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

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MidWest WeirdFest Premieres New UFO Documentary Featuring Whitley Strieber

MidWest WeirdFest Premieres New UFO Documentary Featuring Whitley Strieber

Whitley Strieber is well known as both a horror novelist (The Hunger and Wolfen) and for his nonfiction work as someone who has experienced the paranormal (Communion). He appears in the film Alien Abduction: Answers, a new documentary on UFOs that will receive its world premiere in March at MidWest WeirdFest in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Following is the official press announcement. A major new documentary on the UFO subject will world premiere at the 6th annual MidWest WeirdFest. The film festival takes place at Micon Cinemas in downtown Eau Claire, Wisconsin from March 4-6, 2022. The documentary, Alien Abduction: Answers, is directed by John Yost. It features world famous writer and alien abductee Whitley Strieber, author of the best-selling Communion book series. “By articulating the ordeal of abduction in his uniquely brilliant and personal style in Alien Abduction: Answers, Whitley Strieber has allowed all of us to share in experiences that challenge ordinary reality and the meaning of life itself.”

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Feb 3, 2022
Watch Cosmic Horror Short "While Mortals Sleep" Now on Short of the Week

Short-Film Reviews: “While Mortals Sleep,” “Huella,” and “Kitchen Sink” (Sundance Film Festival)

While Mortals Sleep In writer/director Alex Fofonoff’s brilliant short While Mortals Sleep, Susan (Carie Kawa) is a cold case novelist who is going through a difficult patch so bad that she is rather reluctantly getting away from it all for a while at the vacation home of some friends. She spies a man named Eddy (Will Brill) ostensibly repairing a problem with black gunk who claims he is taking care of the property along with a woman named Abby (Grace Morrison). Abby asks the hesitant Susan to join her for tea, and things quickly get increasingly peculiar because of a startling sound before going full-on outré. Fofonoff packs his short with one mind-bending surprise after another in a story that blends a few different horror subgenres. The three leads are all superb, and excellent, startling visual effects and sound design combine to create an unsettling atmosphere and an unnerving slice of cinema that lingers long after the closing credits. Huella

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Feb 1, 2022
Movie Review: “Something in the Dirt,” “You Won’t Be Alone,” and “Emily the Criminal” (Sundance Film Festival)

Movie Review: “Something in the Dirt,” “You Won’t Be Alone,” and “Emily the Criminal” (Sundance Film Festival)

Something in the Dirt The filmmaking duo of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead consistently turn out compelling, thought-provoking genre films, and their fifth and latest feature, Something in the Dirt, may be their best yet. The duo proved in 2017’s The Endless that they are as solid in front of the camera as behind it, and they bring that multihyphenate magic on both sides once again here in a spellbinding tale of two men who witness what seems to be a supernatural miracle in one of their apartments. The event sends hard-luck case Levi (Benson) and religious neighbor John (Moorhead) down a rabbit hole where one conspiracy theory leads to another and so on. These two men, living on the fringes of society, see this as their big opportunity to get rich quick by way of putting together a documentary about the strange phenomena that they witness. This being a horror movie, things of course don’t turn out the way

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jan 31, 2022
Movie Review: “The Civil Dead” (Slamdance Film Festival)

Movie Review: “The Civil Dead” (Slamdance Film Festival)

If you are in the mood for something decidedly different, director Clay Tatum’s The Civil Dead delivers in spades. This offbeat horror-adjacent comedy gets dark and delivers an emotional gut-punch of a climax. The Civil Dead begins with quirky humor as unemployed photographer Clay (Tatum), left to his own devices when his wife goes on a business trip, scams people when he poses as a real estate agent and takes deposit money from potential renters, when showing his own home that he has no intention of leaving. One day while out shooting photos, he runs across acquaintance Whit (Whitmer Thomas) from his old hometown, and ends up reluctantly inviting him home for drinks. The next morning, Whit is still hanging around, and confesses he has nowhere to go — because he is a ghost. Whit just wants a friend because of the loneliness of being a specter, but Clay is a misanthrope and the idea of having unwanted supernatural company

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jan 29, 2022
An Author Is Hunted In The Thriller 'Alter Ego' Starring Dylan Walsh (Trailer)

An Author Is Hunted In The Thriller ‘Alter Ego’ Starring Dylan Walsh (Trailer)

From writer-director-producer, Ezio Massa (5 A.M.) comes the acclaimed horror-thriller Alter Ego, set to be released next month. Taking home the awards for both Best Screenplay and Best Editing at the New York International Film Festival, Alter Ego follows detective DiBiasse (Oscar® nominee Eric Roberts, Runaway Train) as he arrives at his last crime scene, the mansion of a wealthy, yet paranoid recluse named Alan Schaeffer (Dylan Walsh, FX’s “Nip/Tuck”). As Detective Dibiasse is accompanied by a new detective, he soon begins to weave together the strange story of Alan Schaeffer, a once-renowned author of a best-selling serial killer book series, who now vehemently insists that one of his creations is trying to kill him. Surrounded by security who reportedly see nothing, no one can help Alan Schaeffer as the police move on without a second thought. Yet, shortly after, Detective Dibiasse is summoned back to the mansion and is met with a horrible, brutal crime and not a suspect

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jan 29, 2022
IFC Midnight's Unsettling Horror 'Hatching' Out Today On Digital And VOD

Movie Reviews: “Hatching” and “Resurrection” (Sundance Film Festival)

Sundance Film Festival is absolutely killing it with its horror selections! Following are capsule reviews of two absolutely bonkers, can’t-miss features. Hatching Finnish/Swedish coproduction Hatching (Ruva, 2022) finds pre-teen gymnast Tinja (Siiri Solalinna in a captivating debut performance) trying to live up to the expectations of her domineering mother (Sophia Heikkilӓ), who vlogs about the wonderful life of their seemingly perfect family. Naturally, the online presence is merely an illusion, as evidenced earlier on when Tinja captures a bird that flew into their house, only to see her mother break its neck. Soon after, Tinja finds a bird’s egg near her home, and promises to take care of what will hatch from it. Big mistake, what with this being a horror film. It would be a shame to go into too many details here about Hanna Bergholm’s astonishing directorial debut Hatching, so suffice it to say that there are some amazing creature and body horror effects on display of both

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jan 28, 2022
One Of The Best Horror Films Of The Year, 'The Cursed', Is Now Out On VOD

Sink Your Teeth Into The Horror-Filled Trailer For ‘The Cursed’ (AKA Eight For Silver)

Sink your teeth into the trailer for the highly-anticipated Gothic horror-thriller The Cursed, originally titled Eight for Silver. The killer trailer teases a dark and violent film filled with tension and horrors. Written and directed by Sean Ellis, the film stars Boyd Holbrook(The Sandman, The Fugitive, Logan), Kelly Reilly (“Yellowstone,” “True Detective”), and Alistair Petrie (“Sex Education,” Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Night Manager) and is a reimagining of the werewolf legend for a modern-day audience. Set ”In the late 1800s, a once-peaceful remote country village is under attack—but by who or what, no one knows. Villagers spread rumors of a cursed land, supernatural forces, and even demonic creatures, as the disappearances and killings continue. Pathologist John McBride arrives to investigate the danger, only to discover something much deeper and more sinister than he ever could have imagined.” The film is produced by Ellis, Mickey Liddell, and Pete Shilaimon, and is executive produced by Alison Semenzaand and Jacob

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jan 26, 2022
Trailer Premieres For Award-Winning Spiritual Thriller 'The Righteous'

Award-Winning Chiller ‘The Righteous’ Snags A Summer Release Date

Arrow Films announced today that they have acquired distribution rights to the extraordinary chiller The Righteous, an award-winning standout on the genre festival circuit. The film, a dark chiller about a burdened man who feels the wrath of a vengeful God, after he and his wife are visited by a mysterious stranger, marks the directorial debut or actor and writer Mark O’Brien (AMC’s “61st Street”, Blue Bayou, Ready or Not). Mark O’Brien, Henry Czerny (Ready or Not, Mission Impossible, “Revenge”), and Mimi Kuzyk (The Day After Tomorrow, The Final Cut, “Shadowhunters”) star. A unique and darkly engaging spiritual thriller, strikingly shot in black and white, The Righteous tells the story of Frederic (Henry Czerny) a grieving man struggling with his faith, who helps an injured young man, Aaron Smith (Mark O’Brien) who stumbles onto his property one night, claiming to be lost in the woods. Frederic and his wife (Mimi Kuzyk) invite the man to stay for the night, but

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jan 26, 2022
A First Look At The Irish Horror 'Mandrake'

A First Look At The Irish Horror ‘Mandrake’

The first image from the upcoming Irish folk horror Mandrake has been shared by ScreenDaily ahead of its debut and sale at EFM. Mandrake follows a probation officer named Cathy Madden (Deirdre Mullins) who is put to the test when given the task of rehabilitating the notorious killer ‘Bloody’ Mary Laidlaw (Derbhle Crotty) back into society after two decades in jail. The film marks the feature debut of Irish director Lynn Davison and stars young Jude Hill, Deirdre Mullins, Derbhle Crotty, and Paul Kennedy. Marie-Thérèse Mackle and Paul Kennedy are executive producing the film written by Matt Harvey. Mandrake was financed by Northern Ireland Screen and Northern Ireland-based production house Yellowmoon.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jan 24, 2022
Movie Review: “Fresh” (Sundance Film Festival)

Movie Review: “Fresh” (Sundance Film Festival)

Director Mimi Cave’s debut feature film Fresh is destined to be one of the absolute best horror films of 2022. It is also the most difficult type of film to write a review about, because it is the type of movie that first-time viewers need to go into as, well, fresh as possible. My review will be spoiler free. Fresh starts out as a dark satire on modern dating, an anti–rom-com that shines a spotlight on the pressures of meeting new people on dating apps and the benefit of having friends who know how to cyberstalk strangers. Then it heads headlong into some of the most nail-biting, uncomfortable fear fare imaginable. Daisy Edgar-Jones gives a superb performance as Noa, a young woman tired of swiping on dating app photos, receiving unwanted pictures of men’s genitalia, and first dates that lead nowhere. When she has a meet cute in the produce section with a plastic surgeon named Steve (Sebastian Stan in

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jan 23, 2022

More from Film Festivals

MidWest WeirdFest Premieres New UFO Documentary Featuring Whitley Strieber

MidWest WeirdFest Premieres New UFO Documentary Featuring Whitley Strieber

Whitley Strieber is well known as both a horror novelist (The Hunger and Wolfen) and for his nonfiction work as someone who has experienced the paranormal (Communion). He appears in the film Alien Abduction: Answers, a new documentary on UFOs that will receive its world premiere in March at MidWest WeirdFest in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Following is the official press announcement. A major new documentary on the UFO subject will world premiere at the 6th annual MidWest WeirdFest. The film festival takes place at Micon Cinemas in downtown Eau Claire, Wisconsin from March 4-6, 2022. The documentary, Alien Abduction: Answers, is directed by John Yost. It features world famous writer and alien abductee Whitley Strieber, author of the best-selling Communion book series. “By articulating the ordeal of abduction in his uniquely brilliant and personal style in Alien Abduction: Answers, Whitley Strieber has allowed all of us to share in experiences that challenge ordinary reality and the meaning of life itself.”

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Feb 3, 2022
Watch Cosmic Horror Short "While Mortals Sleep" Now on Short of the Week

Short-Film Reviews: “While Mortals Sleep,” “Huella,” and “Kitchen Sink” (Sundance Film Festival)

While Mortals Sleep In writer/director Alex Fofonoff’s brilliant short While Mortals Sleep, Susan (Carie Kawa) is a cold case novelist who is going through a difficult patch so bad that she is rather reluctantly getting away from it all for a while at the vacation home of some friends. She spies a man named Eddy (Will Brill) ostensibly repairing a problem with black gunk who claims he is taking care of the property along with a woman named Abby (Grace Morrison). Abby asks the hesitant Susan to join her for tea, and things quickly get increasingly peculiar because of a startling sound before going full-on outré. Fofonoff packs his short with one mind-bending surprise after another in a story that blends a few different horror subgenres. The three leads are all superb, and excellent, startling visual effects and sound design combine to create an unsettling atmosphere and an unnerving slice of cinema that lingers long after the closing credits. Huella

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Feb 1, 2022
Movie Review: “Something in the Dirt,” “You Won’t Be Alone,” and “Emily the Criminal” (Sundance Film Festival)

Movie Review: “Something in the Dirt,” “You Won’t Be Alone,” and “Emily the Criminal” (Sundance Film Festival)

Something in the Dirt The filmmaking duo of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead consistently turn out compelling, thought-provoking genre films, and their fifth and latest feature, Something in the Dirt, may be their best yet. The duo proved in 2017’s The Endless that they are as solid in front of the camera as behind it, and they bring that multihyphenate magic on both sides once again here in a spellbinding tale of two men who witness what seems to be a supernatural miracle in one of their apartments. The event sends hard-luck case Levi (Benson) and religious neighbor John (Moorhead) down a rabbit hole where one conspiracy theory leads to another and so on. These two men, living on the fringes of society, see this as their big opportunity to get rich quick by way of putting together a documentary about the strange phenomena that they witness. This being a horror movie, things of course don’t turn out the way

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jan 31, 2022
Movie Review: “The Civil Dead” (Slamdance Film Festival)

Movie Review: “The Civil Dead” (Slamdance Film Festival)

If you are in the mood for something decidedly different, director Clay Tatum’s The Civil Dead delivers in spades. This offbeat horror-adjacent comedy gets dark and delivers an emotional gut-punch of a climax. The Civil Dead begins with quirky humor as unemployed photographer Clay (Tatum), left to his own devices when his wife goes on a business trip, scams people when he poses as a real estate agent and takes deposit money from potential renters, when showing his own home that he has no intention of leaving. One day while out shooting photos, he runs across acquaintance Whit (Whitmer Thomas) from his old hometown, and ends up reluctantly inviting him home for drinks. The next morning, Whit is still hanging around, and confesses he has nowhere to go — because he is a ghost. Whit just wants a friend because of the loneliness of being a specter, but Clay is a misanthrope and the idea of having unwanted supernatural company

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jan 29, 2022
An Author Is Hunted In The Thriller 'Alter Ego' Starring Dylan Walsh (Trailer)

An Author Is Hunted In The Thriller ‘Alter Ego’ Starring Dylan Walsh (Trailer)

From writer-director-producer, Ezio Massa (5 A.M.) comes the acclaimed horror-thriller Alter Ego, set to be released next month. Taking home the awards for both Best Screenplay and Best Editing at the New York International Film Festival, Alter Ego follows detective DiBiasse (Oscar® nominee Eric Roberts, Runaway Train) as he arrives at his last crime scene, the mansion of a wealthy, yet paranoid recluse named Alan Schaeffer (Dylan Walsh, FX’s “Nip/Tuck”). As Detective Dibiasse is accompanied by a new detective, he soon begins to weave together the strange story of Alan Schaeffer, a once-renowned author of a best-selling serial killer book series, who now vehemently insists that one of his creations is trying to kill him. Surrounded by security who reportedly see nothing, no one can help Alan Schaeffer as the police move on without a second thought. Yet, shortly after, Detective Dibiasse is summoned back to the mansion and is met with a horrible, brutal crime and not a suspect

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jan 29, 2022
IFC Midnight's Unsettling Horror 'Hatching' Out Today On Digital And VOD

Movie Reviews: “Hatching” and “Resurrection” (Sundance Film Festival)

Sundance Film Festival is absolutely killing it with its horror selections! Following are capsule reviews of two absolutely bonkers, can’t-miss features. Hatching Finnish/Swedish coproduction Hatching (Ruva, 2022) finds pre-teen gymnast Tinja (Siiri Solalinna in a captivating debut performance) trying to live up to the expectations of her domineering mother (Sophia Heikkilӓ), who vlogs about the wonderful life of their seemingly perfect family. Naturally, the online presence is merely an illusion, as evidenced earlier on when Tinja captures a bird that flew into their house, only to see her mother break its neck. Soon after, Tinja finds a bird’s egg near her home, and promises to take care of what will hatch from it. Big mistake, what with this being a horror film. It would be a shame to go into too many details here about Hanna Bergholm’s astonishing directorial debut Hatching, so suffice it to say that there are some amazing creature and body horror effects on display of both

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jan 28, 2022
One Of The Best Horror Films Of The Year, 'The Cursed', Is Now Out On VOD

Sink Your Teeth Into The Horror-Filled Trailer For ‘The Cursed’ (AKA Eight For Silver)

Sink your teeth into the trailer for the highly-anticipated Gothic horror-thriller The Cursed, originally titled Eight for Silver. The killer trailer teases a dark and violent film filled with tension and horrors. Written and directed by Sean Ellis, the film stars Boyd Holbrook(The Sandman, The Fugitive, Logan), Kelly Reilly (“Yellowstone,” “True Detective”), and Alistair Petrie (“Sex Education,” Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Night Manager) and is a reimagining of the werewolf legend for a modern-day audience. Set ”In the late 1800s, a once-peaceful remote country village is under attack—but by who or what, no one knows. Villagers spread rumors of a cursed land, supernatural forces, and even demonic creatures, as the disappearances and killings continue. Pathologist John McBride arrives to investigate the danger, only to discover something much deeper and more sinister than he ever could have imagined.” The film is produced by Ellis, Mickey Liddell, and Pete Shilaimon, and is executive produced by Alison Semenzaand and Jacob

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jan 26, 2022
Trailer Premieres For Award-Winning Spiritual Thriller 'The Righteous'

Award-Winning Chiller ‘The Righteous’ Snags A Summer Release Date

Arrow Films announced today that they have acquired distribution rights to the extraordinary chiller The Righteous, an award-winning standout on the genre festival circuit. The film, a dark chiller about a burdened man who feels the wrath of a vengeful God, after he and his wife are visited by a mysterious stranger, marks the directorial debut or actor and writer Mark O’Brien (AMC’s “61st Street”, Blue Bayou, Ready or Not). Mark O’Brien, Henry Czerny (Ready or Not, Mission Impossible, “Revenge”), and Mimi Kuzyk (The Day After Tomorrow, The Final Cut, “Shadowhunters”) star. A unique and darkly engaging spiritual thriller, strikingly shot in black and white, The Righteous tells the story of Frederic (Henry Czerny) a grieving man struggling with his faith, who helps an injured young man, Aaron Smith (Mark O’Brien) who stumbles onto his property one night, claiming to be lost in the woods. Frederic and his wife (Mimi Kuzyk) invite the man to stay for the night, but

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jan 26, 2022
A First Look At The Irish Horror 'Mandrake'

A First Look At The Irish Horror ‘Mandrake’

The first image from the upcoming Irish folk horror Mandrake has been shared by ScreenDaily ahead of its debut and sale at EFM. Mandrake follows a probation officer named Cathy Madden (Deirdre Mullins) who is put to the test when given the task of rehabilitating the notorious killer ‘Bloody’ Mary Laidlaw (Derbhle Crotty) back into society after two decades in jail. The film marks the feature debut of Irish director Lynn Davison and stars young Jude Hill, Deirdre Mullins, Derbhle Crotty, and Paul Kennedy. Marie-Thérèse Mackle and Paul Kennedy are executive producing the film written by Matt Harvey. Mandrake was financed by Northern Ireland Screen and Northern Ireland-based production house Yellowmoon.

Continue reading →
Kelli Marchman McNeely
Jan 24, 2022
Movie Review: “Fresh” (Sundance Film Festival)

Movie Review: “Fresh” (Sundance Film Festival)

Director Mimi Cave’s debut feature film Fresh is destined to be one of the absolute best horror films of 2022. It is also the most difficult type of film to write a review about, because it is the type of movie that first-time viewers need to go into as, well, fresh as possible. My review will be spoiler free. Fresh starts out as a dark satire on modern dating, an anti–rom-com that shines a spotlight on the pressures of meeting new people on dating apps and the benefit of having friends who know how to cyberstalk strangers. Then it heads headlong into some of the most nail-biting, uncomfortable fear fare imaginable. Daisy Edgar-Jones gives a superb performance as Noa, a young woman tired of swiping on dating app photos, receiving unwanted pictures of men’s genitalia, and first dates that lead nowhere. When she has a meet cute in the produce section with a plastic surgeon named Steve (Sebastian Stan in

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jan 23, 2022
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