CategoryFilm Festivals
Horror film festivals worldwide — lineups, awards and the titles that break out of the festival circuit.
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The dynamic directing duo of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead return to supernatural horror with their latest outing, Something in the Dirt, which premiers at Sundance Film Festival in January. Described below, it is one of the films from the fest that we here at Horror Fuel are most excited about. The festival takes place in person and digitally, so fear-fare fans can join in from around the United States. Following is information from the official press release, along with a list of genre films — including horror, science fiction, thriller, mystery, dark comedies, and more — along with general information about the festival. The Festival takes place in person in Utah and online as well as at satellite screens around the country. (The in person and online are not separate events for us but part of one Festival. We are thrilled to be able to invite folks in from where they are or to have them join us in
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsThriller
Apparitions Combining psychological horror with a couple of other styles of fright fare that I don’t want to spoil here, Apparitions (Australia, 2021) is a well-crafted shocker from the cowriting/codirecting team of Perri Cummings and Paul Anthony Nelson featuring admirable performances and a good amount of intrigue. Lily Stone (Cate O’Connor) has just graduated from university but what should be a high point in her life so far is overshadowed by the fact that she was the only survivor of a family slaughter that she witnessed as a young girl (as revealed very early on in the film). She returns home to what locals consider a haunted house to find out more about her past. Lily fails to contact her best friend Alice (Shanon Kulupach), who goads serious-minded cop Jane Wilkes (Cummings) into taking her along to find out what is wrong. Deadly mayhem ensues as long-buried secrets are uncovered. Cummings and Nelson run protagonist Lily through the wringer both
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Writer/director Alexander Roman returns with another feature to warm the hearts of viewers who appreciate old-school occult movies and noir films with some modern twists, Cats of the Bayou (ASMR). Like Roman’s previous features, it deals in style and elegance, eschewing graphic gore and violence in favor of good storytelling and leaving certain elements to the imagination of viewers. Members of a group called The Cat Society meet in New Orleans to listen to a tape from Egyptologist Horace, and then learn that one of their members has been found dead, with scratches all over his face and body. A few months later, a young woman named Jacqueline (Max Reeves) returns to the city, where she had lived as a child before being moved to an abbey. As she begins to become increasingly intrigued about the secretive Cat Society and its members, and as she starts to unearth shocking clues about the death of her parents, esoteric mysteries begin to
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsIndieMoviesNewsTrailers
We’ve got a new clip and trailer for director Adam Reider‘s Woodland Grey which made its World Premiere at the Blood in the Snow film festival earlier this month. Written by Reider and Jesse Toufexis, Woodland Grey stars Jenny Raven, Ryan Blakely, and Art Hindle, and is produced by Arrow in the Head founder John Fallon. In the film, “A man living alone in the deep woods finds Emily, a hiker, unconscious and laying on the forest floor. He brings her back to his home and helps her get back to health so she can leave the forest and get home. After a few tense days coexisting, Emily makes a discovery. She finds a crudely built shed behind the man’s home. When she opens it, she unleashes something truly haunting. As Emily and the man come to terms with what has been released, they also attempt to find a way out of the forest which isn’t exactly what it seems.”
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
The Unhealer Director Martin Guigui’s The Unhealer (2021) is a “the bullied becomes the bullier” revenge tale that plays like a 1990s horror movie, with plenty of familiar genre-film faces on display. Pflueger (Lance Henriksen) performs faith healing miracles — for donations, of course — having gained supernatural powers from the hoary cinematic chestnut that is “Indian burial grounds.” He accidentally and unwittingly transfers his powers of instantly healing from any injury or pain to Kelly (Elijah Nelson), a teenager bullied by classmates because of suffering from the eating disorder pica. His childhood friend Dominique (Kayla Carlson) is a popular girl at their high school who tries to get her jock boyfriend and his buddies to cut Kelly some slack, but an incident in which one of them tries to fight Kelly and gets injured instead helps Kelly realize that he has inherited powers that turn others’ violence toward him on the perpetrators. Megalomania ensues, along with deadly acts of
Continue reading →
EventsFilm FestivalsNews
Horror-on-Sea returns this coming year with a loaded slate of international independent horror features and short films. From ghosts to gorefests and monsters to murderous mayhem, there’s something for every fear-fare fanatic at the Southend fest. Following is the official press release. Following a hiatus in 2021 due to the pandemic, Horror-on-Sea will be making a welcome return to Southend in 2022 with what promises to be its biggest yet. Horror-on-Sea is recognised by many as the true home of independent horror and remains one of the UK’s biggest independent film festivals. Horror-on-Sea was originally formed to promote independent horror films and will continue to uphold that tradition, giving the horror fans an opportunity to see independent titles which would not normally be played on the big screen. Hosted once again at The Park Inn Palace Hotel (Southend-on-Sea) the festival will be running over two weekends from Friday 14th January to Sunday 16th January and Friday 21st January to Sunday
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Night Caller You’ll probably feel like you need a shower after viewing writer/director Chad Ferrin’s Night Caller. This paean to grindhouse gorefests oozes a 1970s vibe from practically every frame. The film is lurid in both senses of that word, from its color palette to its graphic violence. It pays obvious homage to Maniac (1980) with its killer’s method of murdering and scalping victims as it name checks — with video clips — psychic horror of the past such as Patrick (1978) and some public domain fear fare, with some spaghetti western and Laurel and Hardy references, as well. Clementine Carter (Susan Priver) works as a telephone psychic with boss Jade Mei (Bai Ling) when she begins receiving calls from a serial killer, whose upcoming acts of violence she sees in visions as they talk. As Clementine tries to solve the mystery of just who the fiend is, she brings danger closer to her elderly father (Robert Miano as Charles
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Canada’s Blood in the Snow Film Festival, which runs in Toronto from November 18–23, 2021, features a jaw-dropping array of homegrown horror and horror-comedy features and shorts. Following are reviews of three of the short films that screen at the festival. Giant Bear Giant Bear (Canada, 2019) is a beautifully animated vision of an Inuit legend that is absolutely stunning. Codirectors Neil Christopher and Daniel Gies have crafted an absolutely gorgeous work. As beautiful as the snowy landscape is, the underwater world in the short is breathtaking. A lone hunter tries spearfishing with his dog, only to come face to face with a monstrously large bear. Much more than just an animated creature feature, Giant Bear is a riveting experience. Wolf in Dude’s Clothing Writer/director Solmund MacPherson’s Wolf in Dude’s Clothing (Canada, 2021) sees a wolf assume a human lifestyle after finding a suit of human skin in the wild. The wolf-man (Erik Athavale) — a fun play on the
Continue reading →
EventsFilm FestivalsNews
Filmmakers, take note: Austria’s prestigious SLASH Filmfestival is currently accepting submissions for its 13th edition next year. Following is the official press release. SLASH Filmfestival, Austria’s foremost festival for Fantastic Film and the country’s third largest film festival overall, is now accepting submissions for its 13th edition, which will run from September 22 through October 2, 2022. Filmmakers from across the world are invited to send in their work via FilmFreeway. Founded in 2010, SLASH Filmfestival has quickly grown in size and scope, now attracting close to 15.000 visitors over its 11-day run. The festival hosts a Fantastic Shorts competition with a cash prize of 1000 EUR decided by popular vote and also organizes the Méliès d’argent competition for European short films. Additionally, SLASH organizes a feature film competition with a cash prize of 3000 EUR, the winner of which is identified by a professional jury. SLASH celebrates genre films in various shapes and sizes. Both short films (30 min.
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Peppergrass Eula Baek (Chantelle Han) and Morris Weiss (Charles Boyland) are in a relationship — and quite obviously not a happy one, judging from their constant sniping and bickering — and are driven to desperation during the COVID lockdown for her titular restaurant and his bar. They hatch a plan to scam veteran Captain Reuben Lom (Michael Copeman) — who lives in a very rural area and who was friends with Eula’s father — into giving them some valuable truffles that they can resell to try to make ends meet. Morris gets greedy and aggressive, and suddenly the three people are fighting for their lives. Peppergrass (Canada, 2021) toys with the “home invasion goes south” style of fear fare before diving headlong into survival horror, but rather than fully committing to the more grueling side of the latter, focuses instead on being more of a dread-filled mood piece with lots of wandering around in the woods. Codirectors Steven Garbas and
Continue reading →
More from Film Festivals
EventsFilm FestivalsForeignMovies
The dynamic directing duo of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead return to supernatural horror with their latest outing, Something in the Dirt, which premiers at Sundance Film Festival in January. Described below, it is one of the films from the fest that we here at Horror Fuel are most excited about. The festival takes place in person and digitally, so fear-fare fans can join in from around the United States. Following is information from the official press release, along with a list of genre films — including horror, science fiction, thriller, mystery, dark comedies, and more — along with general information about the festival. The Festival takes place in person in Utah and online as well as at satellite screens around the country. (The in person and online are not separate events for us but part of one Festival. We are thrilled to be able to invite folks in from where they are or to have them join us in
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsThriller
Apparitions Combining psychological horror with a couple of other styles of fright fare that I don’t want to spoil here, Apparitions (Australia, 2021) is a well-crafted shocker from the cowriting/codirecting team of Perri Cummings and Paul Anthony Nelson featuring admirable performances and a good amount of intrigue. Lily Stone (Cate O’Connor) has just graduated from university but what should be a high point in her life so far is overshadowed by the fact that she was the only survivor of a family slaughter that she witnessed as a young girl (as revealed very early on in the film). She returns home to what locals consider a haunted house to find out more about her past. Lily fails to contact her best friend Alice (Shanon Kulupach), who goads serious-minded cop Jane Wilkes (Cummings) into taking her along to find out what is wrong. Deadly mayhem ensues as long-buried secrets are uncovered. Cummings and Nelson run protagonist Lily through the wringer both
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Writer/director Alexander Roman returns with another feature to warm the hearts of viewers who appreciate old-school occult movies and noir films with some modern twists, Cats of the Bayou (ASMR). Like Roman’s previous features, it deals in style and elegance, eschewing graphic gore and violence in favor of good storytelling and leaving certain elements to the imagination of viewers. Members of a group called The Cat Society meet in New Orleans to listen to a tape from Egyptologist Horace, and then learn that one of their members has been found dead, with scratches all over his face and body. A few months later, a young woman named Jacqueline (Max Reeves) returns to the city, where she had lived as a child before being moved to an abbey. As she begins to become increasingly intrigued about the secretive Cat Society and its members, and as she starts to unearth shocking clues about the death of her parents, esoteric mysteries begin to
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsIndieMoviesNewsTrailers
We’ve got a new clip and trailer for director Adam Reider‘s Woodland Grey which made its World Premiere at the Blood in the Snow film festival earlier this month. Written by Reider and Jesse Toufexis, Woodland Grey stars Jenny Raven, Ryan Blakely, and Art Hindle, and is produced by Arrow in the Head founder John Fallon. In the film, “A man living alone in the deep woods finds Emily, a hiker, unconscious and laying on the forest floor. He brings her back to his home and helps her get back to health so she can leave the forest and get home. After a few tense days coexisting, Emily makes a discovery. She finds a crudely built shed behind the man’s home. When she opens it, she unleashes something truly haunting. As Emily and the man come to terms with what has been released, they also attempt to find a way out of the forest which isn’t exactly what it seems.”
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
The Unhealer Director Martin Guigui’s The Unhealer (2021) is a “the bullied becomes the bullier” revenge tale that plays like a 1990s horror movie, with plenty of familiar genre-film faces on display. Pflueger (Lance Henriksen) performs faith healing miracles — for donations, of course — having gained supernatural powers from the hoary cinematic chestnut that is “Indian burial grounds.” He accidentally and unwittingly transfers his powers of instantly healing from any injury or pain to Kelly (Elijah Nelson), a teenager bullied by classmates because of suffering from the eating disorder pica. His childhood friend Dominique (Kayla Carlson) is a popular girl at their high school who tries to get her jock boyfriend and his buddies to cut Kelly some slack, but an incident in which one of them tries to fight Kelly and gets injured instead helps Kelly realize that he has inherited powers that turn others’ violence toward him on the perpetrators. Megalomania ensues, along with deadly acts of
Continue reading →
EventsFilm FestivalsNews
Horror-on-Sea returns this coming year with a loaded slate of international independent horror features and short films. From ghosts to gorefests and monsters to murderous mayhem, there’s something for every fear-fare fanatic at the Southend fest. Following is the official press release. Following a hiatus in 2021 due to the pandemic, Horror-on-Sea will be making a welcome return to Southend in 2022 with what promises to be its biggest yet. Horror-on-Sea is recognised by many as the true home of independent horror and remains one of the UK’s biggest independent film festivals. Horror-on-Sea was originally formed to promote independent horror films and will continue to uphold that tradition, giving the horror fans an opportunity to see independent titles which would not normally be played on the big screen. Hosted once again at The Park Inn Palace Hotel (Southend-on-Sea) the festival will be running over two weekends from Friday 14th January to Sunday 16th January and Friday 21st January to Sunday
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesReviews
Night Caller You’ll probably feel like you need a shower after viewing writer/director Chad Ferrin’s Night Caller. This paean to grindhouse gorefests oozes a 1970s vibe from practically every frame. The film is lurid in both senses of that word, from its color palette to its graphic violence. It pays obvious homage to Maniac (1980) with its killer’s method of murdering and scalping victims as it name checks — with video clips — psychic horror of the past such as Patrick (1978) and some public domain fear fare, with some spaghetti western and Laurel and Hardy references, as well. Clementine Carter (Susan Priver) works as a telephone psychic with boss Jade Mei (Bai Ling) when she begins receiving calls from a serial killer, whose upcoming acts of violence she sees in visions as they talk. As Clementine tries to solve the mystery of just who the fiend is, she brings danger closer to her elderly father (Robert Miano as Charles
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Canada’s Blood in the Snow Film Festival, which runs in Toronto from November 18–23, 2021, features a jaw-dropping array of homegrown horror and horror-comedy features and shorts. Following are reviews of three of the short films that screen at the festival. Giant Bear Giant Bear (Canada, 2019) is a beautifully animated vision of an Inuit legend that is absolutely stunning. Codirectors Neil Christopher and Daniel Gies have crafted an absolutely gorgeous work. As beautiful as the snowy landscape is, the underwater world in the short is breathtaking. A lone hunter tries spearfishing with his dog, only to come face to face with a monstrously large bear. Much more than just an animated creature feature, Giant Bear is a riveting experience. Wolf in Dude’s Clothing Writer/director Solmund MacPherson’s Wolf in Dude’s Clothing (Canada, 2021) sees a wolf assume a human lifestyle after finding a suit of human skin in the wild. The wolf-man (Erik Athavale) — a fun play on the
Continue reading →
EventsFilm FestivalsNews
Filmmakers, take note: Austria’s prestigious SLASH Filmfestival is currently accepting submissions for its 13th edition next year. Following is the official press release. SLASH Filmfestival, Austria’s foremost festival for Fantastic Film and the country’s third largest film festival overall, is now accepting submissions for its 13th edition, which will run from September 22 through October 2, 2022. Filmmakers from across the world are invited to send in their work via FilmFreeway. Founded in 2010, SLASH Filmfestival has quickly grown in size and scope, now attracting close to 15.000 visitors over its 11-day run. The festival hosts a Fantastic Shorts competition with a cash prize of 1000 EUR decided by popular vote and also organizes the Méliès d’argent competition for European short films. Additionally, SLASH organizes a feature film competition with a cash prize of 3000 EUR, the winner of which is identified by a professional jury. SLASH celebrates genre films in various shapes and sizes. Both short films (30 min.
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews
Peppergrass Eula Baek (Chantelle Han) and Morris Weiss (Charles Boyland) are in a relationship — and quite obviously not a happy one, judging from their constant sniping and bickering — and are driven to desperation during the COVID lockdown for her titular restaurant and his bar. They hatch a plan to scam veteran Captain Reuben Lom (Michael Copeman) — who lives in a very rural area and who was friends with Eula’s father — into giving them some valuable truffles that they can resell to try to make ends meet. Morris gets greedy and aggressive, and suddenly the three people are fighting for their lives. Peppergrass (Canada, 2021) toys with the “home invasion goes south” style of fear fare before diving headlong into survival horror, but rather than fully committing to the more grueling side of the latter, focuses instead on being more of a dread-filled mood piece with lots of wandering around in the woods. Codirectors Steven Garbas and
Continue reading →
