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Horror film festivals worldwide — lineups, awards and the titles that break out of the festival circuit.

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'The Man In The White Van' Stalks A Girl In Upcoming True Crime Thriller

‘The Man In The White Van’ Stalks A Girl In Upcoming True Crime Thriller

In a quaint little town in 1974 Florida, an ominous white van stalks a young girl, while her parents’ skepticism leads to a terrifying Halloween nightmare in The Man in the White Van. Inspired by a true story, the film delves into the eerie underbelly of a seemingly idyllic and follows the harrowing experience of young Annie Williams, a spirited girl whose carefree existence is turned upside down as she becomes stalked by an ominous man in a white van. The tranquility of Annie’s world begins to crumble as the menacing white van inches closer and closer. As her parents’ skepticism increasingly grows, Annie finds herself isolated, and on Halloween night, her worst fears materialize into a full-blown nightmare as she gets abducted. Warren Skeels makes his directorial debut with The Man in the White Van, a gripping tale of terror, paranoia, and the darkness that lurks beneath the surface. Based on actual events of the serial killer Billy Mansfield

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Sep 15, 2023
Film Review: A BLOODTHIRSTY KILLER (Film at Lincoln Center’s Korean Cinema’s Golden Decade: The 1960s Series)

Film Review: A BLOODTHIRSTY KILLER (Film at Lincoln Center’s Korean Cinema’s Golden Decade: The 1960s Series)

Writer/director Yong-Min Lee’s South Korean horror film A Bloodthirsty Killer is absolutely bonkers! First-time viewers will join protagonist Shi-Mok Lee (Ye-Chun Lee) in having no idea what is going on for many of the opening scenes, and after that it’s nigh on impossible to guess what is coming next, straight through to the rather sappy ending. Businessman Lee is first seen wandering through a deserted museum where he finds nothing but a melting painting of his first wife Ae-ja (Geum-Bong Do) and is then transported by a mysterious taxi driver to a secluded house where he witnesses a murder at the hands of the ghost of Ae-ja. I don’t want to give much more away because the ride with A Bloodthirsty Killer is a wild one, full of what-could-possibly-happen-next? surprises, so suffice it to say that the supernatural — in more forms than one — and familial drama are among the elements at play, with all-in performances ranging from the

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Sep 13, 2023
Spoiler-Free Reviews: COLD MEAT and THE DIVE (Pigeon Shrine FrightFest)

Spoiler-Free Reviews: COLD MEAT and THE DIVE (Pigeon Shrine FrightFest)

COLD MEAT (2023) Cold Meat should be gone into — no pun intended — as cold as possible. Learning too much about director Sébastien Drouin’s winter-set horror thriller before watching it would be doing a great disservice to yourself. Suffice it to give you the initial set-up: traveler David (Allen Leech) is traveling through an extremely snowy area in Colorado. He stops off at a diner, where he calmly intervenes when waitress Ana (Nina Bergman) is physically and verbally harassed by her drunken ex Vincent (Yan Tual), who leaves without further incident. When David gets back on the road, Vincent pursues him in a larger vehicle and David strands his car in deep snow when trying to elude the violent man. What follows is a combination of survival horror — taking place mostly in David’s car and its immediate surroundings — and another fear-fare element that would be a big spoiler to give away here, and there may be something

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Sep 8, 2023
Chillers, Thrillers, and Killers Await During Popcorn Frights Wicked Weekend

Chillers, Thrillers, and Killers Await During Popcorn Frights Wicked Weekend

Florida’s Popcorn Frights Film Festival has announced the lineup for this year’s Wicked Weekend program, and fear-fare enthusiasts of all stripes won’t want to miss it! Following is the official press announcement. Batten down the hatches and gather your courage as Popcorn Frights has announced its annual Wicked Weekend program celebrating all the eerie, weird, wild, and strange things that go bump in the night! The event, running October 4-8 at the historic Gateway Theater, will feature eight film premieres and special presentations highlighted by new nightmares from Mike Flanagan, Scott Derrickson, and Joe Lynch, as well as many other surprises. Wicked Weekend is headlined by a special presentation of the first two episodes of Netflix’s THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, genre maestro Mike Flanagan’s hotly anticipated new horror series based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe starring Mark Hamill, Carla Gugino, Kate Siegel, and Henry Thomas, as well as Paramount+’s terrifying prequel PET SEMATARY: BLOODLINES, based

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Sep 6, 2023
Australia’s A Night of Horror International Film Festival Announces Its 2023 Lineup

Australia’s A Night of Horror International Film Festival Announces Its 2023 Lineup

Fear-fare fanatics in Australia will have an abundance of unsettling selections from which to choose when A Night of Horror International Film Festival presents its 2023 edition in Sydney from September 29th to October 1st. Scintillating slices of cinema from around the world are scheduled. Following is the official press announcement. Australia’s longest running showcase of horror and dark genre cinema, A Night of Horror International Film Festival (ANOH) is back for its 15th year, with a frighteningly fantastic program. From 28th September to 1st October, the Festival will take over Dendy Cinema, screening the very best in freaky, macabre and spine-chilling film from around the globe. Spanning across four days, ANOH is gearing up to present a total of ten features and 31 short films, hailing from different corners of the world, including Australia, United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Austria, Lithuania, Brazil, Switzerland, France, Denmark, India, and New Zealand. “The calibre, ingenuity, and range of submissions this year truly

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Sep 6, 2023
Spoiler-Free Reviews: FAILURE! and THE BLUE ROSE (Pigeon Shrine FrightFest)

Spoiler-Free Reviews: FAILURE! and THE BLUE ROSE (Pigeon Shrine FrightFest)

FAILURE! (2023) Writer/director Alex Kahuam’s splendidly crafted one-take feature about the highly stressful day of a second-generation plastics factory owner James (Ted Raimi in an excellent performance) trying to come to grips with possibly having to sell his family business because of overwhelming debt and his daughter’s upcoming high-end marriage. James is a fast talker, and he’ll need to use that talent to the best of his abilities as he is visited by a wedding fitting party, some men as desperate for money as he is, and other characters ranging from the sympathetic to the deadly. Erenesto Lomeli’s crackerjack cinematography keeps viewers up close and personal with the proceedings, and the smooth one-take approach is bolstered by Kahuam’s razor-sharp dialogue. Raimi puts on a veritable acting clinic as his character is dealt one problem after another. A sizable supporting cast adds to the tension, which is peppered with occasional dark humor. Failure! is a thriller, but depending on your interpretation

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Sep 5, 2023
Trailer For Award-Winning Horror 'Black Mold' Spreads Fear

Trailer For Award-Winning Horror ‘Black Mold’ Spreads Fear

The official trailer for the horror film Black Mold has been released, and it will grow on you. Featuring elements of psychological horror, the urban exploration film took home several awards from film festivals, including the award for “Best Indie Feature” at PanicFest as well as “Best Actress” for Agnes Albright’s portrait of a photographer trying to cope with her past mistakes. Director John Pata‘s Black Mold introduces a tale filled with fear and internal struggle. As the story unfolds, it becomes evident the neglected facility harbors darker secrets that begin to bubble to the surface. In the film, “while exploring a decrepit and abandoned facility, an auspicious photographer faces off against her traumatic past.” Andrew Bailes, Jeremy Holm, and Caito Aase also star in this dark and exciting film written and directed by John Pata (Fear Haus, Dead Weight). Black Mold will spread later this year from Raven Banner. In the meantime, check out the trailer.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Sep 4, 2023
Spoiler-Free Shorts Reviews: PAREIDOLIA and RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY (Pigeon Shrine FrightFest)

Spoiler-Free Shorts Reviews: PAREIDOLIA and RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY (Pigeon Shrine FrightFest)

PAREIDOLIA (2023) Director Aaron Truss’s shock short Pareidolia — a word meaning the phenomenon of our minds attempting to make meaningful images out of patterns or objects when one does not exist, such as seeing a cloud in the shape of a sheep — is a fantastic work boasting top-notch production values, a cast featuring some familiar genre-film favorites, and an intriguing story that is ripe for being made into a full-length feature. Lecturer Sinead Chambers (genre legend Diane Franklin of Amityville II: The Possession [1982], Waking Nightmare [2023], and about 50 other acting credits) has begun experiencing pareidolia in increasingly disturbing ways, which she discusses with her friend Jean Clark (Carolyn Pickles of The Yellow Wallpaper [1989]), while priest Father Cavanagh (Graham Cole) makes a shocking discovery at a mortuary involving a very peculiar demise. Aaron Truss, working from a screenplay by Aiden Truss, invests Pareidolia with an eldritch atmosphere, a fast-paced approach, and a gripping dash of mystery.

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Sep 4, 2023
A Woman Fights For Love And Survival In The Zombie Film 'Herd' - Acquired By Dark Sky Films

A Woman Fights For Love And Survival In The Zombie Film ‘Herd’ – Acquired By Dark Sky Films

Following a successful world premiere at London’s FrightFest, Dark Sky Films announced today that it has acquired North American distribution rights to Herd, an action-driven horror film, and the directorial debut from Steven Pierce, co-written by Pierce and James Allerdyce. The indie film stars Ellen Adair (Trick, Cryptid), Mitzi Akaha (Bashira), Jeremy Holm (The Ranger, Brooklyn 45, Black Mold), and Amanda Fuller (Starry Eyes, All the Creatures Were Stirring), whose performances were called “terrific” by HorrorFuel’s Joseph Perry in his review. In Herd, “Jamie and her wife, Alex, try to save their failing marriage by taking an isolated canoe trip in rural Missouri. After Alex breaks her leg, the women find themselves trapped in Jamie’s small hometown overrun by virus-infected ‘Heps.’ Worse, Alex gets scratched by one of the afflicted. After witnessing personal and gruesome horrors, she attempts to sneak away with Alex, only to be betrayed by one of her only connections. Now caught between the group that saved

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Sep 1, 2023
Elizabeth Hurley Stars In New Horror Take On The Pied 'Piper'

Elizabeth Hurley Stars In New Horror Take On The Pied ‘Piper’

Actress Elizabeth Hurley stars in the upcoming horror film Piper, which premiered earlier this week at FrightFest, is a new modern take on the classic Pied Piper story. In the film, Liz (Hurley) and her daughter (Mia Jenkins) move to a new town and find themselves haunted by Liz’s past. The film takes a dark turn when the Piper begins to punish those who have escaped the reach of the law by going after their children. A mysterious man (Jack Stewert) appears who could hold the key to the Piper’s salvation. Everyone must pay the Pied Piper. Featuring themes of death, disease, and a parent’s guilt, the trailer for the film teases an intense supernatural horror that will be an absolute nightmare for those with musophobia (fear of rodents). Elizabeth Hurley is best known for her roles in films such as the Austin Powers franchise and series like “Runaways,” “The Royals,” and “Gossip Girl.” Directed by Anthony Waller, who also

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Aug 31, 2023

More from Film Festivals

'The Man In The White Van' Stalks A Girl In Upcoming True Crime Thriller

‘The Man In The White Van’ Stalks A Girl In Upcoming True Crime Thriller

In a quaint little town in 1974 Florida, an ominous white van stalks a young girl, while her parents’ skepticism leads to a terrifying Halloween nightmare in The Man in the White Van. Inspired by a true story, the film delves into the eerie underbelly of a seemingly idyllic and follows the harrowing experience of young Annie Williams, a spirited girl whose carefree existence is turned upside down as she becomes stalked by an ominous man in a white van. The tranquility of Annie’s world begins to crumble as the menacing white van inches closer and closer. As her parents’ skepticism increasingly grows, Annie finds herself isolated, and on Halloween night, her worst fears materialize into a full-blown nightmare as she gets abducted. Warren Skeels makes his directorial debut with The Man in the White Van, a gripping tale of terror, paranoia, and the darkness that lurks beneath the surface. Based on actual events of the serial killer Billy Mansfield

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Sep 15, 2023
Film Review: A BLOODTHIRSTY KILLER (Film at Lincoln Center’s Korean Cinema’s Golden Decade: The 1960s Series)

Film Review: A BLOODTHIRSTY KILLER (Film at Lincoln Center’s Korean Cinema’s Golden Decade: The 1960s Series)

Writer/director Yong-Min Lee’s South Korean horror film A Bloodthirsty Killer is absolutely bonkers! First-time viewers will join protagonist Shi-Mok Lee (Ye-Chun Lee) in having no idea what is going on for many of the opening scenes, and after that it’s nigh on impossible to guess what is coming next, straight through to the rather sappy ending. Businessman Lee is first seen wandering through a deserted museum where he finds nothing but a melting painting of his first wife Ae-ja (Geum-Bong Do) and is then transported by a mysterious taxi driver to a secluded house where he witnesses a murder at the hands of the ghost of Ae-ja. I don’t want to give much more away because the ride with A Bloodthirsty Killer is a wild one, full of what-could-possibly-happen-next? surprises, so suffice it to say that the supernatural — in more forms than one — and familial drama are among the elements at play, with all-in performances ranging from the

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Sep 13, 2023
Spoiler-Free Reviews: COLD MEAT and THE DIVE (Pigeon Shrine FrightFest)

Spoiler-Free Reviews: COLD MEAT and THE DIVE (Pigeon Shrine FrightFest)

COLD MEAT (2023) Cold Meat should be gone into — no pun intended — as cold as possible. Learning too much about director Sébastien Drouin’s winter-set horror thriller before watching it would be doing a great disservice to yourself. Suffice it to give you the initial set-up: traveler David (Allen Leech) is traveling through an extremely snowy area in Colorado. He stops off at a diner, where he calmly intervenes when waitress Ana (Nina Bergman) is physically and verbally harassed by her drunken ex Vincent (Yan Tual), who leaves without further incident. When David gets back on the road, Vincent pursues him in a larger vehicle and David strands his car in deep snow when trying to elude the violent man. What follows is a combination of survival horror — taking place mostly in David’s car and its immediate surroundings — and another fear-fare element that would be a big spoiler to give away here, and there may be something

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Sep 8, 2023
Chillers, Thrillers, and Killers Await During Popcorn Frights Wicked Weekend

Chillers, Thrillers, and Killers Await During Popcorn Frights Wicked Weekend

Florida’s Popcorn Frights Film Festival has announced the lineup for this year’s Wicked Weekend program, and fear-fare enthusiasts of all stripes won’t want to miss it! Following is the official press announcement. Batten down the hatches and gather your courage as Popcorn Frights has announced its annual Wicked Weekend program celebrating all the eerie, weird, wild, and strange things that go bump in the night! The event, running October 4-8 at the historic Gateway Theater, will feature eight film premieres and special presentations highlighted by new nightmares from Mike Flanagan, Scott Derrickson, and Joe Lynch, as well as many other surprises. Wicked Weekend is headlined by a special presentation of the first two episodes of Netflix’s THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, genre maestro Mike Flanagan’s hotly anticipated new horror series based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe starring Mark Hamill, Carla Gugino, Kate Siegel, and Henry Thomas, as well as Paramount+’s terrifying prequel PET SEMATARY: BLOODLINES, based

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Sep 6, 2023
Australia’s A Night of Horror International Film Festival Announces Its 2023 Lineup

Australia’s A Night of Horror International Film Festival Announces Its 2023 Lineup

Fear-fare fanatics in Australia will have an abundance of unsettling selections from which to choose when A Night of Horror International Film Festival presents its 2023 edition in Sydney from September 29th to October 1st. Scintillating slices of cinema from around the world are scheduled. Following is the official press announcement. Australia’s longest running showcase of horror and dark genre cinema, A Night of Horror International Film Festival (ANOH) is back for its 15th year, with a frighteningly fantastic program. From 28th September to 1st October, the Festival will take over Dendy Cinema, screening the very best in freaky, macabre and spine-chilling film from around the globe. Spanning across four days, ANOH is gearing up to present a total of ten features and 31 short films, hailing from different corners of the world, including Australia, United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Austria, Lithuania, Brazil, Switzerland, France, Denmark, India, and New Zealand. “The calibre, ingenuity, and range of submissions this year truly

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Sep 6, 2023
Spoiler-Free Reviews: FAILURE! and THE BLUE ROSE (Pigeon Shrine FrightFest)

Spoiler-Free Reviews: FAILURE! and THE BLUE ROSE (Pigeon Shrine FrightFest)

FAILURE! (2023) Writer/director Alex Kahuam’s splendidly crafted one-take feature about the highly stressful day of a second-generation plastics factory owner James (Ted Raimi in an excellent performance) trying to come to grips with possibly having to sell his family business because of overwhelming debt and his daughter’s upcoming high-end marriage. James is a fast talker, and he’ll need to use that talent to the best of his abilities as he is visited by a wedding fitting party, some men as desperate for money as he is, and other characters ranging from the sympathetic to the deadly. Erenesto Lomeli’s crackerjack cinematography keeps viewers up close and personal with the proceedings, and the smooth one-take approach is bolstered by Kahuam’s razor-sharp dialogue. Raimi puts on a veritable acting clinic as his character is dealt one problem after another. A sizable supporting cast adds to the tension, which is peppered with occasional dark humor. Failure! is a thriller, but depending on your interpretation

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Sep 5, 2023
Trailer For Award-Winning Horror 'Black Mold' Spreads Fear

Trailer For Award-Winning Horror ‘Black Mold’ Spreads Fear

The official trailer for the horror film Black Mold has been released, and it will grow on you. Featuring elements of psychological horror, the urban exploration film took home several awards from film festivals, including the award for “Best Indie Feature” at PanicFest as well as “Best Actress” for Agnes Albright’s portrait of a photographer trying to cope with her past mistakes. Director John Pata‘s Black Mold introduces a tale filled with fear and internal struggle. As the story unfolds, it becomes evident the neglected facility harbors darker secrets that begin to bubble to the surface. In the film, “while exploring a decrepit and abandoned facility, an auspicious photographer faces off against her traumatic past.” Andrew Bailes, Jeremy Holm, and Caito Aase also star in this dark and exciting film written and directed by John Pata (Fear Haus, Dead Weight). Black Mold will spread later this year from Raven Banner. In the meantime, check out the trailer.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Sep 4, 2023
Spoiler-Free Shorts Reviews: PAREIDOLIA and RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY (Pigeon Shrine FrightFest)

Spoiler-Free Shorts Reviews: PAREIDOLIA and RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY (Pigeon Shrine FrightFest)

PAREIDOLIA (2023) Director Aaron Truss’s shock short Pareidolia — a word meaning the phenomenon of our minds attempting to make meaningful images out of patterns or objects when one does not exist, such as seeing a cloud in the shape of a sheep — is a fantastic work boasting top-notch production values, a cast featuring some familiar genre-film favorites, and an intriguing story that is ripe for being made into a full-length feature. Lecturer Sinead Chambers (genre legend Diane Franklin of Amityville II: The Possession [1982], Waking Nightmare [2023], and about 50 other acting credits) has begun experiencing pareidolia in increasingly disturbing ways, which she discusses with her friend Jean Clark (Carolyn Pickles of The Yellow Wallpaper [1989]), while priest Father Cavanagh (Graham Cole) makes a shocking discovery at a mortuary involving a very peculiar demise. Aaron Truss, working from a screenplay by Aiden Truss, invests Pareidolia with an eldritch atmosphere, a fast-paced approach, and a gripping dash of mystery.

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Sep 4, 2023
A Woman Fights For Love And Survival In The Zombie Film 'Herd' - Acquired By Dark Sky Films

A Woman Fights For Love And Survival In The Zombie Film ‘Herd’ – Acquired By Dark Sky Films

Following a successful world premiere at London’s FrightFest, Dark Sky Films announced today that it has acquired North American distribution rights to Herd, an action-driven horror film, and the directorial debut from Steven Pierce, co-written by Pierce and James Allerdyce. The indie film stars Ellen Adair (Trick, Cryptid), Mitzi Akaha (Bashira), Jeremy Holm (The Ranger, Brooklyn 45, Black Mold), and Amanda Fuller (Starry Eyes, All the Creatures Were Stirring), whose performances were called “terrific” by HorrorFuel’s Joseph Perry in his review. In Herd, “Jamie and her wife, Alex, try to save their failing marriage by taking an isolated canoe trip in rural Missouri. After Alex breaks her leg, the women find themselves trapped in Jamie’s small hometown overrun by virus-infected ‘Heps.’ Worse, Alex gets scratched by one of the afflicted. After witnessing personal and gruesome horrors, she attempts to sneak away with Alex, only to be betrayed by one of her only connections. Now caught between the group that saved

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Sep 1, 2023
Elizabeth Hurley Stars In New Horror Take On The Pied 'Piper'

Elizabeth Hurley Stars In New Horror Take On The Pied ‘Piper’

Actress Elizabeth Hurley stars in the upcoming horror film Piper, which premiered earlier this week at FrightFest, is a new modern take on the classic Pied Piper story. In the film, Liz (Hurley) and her daughter (Mia Jenkins) move to a new town and find themselves haunted by Liz’s past. The film takes a dark turn when the Piper begins to punish those who have escaped the reach of the law by going after their children. A mysterious man (Jack Stewert) appears who could hold the key to the Piper’s salvation. Everyone must pay the Pied Piper. Featuring themes of death, disease, and a parent’s guilt, the trailer for the film teases an intense supernatural horror that will be an absolute nightmare for those with musophobia (fear of rodents). Elizabeth Hurley is best known for her roles in films such as the Austin Powers franchise and series like “Runaways,” “The Royals,” and “Gossip Girl.” Directed by Anthony Waller, who also

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Aug 31, 2023
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