Events

Horror events, screenings and experiences — premieres, festivals and one-night-only shows.

407 stories

Villains, UFOs, and Gunfighters Descend on Wisconsin’s 2024 MidWest WeirdFest

Aficionados of the odd, the unusual, and the bizarre in cinema should find much to love in this, the full-program announcement for the 2024 edition of Wisconsin’s MidWest WeirdFest, scheduled for March 13. Following is the official press announcement. MidWest WeirdFest announces its full program for 2024 today. The 8th annual film festival — a cinematic celebration of of all things fantastic, frightening, paranormal, and just plain weird — takes place March 1-3, 2024 at the Micon Downtown Cinema in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The fest’s fantastic line-up of horror, sci-fi, underground, paranormal, and documentary cinema, kicks off at 6pm, Friday March 1, with the theatrical world premiere of the brand new, and soon to be cult hit, BLIND COP 2. “The story of getting BLIND COP 2 made is nearly as absurd and feverish as the film itself.” says the film’s director and co-writer Alec Bonk. “Our small group of highly impassioned and exceedingly motivated artists came together and forced

Continue reading →

Joseph Perry

Feb 21, 2024

EventsFilm FestivalsMoviesNews

Dark Nights Film Fest Is Unleashed and Calls for Entries!

Bryn Tilly, who ran Australia’s A Night of Horror Film Festival for four years, has announced a new fright-fare fest for that country: Dark Nights Film Fest. The inaugural edition is scheduled for October of this year, and the call for entries is now open. Following is the official press announcement. Get ready to embrace a spine-chilling, heart-pounding experience as former director and programmer of the renowned A Night of Horror International Film Festival brings you an exhilarating new venture – Dark Nights Film Fest – set to haunt Ritz Cinemas in Sydney this coming October. With many years of festival programming experience under his belt, Dark Nights’ founder, Bryn Tilly, announces the festival’s inaugural Call for Entries and invites horror and dark genre filmmakers, screenwriters, and thrill-seekers to join this essential new journey. Tilly helmed and successfully navigated Sydney’s film festival A Night of Horror through the wilderness of a global pandemic and beyond, and promises to elevate frightful

Continue reading →

Joseph Perry

Feb 20, 2024

EventsFilm FestivalsNews

Unnamed Footage Festival Announces First Wave Selections for Its 2024 Edition

Found footage fear-fare fans, your biggest dream and worst nightmares are about to come true! The Unnamed Footage Festival is back for its 7th edition, and its first wave selections are a highly intriguing. The festival runs March 28–31, 2024 in San Francisco. Following is the official press announcement. The Unnamed Footage Festival is excited to announce the first wave of films for the 7th edition of the Found Footage Horror, First Person POV, and Faux Doc film festival. Every year, our programmers scour the globe for the greatest, weirdest, and most obscure films in the In-World camera genre, and this year is shaping up to be our best and biggest year yet, complete with cryptids, liminal horror, possession and live streaming. UFF7 will feature two nights of pre-fest events. On Tuesday March 26th, UFF will present a 10th Anniversary screening of AS ABOVE SO BELOW at Terror Tuesday in collaboration with the Alamo Drafthouse at their New Mission location.

Continue reading →

Joseph Perry

Feb 15, 2024

Film FestivalsInterviews

Horror Filmmaker Federico Zampaglione Talks THE WELL Ahead of FrightFest Glasgow

The following is an interview for syndication with Italian director Federico Zampaglione. Ahead of the UK premiere of graphic and disturbing supernatural horror film THE WELL at FrightFest Glasgow 2024, director Federico Zampaglione talks about returning to hardcore horror, working with the late, great Giovanni Lombardo Radice and emerging from the shadow of Italian masters of the genre. So, Federico, THE WELL has its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival, as part of the popular FrightFest event. Excited, or what? Frightfest it’ s the place where everything has started in 2009 and it’s one of the best festivals in the world. I can’ t wait to show THE WELL to the UK fans. What inspired you to make the movie? Wanting to get back on the horror horse! I deeply love this genre, because it speaks to the human soul, investigates our unknown fears and gets lost in deep darkness whilst clinging to a blade of light. THE WELL

Continue reading →

Joseph Perry

Feb 14, 2024

Chattanooga Film Festival Offers a Hybrid Eleventh Edition This Month

EventsFilm FestivalsMoviesNews

Make Believe Seattle Film Festival’s Year Two Lineup Is a Doozy

From coming-of-age horror and science fiction offerings to darker genre offerings to offbeat documentaries, the second edition of the Make Believe Seattle Film Festival is serving up a wild and wooly array of features and shorts from around the world. Following is the official press announcement. Announcing the complete lineup of films and events for year two of the Make Believe Seattle Film Festival. Make Believe 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 Erickson Theatre, Northwest Film Forum, and the Grand Illusion Cinema from March 21-26, 2024. Festival passes, and individual tickets are on sale now and are available at makebelieveseattle.com. The Make Believe Seattle lineup features 38 programs, including narrative features, documentaries, mid-length films, short film blocks, repertory films, live podcasts, filmmaker Q&As, special events, thematic parties, and more. Two films will make their world premieres at Make Believe

Continue reading →

Joseph Perry

Feb 14, 2024

Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviewsShort FilmsThriller

Spoiler-Free Short-Film Reviews: “Nian,” “Days of Spring,” Mosquito Lady,” and “A Dire Strait” (Final Girls Berlin Film Festival)

Following are reviews of four of the offerings that screened as part of the 2024 Final Girls Berlin Film Festival’s Folk Horror short-film block. Nian Short chiller Nian (U.S., 2023), finds a Chinese American schoolgirl (Lauren Mei in a delightful performance) standing up to a racist bully with the help of a Chinese demon mask and the supernatural assistance of the titular mythological punisher of naughty children. Director Michelle Krusiec delivers a crisp commentary on racism and bullying that nails its fantasy aspects, with a nice amount of heart behind it. Days of Spring Writer/director Arianne Hinz’s Days of Spring (Netherlands, 2022) is a disturbing peek into the secretive world of a small group of young Dutch girls who surrender their individual wills to the group. Eleven-year-old Roos (Anoek Neervort) has invited her friend Ella (Maeve Hickey) to join the group but begins to question herself when the demands of the girls grows increasingly extreme, including animal sacrifice. Beautifully lensed

Continue reading →

Joseph Perry

Feb 13, 2024

Film FestivalsMoviesNews

Supernatural Thriller ‘Queen of Bones’ Will Haunt You (Trailer)

Prepare for a chilling cinematic experience.The supernatural thriller Queen of Bones has now secured theatrical distribution ahead of its February debut at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. Featuring a talented young cast, including Julia Butters (The Fabelmans), Jacob Tremblay (The Toxic Avenger, 2023), and Martin Freeman (“Fargo”), the film promises to weave a captivating tale of mystery and suspense. The Story: In 1931, in Oregon, siblings Lily (Butters) and Sam (Tremblay) discover a mysterious spell book hidden within their remote home. This unearthing leads them down a rabbit hole of suspicion. That casts doubt on their widowed father’s (Freeman) past and their beloved mother’s tragic death. Joined by their father’s friend, Ida May (Taylor Schilling, “Orange Is the New Black”). The siblings embark on a perilous quest to uncover the truth. They must confront the dark forces lurking in the surrounding woods. Behind the Scenes: Directed by Robert Budreau (“Born to be Blue”), Queen of Bones marks a reunion for

Continue reading →

Kelli Marchman McNeely

Feb 3, 2024

Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews

Spoiler-Free Film Review: “Handling the Undead” (Sundance Film Festival)

I’m a very hard sell on new zombie movies. In a subgenre of horror films that I personally feel is growing ever weaker on originality, I’m open minded, however, in finding new discoveries with a unique take on things. Director Thea Hvistendahl’s Norwegian feature Handling the Undead — adapted from Swedish author John Ajvide Lindqvist’s (Let The Right One In) novel, with a screenplay cowritten by the pair — is one such film, a remarkable dramatic take on the undead. Handling the Undead focuses on grief rather than gore as three families who have lost loved ones find that their deceased members have returned to life — in a sense — after a mysterious phenomenon occurs. The returned ones are weak, barely breathing and sometimes barely moving. The hope from their family members and lovers is felt along with confusion and unease. They have already been grieving, and some now fear that they may lose their loved ones once again.

Continue reading →

Joseph Perry

Jan 28, 2024

Film FestivalsForeignMoviesReviews

Spoiler-Free Film Review: “The Moogai” (Sundance Film Festival)

Writer/director Jon Bell combines post-pregnancy horror with social commentary in his Australian feature The Moogai, the 2024 expansion of his 2021 short film. The result is a mixed bag, as Bell addresses the tragic aspect of Australia’s infamous “Stolen Generations” — when thousands of mixed-race children of Australian Aboriginal descent between 1910–1970 were forcibly taken from their homes by the white government in an assimilation effort — using a monster as a metaphor. Expectant mother Sarah (Shari Sebbens) has recently come into contact with her Indigenous birth mother Ruth (Tessa Rose). She feels she has nothing in common with Ruth and is short-tempered with her and dismissive of her traditional beliefs. Sarah’s husband Fergus (Meyne Wyatt) and their young daughter Chloe (Jahdeana Mary), however, are very affectionate toward Ruth. After the birth of the couple’s son Jacob, Ruth attempts to ward off the coming of the child-stealing spirit called The Moogai in her daughter’s home using traditional rituals, which is

Continue reading →

Joseph Perry

Jan 27, 2024

EventsFilm FestivalsForeignIndieMoviesNews

16th A Night of Horror International Film Festival Announces First Programming Wave

For its 16th edition, A Night of Horror International Film Festival moves from Australia to the United States — Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to be exact — from March 1–3, 2024, and the fest’s first wave announcement promises something for horror fans of every stripe. Following is the official press announcement. A Night of Horror International Film Festival announces its first programming wave for 2024 today. Long known as Australia’s premier genre film event, the festival now takes place in the United States. This year, the festival’s 16th edition – and first in the US – screens from March 1-3, at the Micon Downtown Cinema in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. “To move a fest I co-founded in Sydney, Australia, back in 2006, to America feels surreal”, says festival director Dean Bertram. “A Night of Horror has long taken pride in being recognized for its excellence in showcasing the best and bloodiest new horror films from around the globe. And this year’s program

Continue reading →

Joseph Perry

Jan 26, 2024

Events

More from Events