Film Festivals

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

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Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsShort Films

Shorts Reviews: TWO SISTERS, THE MEAN SPIRITED, and UNREEL (Romford Horror Festival)

Two Sisters Italian short Two Sisters is a period piece horror with folk horror elements. Set in the late 15th century in the Lessini Mountains of Verona, writer/director Diego Carli’s film involves the titular siblings (Jenni Tatani and Marianna Caporalito in marvelous performances) being pursued by a group of men hunting for witches. The teen girls have good reason to hide, and they do so using magical powers. When they come under attack, a horrifically violent event occurs, and the two sisters find their close bond being challenged. Carli invests his short with incredible detail, from researching facts around that time period’s height of witch hunting to costumes and recreating authenticity of the sets and outdoor shots on display. Cinematographer Edoardo Olivieri beautifully captures the proceedings, with Luigi Maria Mennella’s score providing perfect musical accompaniment. The Mean Spirited Codirectors Jack Archer (who wrote the screenplay) and Joseph Archer deliver a very special work with their U.K. short The Mean Spirited.

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Joseph Perry

Feb 28, 2023

Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsShort Films

Shorts Reviews: FAMILY NIGHT, SONAR, and WHERE’S WEIRDO (Romford Horror Festival)

Family Night Writer/director Alan Dunne serves up an absolutely harrowing experience in the Irish horror short Family Night. Eoin Quinn gives a riveting, unnerving performance as a father whose unpredictable behavior has his wife (Denise McCormack), teen daughter (Molly McLoughlin), and preteen son (Flynn Gray) walking on eggshells, fearing angry outbursts that could happen at any moment. Dunne builds the suspense expertly, leading things to a jaw-dropping climax. This one is a true chiller that viewers need to go into as cold as possible. It’s virtually impossible not to be shaken up by Family Night. You can watch the trailer at https://vimeo.com/688022245 Sonar One of the most beautiful looking genre shorts I have seen in recent memory, director James Hughes’ U.K. film Sonar finds a young woman (Amy Marie Campbell) swimming in a pool at night when she hears a sonar sound. She submerges into the deep end of the swimming pool to investigate, and finds . . . well,

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Joseph Perry

Feb 27, 2023

EventsFilm Festivals

Romford Horror Festival Announces Its Largest Lineup Yet for 2023 Edition

Witches, ghosts, demons, and other evil entities descend on the U.K. as the Romford Horror Festival takes place in mere days. Following is the official press announcement. The terror returns once again to Premiere Cinemas, as the Romford Horror Festival returns for its third year from February 23rd – 26th. With its biggest line up yet, audiences will have a choice between two screens where they will be able to view 102 features and shorts over the 4 days. The festival offers a variety of titles to cater all horror tastes from around the world, delivering a mixture of both classic films and new premieres. Budgets ranging from the low end of independent cinema to multi million epics. The festival includes several films from local filmmakers including See What She Did, Room 301 and the Uncut Premiere of Video Shop Tales of Terror which due to popular demand now has two separate screenings. There will also be several international films

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Joseph Perry

Feb 21, 2023

EventsFilm Festivals

San Francisco’s Unnamed Footage Festival Focuses on Cutting-Edge Found Footage Chills and Thrills

Found footage cinema is much more than just shaky cameras and running through the woods, and San Francisco’s Unnamed Footage Festival proves that every year. Their 2023 edition boasts some of the best new films in the subgenre along with some older favorites. From shiver-inducers to Shakespeare adaptations, check out the following official press release to see what’s on tap. The Unnamed Footage Festival returns to San Francisco for four days of mayhem from March 23rd through March 26th. Celebrating the 6th annual edition of the film festival with a satanic twist, UFF666 plans to summon the devil amidst a marathon of found footage horror, faux documentary, and first person POV cinema. The annual opening night Recalibration Party will be held at the Artist’s Television Access gallery, followed by an evening of features and shorts Friday at the Balboa Theatre, and then moving to the newly renovated 4-Star Theater in San Francisco’s Richmond District for a weekend packed with “in-world

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Joseph Perry

Feb 20, 2023

Film FestivalsIndieMoviesNews

Yellow Veil Announces New Horror From The Makers Of ‘Hellbender’

Yellow Veil Pictures has announced that the new horror film Where the Devil Roams, from the Adams Family, the family film-making team who brought your Hellbender, is heading to EFM. Today, we’ve got the first still from the film (above). The film has already wrapped principal photography in upstate New York. It is currently in post-production by the celebrated filmmaker trio composed of John Adams and Toby Poser. Their daughter, Zelda Adams — known together as “The Adams Family,” took the industry by storm two years ago with explosive indie horror hit Hellbender, which marked their first pairing with Yellow Veil Pictures. Acquired by Shudder ahead of its world premiere at Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival in 2021, Hellbender would go on with the festival’s Best Actor (Zelda Adams) and Best Score (John Adams) and earn the #1 spot on Rotten Tomatoes’ list of 2022’s Best Rated Horror Films. It is currently nominated for Fangoria Magazine’s Chainsaw Award for Best

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Kelli Marchman McNeely

Feb 10, 2023

DocumentariesEventsFilm FestivalsMoviesNews

UFO WITNESS Star to World Premiere Her Documentary CODE 12 at MidWest WeirdFest

A new documentary on the secret nature of reality world premieres at the 7th annual MidWest WeirdFest. The feature-length film, CODE 12, is directed and presented by Melissa Tittl. She is star and host of the popular TV series UFO WITNESS, former Head of Content and Development at the Gaia network, and an established journalist, producer, and documentarian. The film festival takes place at Micon Cinemas in downtown Eau Claire, Wisconsin from March 3-5, 2023. “This film has been my research for the past 10 years on the idea of a matrix or living in a simulation. It spiraled into formidable places that connected in a pattern,” says Tittl. “As an investigative journalist, I never thought the stories I wrote, the cases I have investigated, and the places that drew my attention might all be part of a master plan, a plan designed by an unknown architect.” The documentary features interviews with geneticists, archeologists, biblical scholars, and quantum physicists that

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Joseph Perry

Feb 10, 2023

EventsFilm FestivalsMoviesNews

Inaugural Make Believe Seattle Film Festival Boasts Great Movies and Intriguing Live Events

A new genre-film fest debuts in the Pacific Northwest next month as Make Believe Seattle Film Festival runs March 23–26, 2023. With a variety of new and classic fright-fare cinematic offerings featuring slashers, extraterrestrials, vampires, and more, the fest also serves up a tantalizing array of hosted events and fun activities. Following is the official press announcement. Announcing the debut of a brand-new film festival coming to the big screen in Seattle. The Make Believe Seattle Film Festival is the region’s first-ever dedicated genre film festival shining a light on horror, science fiction, fantasy, animation, and more. The festival will screen exclusively in-person at SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Northwest Film Forum, West Hall (part of Century Ballroom), and Queer/Bar from March 23-26, 2023. Festival passes are on sale now and are available at makebelieveseattle.com. Individual tickets go on sale February 22, 2023. Make Believe Seattle features 31 programs, including narrative features, documentaries, mid-length films, short film blocks, the Be Kind, Rewind

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Joseph Perry

Feb 10, 2023

Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews

Film Reviews: SORCERY and MY ANIMAL (Sundance Film Festival)

Sorcery Blending elements of dark folklore and revenge horror, Chilean-set Sorcery (Brujeria; Mexico/Germany/Chile, 2023) finds 13-year-old indigenous girl Rosa Rain (Valentina Véliz Caileo) seeking justice after her father is savagely killed when the head of the German colonist family for which she has been working has his dogs attack him. Bonding with elderly Mateo Parancán (Daniel Antivilo), who is accused of being the leader of a group of local sorcerers, Rosa seeks to learn the mystical secrets of the members. When the two young sons of the German family go missing — having possibly been either killed or turned into dogs — Rosa, Mateo, and the group members find themselves accused of murder. Director Christopher Murray, who cowrote the screenplay with Pablo Paredes, bases the film on actual historical events from the late 19th century. He addresses political and cultural elements in this atmospheric chiller, which is a slow burner that offers plenty of mystery and symbolism — such as

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Joseph Perry

Feb 1, 2023

'Birth/Rebirth' Puts A New Spin On The Frankenstein Story This August

Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews

Film Reviews: BIRTH/REBIRTH and RUN RABBIT RUN (Sundance Film Festival)

birth/rebirth A provocative take on the Frankenstein mythos, director Laura Moss’s birth/rebirth finds pathologist Rose (Marin Ireland) — who doesn’t have the time or desire to deal with your petty life problems — forming an uneasy alliance with midwife Celie (Judy Reyes) when the latter discovers that Rose is using Celie’s recently suddenly deceased daughter Lila (A.J. Lister) in an experiment designed to bring the dead back to life. Plenty of horror films have questioned how far parents will go to bring back a child who has passed away, but the questionable ethics displayed by the two main characters here go beyond the usual supernatural bargains and such, making them more monstrous than any reanimated corpse. Moss, who cowrote the screenplay with Brendan J. O’Brien, shows assured direction, and Ireland and Reyes have terrific chemistry together. Aficionados of Frankenstein mythology should put this one high on their need-to-see lists, as should fans of medical horror. Run Rabbit Run One bizarre

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Joseph Perry

Jan 26, 2023

Film FestivalsMoviesReviewsShort Films

Shorts Reviews: TOOTH, MILLSTONE, and HUBBARDS (Slamdance Film Festival)

Tooth A woman (Janine Peck) takes impeccable care of her teeth, brushing, flossing, and whitening on a regular basis. Now her teeth are going to take care of her, in the much more violent sense of the term. Director Jillian Corsie’s horror comedy doesn’t spare the blood as it brings on the humor. Using puppets made from her actual teeth(!) along with CG effects, 2D animation, and live action, Corsie crafts a short that comments on the quest for perfection in a lighthearted vein. Sherri Chung’s whimsical score fits the proceedings wonderfully. You can watch the trailer at https://vimeo.com/778596583 Millstone This intriguing thriller finds a couple (Bellamie Bachleda and Daniel Durant) grieving over the loss of their five-year-old son, who was the victim of a hit-and-run accident, seeking out a highly unusual cure from a therapist (Eddie Buck). Shot exclusively in American Sign Language with an all-deaf cast, Millstone opens with an air of mystery and then takes a wholly

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Joseph Perry

Jan 26, 2023

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