Popcorn Frights 2017: Second Wave Goes Deep With TERRIFIER, JACKALS, THE BRIDE, THE ENDLESS, More
The second wave of programming for the Popcorn Frights Film Festival in Miami, Florida, has been announced, featuring 40 film premieres from eight countries. The fest will be held August 11-17.
As previously announced, Tragedy Girls will be one of a trio of films on opening night; now we learn that Terrifier and the North American premiere of Jackals, starring Stephen Dorff, will join the festivities.
Other highlights include horror comedy Dead Shack, starring Lauren Holly (U.S. premiere); Russian gothic horror The Bride (North American premiere); and The Hatred, based on a short titled Hush that screened at the fest a couple of years ago (North American premiere).
The festival will also feature the local premieres of The Endless, Sequence Break, Happy Hunting, Super Dark Times, and 68 Kill.
Read onward for the complete second wave; all descriptions provided by the festival.
68 Kill
Directed by Trent Haaga
US | 93 minutes | 2017
SOUTH FLORIDA PREMIERE. This southern-fried caper focuses on infatuated nice guy Chip and his crazy girlfriend, Liza, whose relationship takes a sharp turn into homicide when they try to rob Liza's sugar daddy - only to end up with two corpses, a hostage, and $68,000 in stolen cash.
The Bride
Directed by Svyatoslav Podgayevskiy
Russia | 93 minutes | 2017
Russian with English subtitles
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE. A young woman travels with her soon-to-be husband to his family home in the outskirts and becomes increasingly suspicious of their strange behavior. Sheer psychological terror soon overwhelms her as she starts witnessing terrifying visions when his family prepares her for a mysterious ritual ceremony.
Dead Shack
Directed by Peter Ricq
Canada | 85 minutes | 2017
US PREMIERE. Three kids on a weekend getaway are holed up at a run-down cottage in the woods and must save their hard-partying parents from a shotgun-toting psycho (Lauren Holly) who wants to feed them to her slavering zombies.
The Endless
Directed by Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead
US | 111 minutes | 2017
FLORIDA PREMIERE. A mind-bending delight from the directors of Spring, The Endless follows two brothers who return to the death cult from which they fled a decade ago and discover that there might be some truth to the group's otherworldly beliefs.
Happy Hunting
Directed Joe Dietsch and Louie Gibson
US | 91 minutes | 2017
FLORIDA PREMIERE. A gory thrill ride about an alcoholic drifter who gets stranded in a one-horse town deep in the American desert. It turns out that the town's psychotic rednecks celebrate a gory pastime rounding up drifters and hunting them for sport.
The Hatred
Directed by Michael G. Kehoe
US | 90 minutes | 2017
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE. From the producer of Halloween comes the terrifying new feature centering on four young women who travel to their college professor's new country home for a weekend getaway, only to discover that the house has a malevolent past. Featuring Andrew Divoff (Wes Craven's Wishmaster), David Naughton (An American Werewolf in London), and Amanda Wyss (A Nightmare on Elm Street ).
Jackals
Directed by Kevin Greutert
US | 90 minutes | 2017
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE. A potent '80s-set psychological thriller that centers on an estranged family who hire a cult de-programmer (Stephen Dorff) to get back their teenage son from a murderous cult, only to find themselves under siege when the cultists surround their cabin, demanding the boy back.
Lake Bodom
Directed by Taneli Mustonen
Finland | 85 minutes | 2017
Finish with English subtitles
FLORIDA PREMIERE. A smart, slick, savage slasher that riffs on a notorious real-life Finnish murder still unsolved. More than 50 years later, four teens get some gruesome surprises when they camp out at the site of the grisly massacre.
Sequence Break
Directed by Graham Skipper
US | 80 minutes | 2017
FLORIDA PREMIERE. A loner video arcade technician experiences bizarre bio-mechanical mutations and Cronenbergian hallucinations when a mysterious new arcade game appears in his shop. Reality itself threatens to fracture as he works to solve its mystery and the new chaos that has entered his life.
Super Dark Times
Directed by Kevin Phillips
US | 100 minutes | 2017
FLORIDA PREMIERE. An incinerating and strangely dream-like teenage nightmare set in the leafy American suburbs of the early 1990s when a group of best friends get caught up in an abrupt and violent accident that results in a gruesome death.
Terrifier
Directed by Damien Leone
US | 82 minutes | 2017
FINAL CUT SOUTHEAST PREMIERE. It's Halloween night and Art the Clown, the cold-blooded killer who also stalked the omnibus All Hallow's Eve, is not wearing a creepy costume just for show. He terrorizes three young women and everyone else who stands in his way in this gritty and jarringly depraved new cut.
SHORT FILMS
2AM
Directed by Huseyin Hassan
Australia | 16 minutes | 201 7
FLORIDA PREMIERE. A man awakens in an unusual asylum when supernatural events begin to unfold right in front of our eyes.
A Knock on the Door
Directed by Katrina Rennells and Wendie Weldon
US | 8 minutes | 2017
FLORIDA PREMIERE. Moments after a bloodcurdling scream disrupts a normally peaceful neighborhood, a frantic knocking at one resident's door triggers events that unknowingly alter his fate forever.
Born Again
Directed by Jason Tostevin
US | 7 minutes | 2017
FLORIDA PREMIERE. When a group of bumbling Satanists has their summoning ceremony go terribly right, they're left to face the decidedly holy shit consequences.
The Cleansing Hour
Directed by Damien LeVeck
US | 19 minutes | 2016
SOUTH FLORIDA PREMIERE. Two failed filmmakers get in over their heads when their latest staged hoax, an elaborate exorcism, turns out to actually be demon-possessed.
Couple's Night
Directed by The Summers Brothers
US | 4 minutes | 2017
FLORIDA PREMIERE. A couple's night goes off the rails when one couple reveals they're blood sacrificing devil worshippers. And then things get weird...
Curve
Directed by Tim Egan
Australia | 10 minutes | 2016
SOUTH FLORIDA PREMIERE. Clinging to a smooth, curved surface high above an abyss, a girl tries to cover the few feet back to safety without falling to her death.
Die! Sitter! Die!
Directed by Lee and Sam Boxleitner
US | 25 minutes | 2016
FLORIDA PREMIERE. A young girl takes a job looking after an infant for the night. Little does she know her night is about to get more horrifying than she could have ever imagined.
Fierce
Directed by Izù Troin
Switzerland-France | 15 minutes | 2017
French with English subtitles
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE. A young corporate executive is kidnapped from his apartment and wakes up in the middle of a forest only to be stalked by a mysterious hunter.
Fucking Bunnies
Directed by Teemu Niukkanen
Finland | 18 minutes | 2017
Finish with English subtitles
FLORIDA PREMIERE. Raimo's comfortable, middle-class bubble is burst when a Satan- worshipping sex cult moves in next door.
Great Choice
Directed by Robin Comisar
US | 7 minutes | 2017
FLORIDA PREMIERE. A woman gets stuck in a Red Lobster commercial.
Hell Follows
Directed by Brian Harrison
US | 11 minutes | 2017
FLORIDA PREMIERE. Betrayed by his clan and murdered for his past evil deeds, a sadistic killer's soul possesses his identical twin's body and sets out onto the road of vengeance for one final crusade of extermination. Everywhere he goes...HELL FOLLOWS.
IMedium
Directed by Alfonso García López
Spain | 7 minutes | 2017
Spanish with English subtitles
NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE. A mourning mother has lost all hope of finding her missing daughter alive, so she decides to subscribe to an app that connects directly with dead people.
Level
Directed by Andrew Hunt
US | 19 minutes | 2017
WORLD PREMIERE. Trapped inside a never-ending nightmare, a cat and mouse game plays out between a man and a hellish beast lurking in the shadows.
Neck and Neck
Directed by Shaun Clark
UK | 5 minutes | 2017
FLORIDA PREMIERE. Inspired by Shakespeare's Othello, this animated short presents a dark surreal take on the relationship between the deceived Othello, the innocent Desdemona, and the mendacious Iago.
Nightmare
Directed by James Mansell
UK | 3 minutes | 2017
FLORIDA PREMIERE. Put on a headset and step inside a frighteningly immersive environment, where all is not as it seems.
Overtime
Directed by Craig D. Foster
Australia | 9 minutes | 2017
FLORIDA PREMIERE. No one likes working late on a Friday night...especially if it's a full moon and you happen to be a werewolf.
Savor
Directed by Marc Cartwright
US | 1 minute | 2017
FLORIDA PREMIERE. A man discovers the horrors of dinning alone.
The Thin Place
Directed by Alexander Mattingly
US | 15 minutes | 2017
FLORIDA PREMIERE. A mother and daughter are haunted by a terrifying presence in this supernatural suspenser.
The Tickle Monster
Directed by Remi Weekes
UK | 4 minutes | 2017
FLORIDA PREMIERE. A quiet night in for an aspiring grime artist and his girlfriend takes a dark turn when she reveals her room is haunted by the tickle monster.
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TICKET SALES:
Festival Premiere Badges are on sale for a limited time for $120 per person and $180 for couples, and single screening tickets are available for $12. To purchase badges or tickets and view the festival schedule, visit www.popcornfrights.com
LOCATION:
All films will screen at the O Cinema Wynwood (90 NW 29th Street, Miami, FL 33127).
MORE INFORMATION:
Follow the Popcorn Frights Film Festival on Facebook (/popcornfrights), Twitter (@popcornfrights), or Instagram (@popcornfrights) for updates with the latest information about the Festival. Join the conversation using the hashtag #popcornfrights on social media.
