Chi-town residents! Pay heed to our words because there is a genre film festival coming to your town for the very first time. Well, not the first first time. As you will read below Cinepocalypse evolved from another horror film festival and like the great suburban Chicago prophet Wayne Campbell once said back in 1992, "... I still know how to party" (waits for vague reference to drop).
Cinepocalypse has just announced the first wave of programming and there is a lot of good stuff it. The fest will host the world premiere of Finnish vigilante flick Rendel. Festival faves Lowlife and Tragedy Girls continue to rage the circuit. A couple films that are going to make some noise as they bow this fall are the German period horror Hagazussa - A Heathen's Curse and the new film from the director of Baskin, Can Evrenol's Housewife. And the newly-discovered Italian Uncut 35mm print of Argento's Susperia will screen at the festival as well.
Other than the films special guests include You're Next and The Guest screenwriter Simon Barett as the festival's host. Writer/director Joe Carnahan will guest curate “Blood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane” a special program of 35mm repertory films screening during the fest. And the cult of actor Eric Roberts will be inspired by their muse as he attends a live recording of the podcast “Eric Roberts Is The Fucking Man”.
More information about the first wave of titles is below.
CHICAGO-BASED CINEPOCALYPSE ANNOUNCES FIRST WAVE OF PROGRAMMING AND GUESTSDebut year of genre festival to feature guest programmer Joe Carnahan, guest host Simon Barrett, an appearance by Eric Roberts, and more!August 31, 2017 - The Music Box Theatre is proud to announce their first wave of programming and guests for the debut year of CINEPOCALYPSE (an evolution to the program design of Bruce Campbell's Horror Film Festival), which will take place November 2 - 9 at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre. The Midwest’s largest gathering of genre films and fans, the festival’s organizers are proud to have acclaimed screenwriter Simon Barrett (You’re Next, The Guest) guest host the entirety of the festival.Writer/director Joe Carnahan (The Grey, Smokin’ Aces, The A-Team) will guest curate “Blood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane” - a special program of 35mm repertory films screening during the fest - while Oscar-nominated thespian Eric Roberts will take part in a very special live recording of Doug Tilley and Liam O’Donnell’s acclaimed film podcast “Eric Roberts Is The Fucking Man” - uniting the actor and the program that bears his name for the very first time!Cinepocalypse’s first round of phenomenal feature films have also been unleashed upon the world. Featuring a wide variety of World, U.S., and Regional Premieres, they represent the latest and greatest in genre cinema from around the globe. First Wave titles include:Rendel - World PremiereFinland, 2017Director: Jesse HaajaFinland’s first superhero film, Rendel is dystopian action/fantasy unlike anything ever witnessed Stateside. When a massive criminal organization takes over his town, a masked vigilante strikes back through a series of brutal attacks that leave blood spilled and cash ablaze. A dark adventure that harkens to the finest in 80s era comics, Rendel is the anti-Marvel crusader: an all-too-human superhero from the streets, driven solely by rage and revenge!Attack of the Adult Babies - North American PremiereUK, 2017Director: Dominic BruntHigh-powered middle-aged men intend to refuel the world’s economy by very sinister, sick, and monstrous means in this British gross-out extravaganza.$1 of each ticket sale will be donated to the ACLU to assist in continuing their support of defending the world from further adult baby attacks.Lowlife - U.S. PremiereUSA, 2017Director: Ryan ProwsThe sordid lives of an addict, an ex-con, and a Luchador collide when an organ harvesting caper goes very, very wrong in this wildly clever - and incredibly brutal - modern LA noir.Mohawk - U.S. PremiereUSA, 2017Director: Ted GeogheganOver one very long day late in The War of 1812, a young Mohawk woman and her two lovers strike back at a squadron of American soldiers responsible for the death of her people. From the writer/director of We Are Still Here.Poor Agnes - U.S. PremiereCanada, 2017Director: Navin RamaswaranA female serial killer and her next victim form an unexpected relationship in this intense thriller that won raves out of Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival.Animals (Tiere) - Midwest PremiereGermany, 2017Director: Greg ZglinskiA vehicle colliding with a sheep on a country road starts into motion a series of strange and unsettling events for a couple in this darkly comical, Lynchian nightmare.Before We Vanish - Midwest PremiereJapan, 2017Director: Kiyoshi KurosawaIn this Cannes smash, three aliens travel to Earth in preparation for a mass invasion, taking possession of human bodies and learning what it’s like to live and love in modern day Tokyo. From the writer/director of Pulse.Dead Shack - Midwest PremiereCanada, 2017Director: Peter RicqWhile staying at a rundown cabin in the woods, three children must save their parents from a neighbor who intends to feed them to her undead family.Hagazussa - A Heathen's Curse - Midwest PremiereGermany, 2017Director: Lukas FeigelfeldSet in the Austrian Alps during the Middle Ages, this morbid and visually-stunning tale deals with the fine line between ancient belief in magic and delusional psychosis.Housewife - Midwest PremiereTurkey, 2017Director: Can EvrenolOn a snowy eve, a young girl’s mother kills her father and sister. 20 years later, as she’s slowly losing her grip on reality, the girl runs into a celebrity psychic who claims he is destined to help her. And then things get ultra weird. From the writer/director of Baskin.Jailbreak - Midwest PremiereCambodia, 2017Director: Jimmy HendersonAs all of Kol Kla Prison riots, a no-nonsense special task force is in to protect a key witness - and kick a whole lot of ass. Featuring a phenomenal, hard-hitting international cast, and a star-making turn from adult film star Celine Tran.Sweet Virginia - Midwest PremiereUSA, 2017Director: Jamie M. DaggA former rodeo champ with a dark past unknowingly starts a rapport with a young man who has a propensity for disturbing sociopathic violence that has suddenly gripped a small town.Trench 11 - Midwest PremiereCanada, 2017Director: Leo SchermanIn the final days of World War I, a shell-shocked soldier must lead a mission deep beneath the trenches to stop a German plot that could turn the tide of the war. But what lies beneath is far more dark and sinister than he ever could have imagined.Veronica - Midwest PremiereSpain, 2017Director: Paco PlazaAfter making a Ouija with friends, a teenager is besieged by dangerous supernatural forces that threaten to destroy her entire family. From the writer/director of the [•REC] franchise.Tragedy Girls - Illinois PremiereUSA, 2017Director: Tyler MacIntyreThis clever twist on the slasher genre follows two death-obsessed teenage girls who use their online profiles dedicated to real-life tragedies to send their small Midwest town into a frenzy - and cement their legacy as modern horror legends.Suspiria - 40th anniversary screening, newly-discovered Italian Uncut 35mm print!Italy, 1977Director: Dario ArgentoThe Cinepocalypse Midnight Movie ChallengeThe production team at Boulderlight Pictures consists of 23-year-old JD Lifshitz and 24-year-old Raphael Margules. Alongside both Contracted films, they also produced Bad Match, which received its premiere at FrightFest; the upcoming Dismissed (starring Dylan Krause); and numerous other genre titles.With their youthful exuberance and heavy output, we've issued them a challenge: produce a genre feature exclusively for Cinepocalypse 2017. There are no parameters other than it must be a feature-length midnight movie, and that they must begin production immediately upon release of this announcement.Together, attendees of Cinepocalypse will all experience the World Premiere of this yet-untitled (and unwritten… and unfilmed) production during a special midnight slot in this year’s inaugural festival!