CategoryFilm Festivals
Horror film festivals worldwide — lineups, awards and the titles that break out of the festival circuit.
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Japanese feature Best Wishes to All (2023) tackles that country’s problem with its aging population in a fright-fare context that combines folk horror and supernatural elements. The result is an intriguing work that starts off in slow-burn style but delivers a jaw-dropping revelation that kicks off a dizzying whirl of suspense and paranoia. Kotone Furukawa gives an excellent performance as a young nursing student from Tokyo (all characters in the film are nameless) who visits her grandparents in the small rural town in which she grew up. As a little girl, she was greatly bothered by a locked door in their house so much that it haunted her dreams even as an adult. After her grandparents display decidedly odd behavior — which she at first considers might be dementia — she soon learns that he fears about what might be behind that door were nowhere near what she could imagine. Director Yūta Shimotsu, working from a screenplay cowritten with Rumi
Continue reading →
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Looking for something to watch this weekend? How about the Irish horror-comedy Follow the Dead? After scoring an incredible 19 film festival wins and 12 more nominations, the zombie movie is out now on streaming services. “In a generation plagued by fake news, an idle family in rural Ireland argues over the legitimacy of the emerging viral footage of zombie-ravaged Dublin. Discovering his estranged wife has returned to his small town’s police department; forlorn Robbie commits to helping figure things out. But when danger lands on his doorstep, he must learn if his family’s dependent lifestyle has left them too naïve to weather their fate.” Written and directed by Adam William Cahill, this fun flick stars Luke Corcoran, Tadhg Devery, Marybeth Herron, Luke Collins, and Cristina Ryan. The film was written not simply out of an overt love for the zombie genre but to tell a story about how Millennials would deal with trauma of such a magnitude in the
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Writer/director Paris Zarcilla’s U.K. feature Raging Grace (2023) combines social commentary about class divisions with classic elements of both British horror and British farce. Joy (Max Eigenmann) is a Filipina working illegally as a house cleaner in London, sleeping in different houses with her young daughter Grace (Jaeden Paige Boadilla) when she knows the owners are away. Joy is trying to raise money for a man to supposedly get her U.K. citizenship, and he is getting impatient with her inability to come up with the amount he demands. Meanwhile, while checking in on an elderly man named Mr. Garrett (David Hayman) as a favor to her pastor, she is offered a live-in job by Garrett’s niece Katherine (Leanne Best) that pays a high rate, with the expectation that Joy will keep mum about the goings-on in the abode. Joy sneaks Grace — who has a decidedly naughty and curious streak about her — into the house in a suitcase, and
Continue reading →
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Lovely, Dark, and Deep (2023) Followers of Fortean phenomena and aficionados of surreal and sylvan horror should find plenty to admire in writer/director Teresa Sutherland’s slow-burn creeper Lovely, Dark, and Deep. Ranger Lennon (Georgina Campbell [Barbarian] in an engaging lead performance) has finally been assigned a job she has long waited for: being in charge, for 90 days, of a backcountry area that requires being taken there by helicopter and that leaves her virtually cut off from civilization except for communication by walkie-talkie and contact with hikers, campers, and fellow rangers. Riffing on what is discussed in David Paulides’ Missing 411 books and videos, the forest in which Lennon works is the site of many missing-person disappearances and occasional solved cases. Lennon’s backstory and motivation for being assigned to the remote spot she has requested involves that scenario, and giving away anything more about the plot would be traversing into spoiler territory. Sutherland, who wrote the screenplay for The Wind,
Continue reading →
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A ton of movie and series news is coming from San Diego Comic-Con. One film announced during the “Bold Voices of Horror” panel was Witchboard, whose trailer debuted at the convention. Director Chuck Russell (Nightmare on Elm Street 3, The Blob) returns to the horror genre with Witchboard, a wild re-imagining of the classic 80’s horror franchise. In the film, Emily (Madison Iseman) and her fiancé Christian (Aaron Dominguez) discover a mysterious Wiccan artifact, a pendulum board, as they prepare to open a bistro in New Orleans’ French Quarter. A darkness descends over Emily as she becomes obsessed with the board’s power of divination and ability to summon spirits. Desperate to help his fiancé, Christian seeks the advice of occult expert Alexander Babiaste (Jamie Campbell Bower). But Babiaste has secrets of his own, including his connection to a modern-day coven of witches. A dangerous game begins as each pendulum swing puts Emily’s soul at risk.” The original film, written and
Continue reading →
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A new, first-look clip and poster have been released for Zach Clark’s upcoming genre-bending film The Becomers ahead of its world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 22nd. The film follows a body-snatching alien who comes to Earth, reconnects with their partner, and tries to find their way in modern America. Written and conceived in early 2021, the film reflects the challenges of the real world at the time through its pointedly chaotic portrayal of society, with science fiction elements heavily inspired by the original “Star Trek” series. A true brew of surprising genres, the film is all at once comedic, horrific, grotesque, and romantic. “The Becomers is a story of love, longing, and alienation,” said Clark on his latest. “A kitsch-soaked, pathos-laden melodrama about our sad, sad planet.” The Becomers marks Clark’s second time screening at the Fantasia International Film Festival following the 2016 Canadian premiere of Little Sister, with the festival calling him “one of
Continue reading →
ConventionsEventsFilm FestivalsMoviesNewsTrailers
The San Diego Comic-Con will soon open its doors. Fans of The Boogeyman and horror, in general, can score a free Comic-Con Exclusive The Boogeyman poster signed by artist Anthony Petrie (@ZombieBacons), who will be in attendance! A free signed poster? What’s the catch? There is not one! You have to visit booth #4229 on Friday, July 21st, at 1 pm PST. If, by some strange twist of fate, you haven’t already heard about this chilling, fright-filled film, let me fill you in. The Boogeyman follows high school student Sadie Harper (Sophie Thatcher) and her younger sister, Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair), who are still reeling from their mother’s recent death. They’re not getting much support from their father, Will (Chris Messina), a therapist dealing with his intense pain. When a desperate patient unexpectedly shows up at their house seeking help, he leaves behind a terrifying supernatural entity that preys on families and feeds on the suffering of its victims. Host
Continue reading →
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Ted Raimi stars in the psychological thriller Failure!, set to make its World Premiere at FrightFest on August 28th. Along with the news comes the first teaser trailer and poster. Failure! “follows business tycoon James (Raimi – The Quarry, Ash v Evil Dead, Creepshow), a loving family man who has a crushing bank debt which he must resolve within an hour or lose his business. Greedy associates, back-stabbing friends and even ghosts from his past, all force him to choose between financial ruin… or murder.” As well as Raimi, the film also stars Merrick McCartha (Senior Year), Melissa Diaz (Ruthless), John Paul Medrano (Seven Days), Daniel Kuhlman (Voodoo MacBeth), and Noel Douglas Orput. Director Alex Kahuam’s psychological thriller Failure! is shot in a single 87-minute take, portrayed in three acts. The film makes Kahuam the first Mexican director to do so in the United States. Kahuam and Raimi produced Failure!, along with Marco De Molina, Kayli Fortun, and Jose D.
Continue reading →
BooksFilm FestivalsNews
FrightFest and FAB Press present the newest offering in their excellent FrightFest Guides series, The FrightFest Guide to Mad Doctor Movies by practicing surgeon Dr. John Llewellyn Probert! As authoritative as they are fun, the books in this series are all a must for fear-fare fans of every stripe! Following is the official press announcement. Mad medics, sinister surgeons and psychopathic psychiatrists . . . FrightFest and FAB Press once again join forces to exclusively launch THE FRIGHTFEST GUIDE TO MAD DOCTOR MOVIES, which goes on sale during FrightFest 2023. The author, practising surgeon Dr. John Llewellyn Probert, will be present, with official signings taking place at Cineworld, Leicester Square on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 August. Ever since the dawn of cinema, filmmakers have been depicting on screen the potential outcomes of medical madness and science gone sick. Now join surgeon, author, film critic and not-at-all-mad Doctor (at least according to him) John Llewellyn Probert as he takes a
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesNewsTrailers
Ahead of its World Premier at FrightFest on August 26th, Framework Productions has unleashed the trailer for the zombie film Herd. Directed by “Saturday Night Live’s” Steven Pierce, the film stars Corbin Bernsen (Major League, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, LA Law), Timothy V. Murphy (Snowpiercer, National Treasure: Book of Secrets), Ellen Adair (Homeland, Bull, The Sinner) Mitzi Akaha (Archive 81) and Jeremy Holm (Mr. Robot, House of Cards). HERD follows Jamie Miller (Adair) and her wife, Alex (Akaha), trying to save their failing marriage by going on an isolated trip in rural Missouri. After an accident, the women find themselves trapped back in Jamie’s small hometown and where her father lives (Bernsen), which has become overrun by virus-infected ‘Heps.’ “I am beyond enthusiastic that HERD is making its World Premiere at FrightFest in London. Alan Jones and his team put on one of the most exciting genre events in the world and I am so proud to be a contributor.
Continue reading →
More from Film Festivals
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Japanese feature Best Wishes to All (2023) tackles that country’s problem with its aging population in a fright-fare context that combines folk horror and supernatural elements. The result is an intriguing work that starts off in slow-burn style but delivers a jaw-dropping revelation that kicks off a dizzying whirl of suspense and paranoia. Kotone Furukawa gives an excellent performance as a young nursing student from Tokyo (all characters in the film are nameless) who visits her grandparents in the small rural town in which she grew up. As a little girl, she was greatly bothered by a locked door in their house so much that it haunted her dreams even as an adult. After her grandparents display decidedly odd behavior — which she at first considers might be dementia — she soon learns that he fears about what might be behind that door were nowhere near what she could imagine. Director Yūta Shimotsu, working from a screenplay cowritten with Rumi
Continue reading →
Amazon Prime VideoApple TVFilm FestivalsIndieMoviesNewsStreaming TVTrailersTubiYouTube
Looking for something to watch this weekend? How about the Irish horror-comedy Follow the Dead? After scoring an incredible 19 film festival wins and 12 more nominations, the zombie movie is out now on streaming services. “In a generation plagued by fake news, an idle family in rural Ireland argues over the legitimacy of the emerging viral footage of zombie-ravaged Dublin. Discovering his estranged wife has returned to his small town’s police department; forlorn Robbie commits to helping figure things out. But when danger lands on his doorstep, he must learn if his family’s dependent lifestyle has left them too naïve to weather their fate.” Written and directed by Adam William Cahill, this fun flick stars Luke Corcoran, Tadhg Devery, Marybeth Herron, Luke Collins, and Cristina Ryan. The film was written not simply out of an overt love for the zombie genre but to tell a story about how Millennials would deal with trauma of such a magnitude in the
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Writer/director Paris Zarcilla’s U.K. feature Raging Grace (2023) combines social commentary about class divisions with classic elements of both British horror and British farce. Joy (Max Eigenmann) is a Filipina working illegally as a house cleaner in London, sleeping in different houses with her young daughter Grace (Jaeden Paige Boadilla) when she knows the owners are away. Joy is trying to raise money for a man to supposedly get her U.K. citizenship, and he is getting impatient with her inability to come up with the amount he demands. Meanwhile, while checking in on an elderly man named Mr. Garrett (David Hayman) as a favor to her pastor, she is offered a live-in job by Garrett’s niece Katherine (Leanne Best) that pays a high rate, with the expectation that Joy will keep mum about the goings-on in the abode. Joy sneaks Grace — who has a decidedly naughty and curious streak about her — into the house in a suitcase, and
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesParanormalReviewsThriller
Lovely, Dark, and Deep (2023) Followers of Fortean phenomena and aficionados of surreal and sylvan horror should find plenty to admire in writer/director Teresa Sutherland’s slow-burn creeper Lovely, Dark, and Deep. Ranger Lennon (Georgina Campbell [Barbarian] in an engaging lead performance) has finally been assigned a job she has long waited for: being in charge, for 90 days, of a backcountry area that requires being taken there by helicopter and that leaves her virtually cut off from civilization except for communication by walkie-talkie and contact with hikers, campers, and fellow rangers. Riffing on what is discussed in David Paulides’ Missing 411 books and videos, the forest in which Lennon works is the site of many missing-person disappearances and occasional solved cases. Lennon’s backstory and motivation for being assigned to the remote spot she has requested involves that scenario, and giving away anything more about the plot would be traversing into spoiler territory. Sutherland, who wrote the screenplay for The Wind,
Continue reading →
ConventionsFilm FestivalsMoviesNewsTrailers
A ton of movie and series news is coming from San Diego Comic-Con. One film announced during the “Bold Voices of Horror” panel was Witchboard, whose trailer debuted at the convention. Director Chuck Russell (Nightmare on Elm Street 3, The Blob) returns to the horror genre with Witchboard, a wild re-imagining of the classic 80’s horror franchise. In the film, Emily (Madison Iseman) and her fiancé Christian (Aaron Dominguez) discover a mysterious Wiccan artifact, a pendulum board, as they prepare to open a bistro in New Orleans’ French Quarter. A darkness descends over Emily as she becomes obsessed with the board’s power of divination and ability to summon spirits. Desperate to help his fiancé, Christian seeks the advice of occult expert Alexander Babiaste (Jamie Campbell Bower). But Babiaste has secrets of his own, including his connection to a modern-day coven of witches. A dangerous game begins as each pendulum swing puts Emily’s soul at risk.” The original film, written and
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesNewsTrailers
A new, first-look clip and poster have been released for Zach Clark’s upcoming genre-bending film The Becomers ahead of its world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 22nd. The film follows a body-snatching alien who comes to Earth, reconnects with their partner, and tries to find their way in modern America. Written and conceived in early 2021, the film reflects the challenges of the real world at the time through its pointedly chaotic portrayal of society, with science fiction elements heavily inspired by the original “Star Trek” series. A true brew of surprising genres, the film is all at once comedic, horrific, grotesque, and romantic. “The Becomers is a story of love, longing, and alienation,” said Clark on his latest. “A kitsch-soaked, pathos-laden melodrama about our sad, sad planet.” The Becomers marks Clark’s second time screening at the Fantasia International Film Festival following the 2016 Canadian premiere of Little Sister, with the festival calling him “one of
Continue reading →
ConventionsEventsFilm FestivalsMoviesNewsTrailers
The San Diego Comic-Con will soon open its doors. Fans of The Boogeyman and horror, in general, can score a free Comic-Con Exclusive The Boogeyman poster signed by artist Anthony Petrie (@ZombieBacons), who will be in attendance! A free signed poster? What’s the catch? There is not one! You have to visit booth #4229 on Friday, July 21st, at 1 pm PST. If, by some strange twist of fate, you haven’t already heard about this chilling, fright-filled film, let me fill you in. The Boogeyman follows high school student Sadie Harper (Sophie Thatcher) and her younger sister, Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair), who are still reeling from their mother’s recent death. They’re not getting much support from their father, Will (Chris Messina), a therapist dealing with his intense pain. When a desperate patient unexpectedly shows up at their house seeking help, he leaves behind a terrifying supernatural entity that preys on families and feeds on the suffering of its victims. Host
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesNewsThrillerTrailers
Ted Raimi stars in the psychological thriller Failure!, set to make its World Premiere at FrightFest on August 28th. Along with the news comes the first teaser trailer and poster. Failure! “follows business tycoon James (Raimi – The Quarry, Ash v Evil Dead, Creepshow), a loving family man who has a crushing bank debt which he must resolve within an hour or lose his business. Greedy associates, back-stabbing friends and even ghosts from his past, all force him to choose between financial ruin… or murder.” As well as Raimi, the film also stars Merrick McCartha (Senior Year), Melissa Diaz (Ruthless), John Paul Medrano (Seven Days), Daniel Kuhlman (Voodoo MacBeth), and Noel Douglas Orput. Director Alex Kahuam’s psychological thriller Failure! is shot in a single 87-minute take, portrayed in three acts. The film makes Kahuam the first Mexican director to do so in the United States. Kahuam and Raimi produced Failure!, along with Marco De Molina, Kayli Fortun, and Jose D.
Continue reading →
BooksFilm FestivalsNews
FrightFest and FAB Press present the newest offering in their excellent FrightFest Guides series, The FrightFest Guide to Mad Doctor Movies by practicing surgeon Dr. John Llewellyn Probert! As authoritative as they are fun, the books in this series are all a must for fear-fare fans of every stripe! Following is the official press announcement. Mad medics, sinister surgeons and psychopathic psychiatrists . . . FrightFest and FAB Press once again join forces to exclusively launch THE FRIGHTFEST GUIDE TO MAD DOCTOR MOVIES, which goes on sale during FrightFest 2023. The author, practising surgeon Dr. John Llewellyn Probert, will be present, with official signings taking place at Cineworld, Leicester Square on Friday 25 and Saturday 26 August. Ever since the dawn of cinema, filmmakers have been depicting on screen the potential outcomes of medical madness and science gone sick. Now join surgeon, author, film critic and not-at-all-mad Doctor (at least according to him) John Llewellyn Probert as he takes a
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesNewsTrailers
Ahead of its World Premier at FrightFest on August 26th, Framework Productions has unleashed the trailer for the zombie film Herd. Directed by “Saturday Night Live’s” Steven Pierce, the film stars Corbin Bernsen (Major League, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, LA Law), Timothy V. Murphy (Snowpiercer, National Treasure: Book of Secrets), Ellen Adair (Homeland, Bull, The Sinner) Mitzi Akaha (Archive 81) and Jeremy Holm (Mr. Robot, House of Cards). HERD follows Jamie Miller (Adair) and her wife, Alex (Akaha), trying to save their failing marriage by going on an isolated trip in rural Missouri. After an accident, the women find themselves trapped back in Jamie’s small hometown and where her father lives (Bernsen), which has become overrun by virus-infected ‘Heps.’ “I am beyond enthusiastic that HERD is making its World Premiere at FrightFest in London. Alan Jones and his team put on one of the most exciting genre events in the world and I am so proud to be a contributor.
Continue reading →
