and 21 U.S Premieres. The festival will once again take over the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, TX from September 22nd – 29th and on the web via a virtual FF@Home experience

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Aug 17, 2022

Movie Reviews: “Next Exit” and “Bubba Ho-Tep” (North Bend Film Festival)

Next Exit Writer/director Mali Elfman’s Next Exit is a science-fiction drama with supernatural elements that raises big questions, such as the ever-discussed “Is there life after death and if we discovered there was, how would we handle it?” but eschews attempting to answer such mysteries by instead focusing on the strained relationship between two strangers sharing a car together to willingly end their lives as part of a scientific experiment after it is confirmed that there is, indeed, an afterlife. Rose (Katie Parker of The Haunting of Hill House and Absentia) is haunted by what she has done wrong in the past as well as by a ghost, and she is bitter, angry, and ready to die. Teddy (Rahul Kohli of The Haunting of Bly Manor and iZombie) has issues from being abandoned by his father as a child and sees this opportunity as his chance to finally do something big. The pair are at odds from the beginning but

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Aug 14, 2022

The Netherlands’ BUT Film Festival Focuses on Vigilante and Female Revenge for Its 2022 Edition

BUT Film Festival (BUTFF) is announcing its line-up of special guests, movie screenings, music shows, and performances. The festival takes place between August 31 and September 4 in Breda, the Netherlands. The main guests this year are Pollyanna McIntosh, the star of The Walking Dead and Vikings, and Robert Bronzi, a performer, actor, stuntman, and Charles Bronson’s clone. BUTFF will show several of the movies in which the guests starred, such as Revenge Ride or The Woman for McIntosh and Escape from Death Block 13 and Death Kiss for Bronzi. The guests will introduce their respective films and hold a Q&A session. FILMS This year’s theme is “Eye for an Eye”, which encapsulates vigilante and female revenge films. For the former, BUTFF will show, among others, New York Ninja, Black Gestapo, or Deadbeat at Dawn. Female revenge movies at the festival will include A Gun for Jennifer, I Spit on Your Grave, and Thriller: A Cruel Picture. BUTFF runs several

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Aug 9, 2022

North Bend Film Festival Offers Chills and Thrills This Week

North Bend, Washington, is the home of North Bend Film Festival, which features intriguing, offbeat cinematic offerings this year from August 4–7. Naturally, Horror Fuel readers are most drawn toward the more dark and diabolical films, and the fest comes through with some bold selections. Among the horror, thriller, and horror-adjacent features scheduled are director Clay Tatum’s terrific supernatural comedy The Civil Dead, of which I wrote in my review for the film’s Sundance run, “The Civil Dead packs some emotional wallops along with its unconventional humor, making for one of the most unusual cinematic offerings of the year so far.” Also on tap is LGBTQ chiller Swallowed, which I reviewed during its Overlook Film Festival screenings: “[Director Carter] Smith serves up body horror scenes not for the squeamish and plenty of suspense to keep viewers glued to the screen.” Writer/director Mali Elfman makes her feature directorial debut with Next Exit, which according to North Bend Film Festival’s official description,

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Aug 4, 2022

HollyShorts Film Festival Delivers the Horror in Its Hybrid Edition This Month

With 67 films on offer this year, horror and thriller fans can get stuck into the fantastic selection of films screening at this year’s HollyShorts Film Festival. This exciting strand includes Sam Max’s CHAPERONE starring Zachary Quinto, Double OSCAR® Winner Paul J. Franklin’s FIREWORKS, Thomas Simon’s BOWLHEAD starring John Hursley (Dad), Brian Sepanzyk’s IN THE SHADOW OF GOD starring Sara Canning (The Vampire Diaries), Alexandra Magistro’s LOVE YOU MAMA starring The Haunting of Hill House’s Samantha Soyan, Eli Powers’ SKIN AND BONE starring Amanda Seyfried, Evan Miller’s THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS starring Adrianne Palicki alongside Zachary Levi and more. The Oscar® Qualifying HOLLYSHORTS FILM FESTIVAL returns for its much-anticipated 18th edition from August 11-20th, 2022, with an impressive 5,000 entries this year! Epic Dread sponsor this year’s scary strand. As previously, the winners of HollyShorts’ three top prizes will be eligible for nomination at the 2023 Oscars®. Six HollyShorts films were nominated for the 2022 Academy Awards® with two wins for

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Aug 4, 2022

Movie Reviews: “Cult Hero” and “The Breach” (Fantasia)

Cult Hero Canadian horror comedy Cult Hero finds disgraced cult deprogrammer, reality television star, and self-described “cult buster” Dale Domazar (Ry Barrett of The Chamber of Terror) living off the grid a few years after an episode of his series featured him leading to the suicide of several cult members. It’s hard to tell whether his mannerisms are an affectation based on his favorite action heroes of yore or if he really lives his schtick. When high-strung, ill-mannered real estate agent Kallie (Liv Collins of Creep Nation) begins to suspect that the male retreat at which she dropped off her beta-male husband Brad (Justin Bott) may actually be a suicide cult, she contacts Domazar, who sees the paid gig as his potential comeback for a second series of his Cult Buster program. Director Jesse Thomas Cook, whose previous works include Monster Ball, The Hexecutioners, and The Hoard, delivers a fun, goofy feature that delivers plenty of laughs along with some

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Aug 2, 2022

Movie Review: He’s Watching

He’s Watching, the latest feature from director Jacob Estes (Mean Creek; Don’t Let Go) is bound to frustrate some viewers while keeping others glued to the screen. I fell toward the latter; this film that started out as a family project filmed during COVID-19 lockdown has its share of slow moments and found-footage tropes, but it also delivers an effectively eerie atmosphere and believable performances from two real-life siblings, Estes’ teen daughter Iris Serena Estes and his younger son Lucas Estes. Iris and Lucas are left to their own devices when a virus that affects only adults puts their parents in the hospital. The kids send messages to Jacob and their mom (Gretchen Lieberum) that go unanswered but are seemingly being watched by the parents. The siblings think that each one is being pranked by the other, with tension and incidents escalating and lots of bickering going on, but soon enough they realize that something called The Closet Creeper has

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 23, 2022

Popcorn Frights Outdoes Itself with Amazing Second Wave Lineup Announcement

Mere days after unleashing its fabulous, fright-filled first wave lineup on an unsuspecting world, Florida’s Popcorn Frights has raised the bar even further with its second wave announcement! Check out the terrific fare in store for both in-person attendees and those who can watch at home across the country! Following is the official press announcement/ It’s all been building up to this! Popcorn Frights’ second wave of programming presents its most ambitious lineup yet with 36 feature film premieres, embracing 20 countries, with industry sessions, rooftop parties, an under-the-stars movie night & Bruce Willis tribute, magic shows, horror trivia, live comedy, and more! Running August 11-21, this year’s cinematic mayhem is unleashed both online across the US and in-theater through South Florida. As the Southeast United States largest gathering of genre films and fans, Popcorn Frights is bringing the most electrifying and provocative genre cinema from around the globe to the Sunshine State. First up is the world premiere of

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 22, 2022

Arrow Video FrightFest Recruits for New Blood Writers Initiative Class of 2022

With Arrow Video FrightFest unleashing the fearsome hordes into London’s West End cinemas in late August, the search resumes for new writers in the horror genre through its New Blood initiative. New Blood reunites FrightFest with Giles Edwards of Queensbury Pictures in its mission to find emerging UK-based writers dedicated to the genre and nurture their projects from script to screen. Queensbury Pictures is ultimately interested in acquiring scripts ready for production rather than just an idea, and so, all successful final candidates, if selected, should be able to send even a rough draft of the first ten pages of their script through with their acceptance. The successful shortlisted applicants will workshop their ideas in a group setting under the guidance of top industry professionals and genre experts. This year’s panel will be announced shortly. Applications are open for 10 days from 19th July with potential participants asked to submit a 400 word proposal through the dedicated New Blood page

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 20, 2022

Milwaukee’s Twisted Dreams Film Festival Sets the Dates for Its Seventh Edition

After presenting two fine virtual versions, Milwaukee’s Twisted Dreams Film Festival is back in the cinema this year for some big-screen and in-person fright-fare fun. Following is the official press announcement so that you can mark the dates in your calendars! Twisted Dreams will be returning to its roots for a star studded 7th annual Film Festival. Films and all live events will be at the historic Avalon Theater Friday October 14–16. Friday Night’s Launch party will include a burlesque performance by Grindhouse Tease Burlesque Troupe, and a once in a lifetime premiere of Shakespeare Shitstorm. Saturday events will include a meet and greet with the Legendary Troma creator Lloyd Kaufmann, and Horror Icon Brinke Stevens. On Sunday, Ratbatspider will be performing an original score live during a screening of Nosferatu. All other Q&A’s will be live and free from our social media pages. This year we are honoring Mark Krawczyk with the Backbone of Wisconsin Horror award. For over

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 20, 2022
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