TEXAS FRIGHTMARE WEEKEND ANNOUNCES MONSTROUS 2018 FILM FESTIVAL LINEUP

SCREENINGS, WORLD PREMIERES AND MORE!

Dallas, TX, April 3, 2018: Texas Frightmare Weekend Presented by Arrow Video is back for blood this May 4-6, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency DFW Airport. Now celebrating its 13^th terrifying year and continuing their wildly popular free film festival to all TFW pass holders! Feature and short films will be screening from Funimation, Severin Films, Millman Productions, Unearthed Films and several indie companies all weekend long. Plus a rarely seen feature film from Japanese director Takashi Miike!

Be careful what you wish for… Funimation presents prolific Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike’s film As the Gods Will. High school student Shun Takahata is bored. Bored with the day-to-day monotony of school and life, he prays for change, for something exciting. The last thing he expects is for the gods to answer. Up against terrifying creatures, from a talking Daruma doll to a sharp-clawed lucky cat, Shun and his classmates are forced to play deadly versions of children’s games. Many play, few survive. And as their numbers dwindle, they’re taken into a mysterious cube in the sky where they face more trials. The world is watching as God’s Children play, but when only a handful remain, distrust burns strongly between them. Who’s here to win, and who’s here to survive? One thing’s for sure—facing death is one way to cure boredom!

WORLD PREMIERE!The Toybox - An estranged family take a trip to the desert in their used RV but become stranded and isolated in the scorching terrain. They soon learn their RV holds terrible, haunting secrets, and it starts killing them off one by one.

WORLD PREMIERE!Ouija House - To help her down-on-her-luck mother, a graduate student brings her friends to a mysterious house where they plan to do research for a book project. But they inadvertently summon an evil entity with plans of its own. Starring Tara Reid, Dee Wallace and Mischa Barton.

WORLD PREMIERE! In Death Kiss a vigilante with a mysterious past tries to rid a city of crime as he protects a young mother and her child. Starring Robert Kovacs, Daniel Baldwin, Eva Hamilton, Stormi Maya, Leia Perez.

Severin Films presents a stellar duo of Italian movie madness from the filmmaking team behind “Best Worst Movie” Troll 2 Claudio Fragasso and Rossella Drudi with Shocking Dark and Zombie 4! Additionally, Fragasso and Drudi will be in attendance all weekend long!

Shocking Dark - For director Bruno Mattei (VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN’S PRISON) and co-writers Claudio Fragasso & Rossella Drudi (TROLL 2), their final – and most notorious – collaboration went beyond brazen plagiarism to become a fearless act of deranged genius: In this bravura rip-off of both ALIENS and TERMINATOR, a team of badass marines, a tough female civilian and an orphaned girl battle monsters beneath the Venice canals while being chased by an indestructible killer cyborg. Have we mentioned the overwrought dialogue, over-the- top performances and ultimate WTF? twist ending? Geretta Geretta (DEMONS) and Tony Lombardo (RATS: NIGHTS OF TERROR) star in this “schlockfest of awesome” (Cool Target) – actually released outside the U.S. as TERMINATOR II and ALIENATORS and never before available in America – now scanned in 2k from the Director’s Cut negative discovered in a Rome lab vault.

Severin also presents Fragasso and Drudi’s Zombie 4! Searching for long-lost parents, a woman and her mercenary force battle a mad voodoo priest who unleashes a swarm of zombies upon a peaceful tropical island!

You won’t be coming home for Christmas! Stirring is a retro slasher from director Troy Escamilla (Party Night). Students attending a Christmas party at a sorority house with a sinister past are stalked by a bloodthirsty killer disguised as Mrs. Claus.

Other frightening feature film presentations include animated documentary Borley Rectory narrated by Julian Sands chronicling what came to be known as 'The most haunted house in England'; The Catholic Church is trying to save an innocent soul from the ravages of satanic possession. Wave after wave of holy men are sent to confront the possessed in Unearthed Films’The Song of Solomon; the very rarely seen Dallas, TX made 1985 horror anthology Tabloid featuring three stories inspired by paranormal tabloid headlines: "Baby Born With Full Beard", "BBQ Of The Dead" and "Killer Vacuum Destroys Town". Starring a yet to be discovered Lisa Loeb!

Feature length documentary The Mothman of Point Pleasant examines the intriguing case of the infamous Mothman through eyewitness testimony and the perspective of Point Pleasant citizens. The film focuses on the 13 months between the first official Mothman sighting in November 1966 and the tragic collapse of the Silver Bridge in December 1967.

Deviant Behavior features appearances by cast members from Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). A masked self-made transgender, on a twisted mission to become the most beautiful women in town, is interrupted by Charlie Reese, a sleazy private detective who has discovered her world of torture and depravity.

Short films include The Bloody Ballad of Squirt Reynolds, Third Wheel, We Summoned a Demon, BEC: Black Eyed Child, Birthday, Your Appraisal and Spooksbury.

As the Gods Will

Summary:Be careful what you wish for.

High school student Shun Takahata is bored. Bored with the day-to-day monotony of school and life, he prays for change, for something exciting. The last thing he expects is for the gods to answer.

Up against terrifying creatures, from a talking Daruma doll to a sharp-clawed lucky cat, Shun and his classmates are forced to play deadly versions of children’s games. Many play, few survive. And as their numbers dwindle, they’re taken into a mysterious cube in the sky where they face more trials. The world is watching as God’s Children play, but when only a handful remain, distrust burns strongly between them. Who’s here to win, and who’s here to survive? One thing’s for sure—facing death is one way to cure boredom!

Directed by Takashi Miike

Starring: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mio Yuki, Sota Fukushi, Hirona Yamazaki, Shota Sometani, Nao Omori, Lily Franky

117 min

The Toybox

Summary: An estranged family take a trip to the desert in their used RV but become stranded and isolated in the scorching terrain. They soon learn their RV holds terrible, haunting secrets, and it starts killing them off one by one. Starring Denise Richards (STARSHIP TROOPERS, WILD THINGS), Mischa Barton (THE O.C., THE SIXTH SENSE), Jeff Denton, Brian Nagel, Greg Violand, Malika Michelle, and Matt Mercer (CONTRACTED 1 & 2).

Screenplay by Jeff Denton. Story by Jeff Denton, Tom Nagel, Brian Nagel, and Jeff Miller. Directed by Tom Nagel. Produced by the same team who did CLOWNTOWN (2016). World Premiere.

95 mins.

Ouija House

Summary: A girl takes her friends to a house with a dark past for a research project. They unwittingly summon an evil entity with plans of its own who makes the house part of its sinister game. With an all-star cast including Mischa Barton (THE O.C., THE SIXTH SENSE), Tara Reid (SHARKNADO), Dee Wallace (E.T., CUJO), Carly Schroeder (FIREWALL), Chris Mulkey (TWIN PEAKS), Tiffany Shepis (VICTOR CROWLEY), and more.

Written by Justin Hawkins & Jeff Miller. Directed by Ben Demaree. World Premiere.

95 mins

Death Kiss

Summary: A vigilante with a mysterious past becomes a one-man army as he goes to a crime-infested city and takes matters into his own hands. At the same time he protects a young mother and her child, trying not to develop feelings that he knows will get in the way of his mission. Starring Robert Kovacs, Daniel Baldwin, Richard Tyson, and Eva Hamilton.

Written and directed by Rene Perez. World Premiere.

88 mins.

Shocking Dark

Summary: For director Bruno Mattei (VIOLENCE IN A WOMEN’S PRISON) and co-writers Claudio Fragasso & Rossella Drudi (TROLL2), their final – and most notorious – collaboration went beyond brazen plagiarism to become a fearless act of deranged genius: In this bravura rip-off of both ALIENS and TERMINATOR, a team of badass marines, a tough female civilian and an orphaned girl battle monsters beneath the Venice canals while being chased by an indestructible killer cyborg. Have we mentioned the overwrought dialogue, over-the- top performances and ultimate WTF? twist ending? Geretta Geretta (DEMONS) and Tony Lombardo (RATS: NIGHTS OF TERROR) star in this “schlockfest of awesome” (Cool Target) – actually released outside the U.S. as TERMINATOR II and ALIENATORS and never before available in America – now scanned in 2k from the Director’s Cut negative discovered in a Rome lab vault.

‘BORLEY RECTORY’

4 years in the making, Exeter filmmaker Ashley Thorpe’s first animated feature ‘Borley Rectory’-starring Reece Shearsmith and Julian Sands - is coming to Texas Frightmare Weekend … after universal acclaim at film festivals in the UK and United States.

Animated evenings and weekends whilst looking after his newborn daughter, throughout redundancy and numerous setbacks, the film that critics are calling ‘a masterpiece’ has been a labour of love for the tenacious filmmaker and now it is appearing in festivals with a number of special screenings with director and key cast members in attendance.

Synopsis

When Mirror journalist V C Wall (Shearsmith) calls upon the services of famed Paranormal investigator Harry Price (Rigby) to investigate supernatural 'goings on' at a Victorian mansion in Essex, little does he realise that he will set into motion a story that will fascinate and confound the world. 'Borley Rectory' is the true story of Price's investigation and the legends that came to haunt all those involved.

Borley Rectory is an animated documentary chronicling what came to be known as 'The most haunted house in England'. The legends attached to the rectory at Borley and famed paranormal investigator Harry Price's subsequent investigations of them, caught the public's imagination during the late 20's in time becoming one of the world's most notorious ghost stories influencing Shirley Jackson’s ‘Haunting of Hill House’ and Richard Matheson’s ‘Hell House’.

Tabloid!
 
Summary: This very rarely seen Dallas, TX made 1985 horror anthology features three stories inspired by paranormal tabloid headlines: "Baby Born With Full Beard", "BBQ Of The Dead" and "Killer Vacuum Destroys Town".
From the filmmakers behind The Abomination (1986), Ozone: The Attack of the Redneck Mutants and Blood Suckers from Outer Space.
 
Written & Directed by Bret McCormick, Matt Devlen & Glen Coburn
 
Produced by Bret McCormick & Matt Devlen
 
Starring Scott Davis, Kay Bay, Lisa Loeb, Norman Muellen & Stella Mann as Margaret Murdock
 
Director of Photography Roger Pistole
 
Editor Jana Carroll
 
Music by Kim Dillinger Davis & John Hudek

The Song of Solomon

Summary: The Catholic Church is trying to save an innocent soul from the ravages of satanic possession. Wave after wave of holy men are sent to confront the possessed.

Director:

Stephen Biro

Writer:

Stephen Biro

Stars:

Jessica Cameron, Scott Gabbey, David E. McMahon

90 min

The Mothman of Point Pleasant

Small Town Monsters / documentary / 67 minutes

Directed by Seth Breedlove

Co-written, narrated, and executive produced by Lyle Blackburn

In this feature-length documentary, learn the terrifying, true story of 13 months that changed history! In November 1966, witnesses near the small town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia encountered a monstrous creature unlike anyone had ever seen. In the weeks and months to follow, the monster (now known as The Mothman) was sighted again and again, along with other equally bizarre phenomenon. In the span of 13 months, Point Pleasant would eventually undergo one of the strangest outbreaks of paranormal activity the world has ever seen. An outbreak that ended in tragedy when 46 citizens plunged to their death in the Ohio River.

"The Mothman of Point Pleasant" examines the intriguing case of the infamous Mothman through eyewitness testimony and the perspective of Point Pleasant citizens. The film focuses on the 13 months between the first official Mothman sighting in November 1966 and the tragic collapse of the Silver Bridge in December 1967.

Deviant Behavior

Synopsis:

A masked self-made transgender, on a twisted mission to become the most beautiful women in town, is interrupted by Charlie Reese, a sleazy private detective who has discovered her world of torture and depravity.

Run Time: 74 mins