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Joseph Perry

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Horror Fuel

FilmQuest Official 2020 Selections Offer Bloodsuckers, Brains, and Danger Galore

FilmQuest, a film festival that celebrates the majesty of genre filmmaking in the realms of fantasy, horror, sci-fi, and beyond, backs up its stellar reputation with an amazing lineup of official 2020 selections. I can highly recommend the incredible horror anthology The Mortuary Collection, the rowdy, punk rock-driven horror comedy Uncle Peckerhead, and the humorous reimagining of The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, and I cannot wait to see the other features on tap. Dozens of mouth-watering short films are also scheduled. One of MovieMaker Magazine’s 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee in 2017 and 2015, a MovieMaker Magazine Top 30 Bloody Best Genre Fest in the World in 2018, a FilmFreeway Top 100 Best Reviewed Film Festival, and Utah’s three-time Best of State Film Festival (2018, 2019, 2020), the seventh annual FilmQuest will take place on dates to be determined at the Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo, Utah. Following is the official announcement from FilmQuest. The 2020 FilmQuest

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 30, 2020
Horror Fuel

Brazil’s Fantaspoa’s 2020 Digital Edition Announces Its Tremendous Full Lineup

The sixteenth edition of Brazil’s Fantaspoa Fantastic Film Festival follows up its stellar first-wave announcement with its full lineup. The fest will host 47 feature films and 89 shorts online for free. Following is the full press release detailing everything readers around the world should know about this incredible festival and what they can watch, depending on their locations. Following the announcement of its first 16 titles, Brazil’s Fantaspoa Fantastic Film Festival is proud to announce the full program for its upcoming sixteenth edition, which will be held online and completely free of charge. The bold move is courtesy of an unprecedented partnership with Darkflix, a Brazilian video streaming service aimed at fantastic genre productions. Fantaspoa 2020’s full lineup will consist of 47 feature films from 29 different countries and 89 shorts from 25 countries – totaling more than 130 films from 40 countries. The festival’s full lineup will be available for free on the Brazilian streaming platform Darkflix between

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 19, 2020
Horror Fuel

Super Channel and Blood in the Snow Partner to Bring Virtual Festival to Horror Film Fans across Canada

Following is the official press release from Canada’s superb Blood in the Snow Film Festival about its plans to show select festival features and shorts that will premiere exclusively on Super Channel Fuse from October 28 to November 7. Super Channel and the Blood in the Snow Film Festival (BITS), a unique and imaginative showcase of contemporary Canadian horror films, are pleased to announce that they have partnered to bring a virtual edition of the upcoming 2020 BITS to Canadian horror film fans across the nation, with the Blood in the Snow Film Festival presented by Super Channel. The virtual festival, which is slated to run Oct 28 to Nov 7, will bring a selection of Canadian horror features and shorts to Super Channel Fuse, just in time for Halloween. Dedicated to promoting the best in independent Canadian horror cinema, BITS is known by fans and filmmakers alike as one of the premier horror festivals available in Canada. For the

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 14, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Reviews (Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival): Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist is a Must-See Documentary

Although in the documentary Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on the Exorcist Friedkin is the only on-camera subject interviewed, the film is riveting stuff throughout its 104-minute running time. The director gives a master class on filmmaking while providing a behind-the-scenes account of what is inarguably one of the greatest horror films ever made. Director Alexandre O. Philippe (who helmed the incredible and highly recommended 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene) conducts a sit-down interview with Friedkin, who plainly and boldly speaks about the singular mindset he had for The Exorcist, from marking up a hardback copy of William Peter Blatty’s source novel so he could convey exactly what he wanted for the film, through the arduous process of getting the film rolling on production, to anecdotes about how he got the actors to give the terrific performances they did in certain scenes, to the film’s enduring legacy. It’s interesting to also hear who and what didn’t appear in the film, including

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 14, 2020
Horror Fuel

Mermaids, Mystery, and Murderers Abound in Fantasia’s Incredible Second Wave Announcement

After Fantasia International Film Festival announced its tremendous first wave of films scheduled for the fest’s 24th edition next month, it has disclosed its equally amazing second wave. This year’s Fantasia will be an exciting virtual event composed of scheduled live screenings, a program library, panels, and workshops, taking place from August 20th to September 2nd, 2020. The festival will be accessible across Canada, geo-locked to the country, and will maintain unique film admittance quantities in line with the cinema experience. Feast your eyes on the announcements in Fantasia’s following press release, and check back with Horror Fuel in early August for the festival’s third and final line-up announcement. THE DARK AND THE WICKED…VERY DARK AND VERY WICKED! Writer/director Bryan Bertino (THE STRANGERS) takes rural terror up another notch in this incredibly scary shocker, previously slated to launch at the Tribeca Film Festival. On a secluded farm in a nondescript rural town, a man is slowly dying. His family gathers

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 13, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Yummy

Belgian zombie movie Yummy knows what it is — a gore-spattered romp light on originality but heavy on action — and delivers its splatter-filled contents with a cleverness and some dark humor that lifts it above the pack of also-rans in the living dead genre of cinema. Though the film never quite goes all in on trying to induce belly laughs, it has a wicked edge to it and is ultimately a fun thrill ride. Alison (Maaike Neuville) is a young woman who wants to get breast reduction surgery because her current F-cup size leads to copious unwanted attention. Her mother Sylvia (Annick Christiaens) accompanies her to also get some work done, and Alison’s boyfriend Michael (Bart Hollanders) — a former medical student who dropped out because he is afraid of blood — volunteers to drive them to an Eastern European plastic surgery clinic. As the ladies are being prepped for their surgeries, Michael makes a horrifying discovery, which quickly

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jun 25, 2020
Horror Fuel

Brazil’s Fantaspoa Fantastic Film Festival Announces Its Virtual Version for 2020 and Its Incredible First Wave of Genre Titles

Brazil’s Fantaspoa Fantastic Film Festival has announced that, because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, its sixteenth edition will be held online and completely free of charge, with more than 110 genre features and shorts geo-blocked to Brazilian viewers but with digital versions of the festival’s popular lectures and masterclasses available free to cinema lovers around the world. The event is slated to run July 24th through August 2nd, 2020. Fantaspoa joins other genre-film festivals around the world in moving to a virtual version this year in these uncertain times. The fest’s move comes courtesy of an unprecedented partnership with Darkflix, a Brazilian video streaming service aimed at fantastic genre productions. The opening film of Fantaspoa’s sixteenth edition will be Keola Racela’s Porno, which has already won over audiences at SXSW, Fantasia, Sitges, and FrightFest. You can read Horror Fuel’s review here. The closing films of the festival’s sixteenth edition will be dual co-productions of Fantaspoa Productions: Skull: the Mask and

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jun 21, 2020
Horror Fuel

South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival Takes a Hybrid Approach to Horror for 2020

South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) — Asia’s largest genre film fest — will take what it calls a hybrid approach for its July 9–16 run. Because of COVID-19 concerns, the fest will screen 174 features and short films from 42 countries on cinema screens, and offer 69 of those movies on a Korean online platform. According to the fest’s official website, “BIFAN 2020 would like to present the blueprint for future film festivals: a ‘hybrid’ film festival that keeps pace with the changing media environment, a festival that effectively combines offline and online events . . . Overseas directors who cannot travel to Korea will be meeting audiences by introducing their films and giving talks online.” As always, BIFAN is offering a treasure trove of intriguing horror films. Here are five that I am looking forward to watching at the fest, with program notes from the official BIFAN site. Amulet Tomaz is a homeless man in London

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jun 18, 2020
Horror Fuel

Review: Scare Package

Fear-fare anthology Scare Package combines satirical meta takes on horror movie tropes and delivers a fair share of laughs and grins along with a heaping helping of crackerjack practical gore effects. As might be expected with most portmanteau features, a couple of segments slow things down a bit, but for the most part, the film is a fun effort that tends to dig deeper for its laughs than most horror-trope send-ups. “Cold Open” establishes the tone for the omnibus, as Mike Myers (Jon Michael Simpson) dreams of having more to do in life than merely being the character who sets up the frights to come. Writer/director Emily Hagins delivers a wry take on events and Simpson delivers a solid comical performance. “Rad Chad’s Horror Emporium” serves as a wrap-around for the segments that follow and a lead-in to the final segment; both are directed by Aaron B. Koontz (Camera Obscura). Chad (Jeremy King in a solid comic performance) runs an

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jun 16, 2020
Horror Fuel

Review: Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street

Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street is a documentary about how Mark Patton’s life and acting career were negatively impacted after he toplined A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), and how that ultimately led him to becoming a positive voice for a new generation of horror fans, gay and straight alike. A young closeted gay man trying to make a name for himself when AIDS made headlines and claimed the lives and livelihoods of gay men, Patton disappeared from the public eye for decades and blamed Freddy’s Revenge writer David Chaskin for being a major reason why he chose to do so. Scream, Queen! is a poignant journey from Patton’s childhood and his decision to leave home and take a chance on an acting career in New York City to his rather sudden rise to becoming a Broadway star and the lead in Freddy’s Revenge, to his being discovered living an anonymous lifestyle in Mexico by

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jun 15, 2020

More from Joseph Perry

Horror Fuel

FilmQuest Official 2020 Selections Offer Bloodsuckers, Brains, and Danger Galore

FilmQuest, a film festival that celebrates the majesty of genre filmmaking in the realms of fantasy, horror, sci-fi, and beyond, backs up its stellar reputation with an amazing lineup of official 2020 selections. I can highly recommend the incredible horror anthology The Mortuary Collection, the rowdy, punk rock-driven horror comedy Uncle Peckerhead, and the humorous reimagining of The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, and I cannot wait to see the other features on tap. Dozens of mouth-watering short films are also scheduled. One of MovieMaker Magazine’s 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee in 2017 and 2015, a MovieMaker Magazine Top 30 Bloody Best Genre Fest in the World in 2018, a FilmFreeway Top 100 Best Reviewed Film Festival, and Utah’s three-time Best of State Film Festival (2018, 2019, 2020), the seventh annual FilmQuest will take place on dates to be determined at the Velour Live Music Gallery in Provo, Utah. Following is the official announcement from FilmQuest. The 2020 FilmQuest

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 30, 2020
Horror Fuel

Brazil’s Fantaspoa’s 2020 Digital Edition Announces Its Tremendous Full Lineup

The sixteenth edition of Brazil’s Fantaspoa Fantastic Film Festival follows up its stellar first-wave announcement with its full lineup. The fest will host 47 feature films and 89 shorts online for free. Following is the full press release detailing everything readers around the world should know about this incredible festival and what they can watch, depending on their locations. Following the announcement of its first 16 titles, Brazil’s Fantaspoa Fantastic Film Festival is proud to announce the full program for its upcoming sixteenth edition, which will be held online and completely free of charge. The bold move is courtesy of an unprecedented partnership with Darkflix, a Brazilian video streaming service aimed at fantastic genre productions. Fantaspoa 2020’s full lineup will consist of 47 feature films from 29 different countries and 89 shorts from 25 countries – totaling more than 130 films from 40 countries. The festival’s full lineup will be available for free on the Brazilian streaming platform Darkflix between

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 19, 2020
Horror Fuel

Super Channel and Blood in the Snow Partner to Bring Virtual Festival to Horror Film Fans across Canada

Following is the official press release from Canada’s superb Blood in the Snow Film Festival about its plans to show select festival features and shorts that will premiere exclusively on Super Channel Fuse from October 28 to November 7. Super Channel and the Blood in the Snow Film Festival (BITS), a unique and imaginative showcase of contemporary Canadian horror films, are pleased to announce that they have partnered to bring a virtual edition of the upcoming 2020 BITS to Canadian horror film fans across the nation, with the Blood in the Snow Film Festival presented by Super Channel. The virtual festival, which is slated to run Oct 28 to Nov 7, will bring a selection of Canadian horror features and shorts to Super Channel Fuse, just in time for Halloween. Dedicated to promoting the best in independent Canadian horror cinema, BITS is known by fans and filmmakers alike as one of the premier horror festivals available in Canada. For the

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 14, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Reviews (Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival): Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist is a Must-See Documentary

Although in the documentary Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on the Exorcist Friedkin is the only on-camera subject interviewed, the film is riveting stuff throughout its 104-minute running time. The director gives a master class on filmmaking while providing a behind-the-scenes account of what is inarguably one of the greatest horror films ever made. Director Alexandre O. Philippe (who helmed the incredible and highly recommended 78/52: Hitchcock’s Shower Scene) conducts a sit-down interview with Friedkin, who plainly and boldly speaks about the singular mindset he had for The Exorcist, from marking up a hardback copy of William Peter Blatty’s source novel so he could convey exactly what he wanted for the film, through the arduous process of getting the film rolling on production, to anecdotes about how he got the actors to give the terrific performances they did in certain scenes, to the film’s enduring legacy. It’s interesting to also hear who and what didn’t appear in the film, including

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 14, 2020
Horror Fuel

Mermaids, Mystery, and Murderers Abound in Fantasia’s Incredible Second Wave Announcement

After Fantasia International Film Festival announced its tremendous first wave of films scheduled for the fest’s 24th edition next month, it has disclosed its equally amazing second wave. This year’s Fantasia will be an exciting virtual event composed of scheduled live screenings, a program library, panels, and workshops, taking place from August 20th to September 2nd, 2020. The festival will be accessible across Canada, geo-locked to the country, and will maintain unique film admittance quantities in line with the cinema experience. Feast your eyes on the announcements in Fantasia’s following press release, and check back with Horror Fuel in early August for the festival’s third and final line-up announcement. THE DARK AND THE WICKED…VERY DARK AND VERY WICKED! Writer/director Bryan Bertino (THE STRANGERS) takes rural terror up another notch in this incredibly scary shocker, previously slated to launch at the Tribeca Film Festival. On a secluded farm in a nondescript rural town, a man is slowly dying. His family gathers

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jul 13, 2020
Horror Fuel

Movie Review: Yummy

Belgian zombie movie Yummy knows what it is — a gore-spattered romp light on originality but heavy on action — and delivers its splatter-filled contents with a cleverness and some dark humor that lifts it above the pack of also-rans in the living dead genre of cinema. Though the film never quite goes all in on trying to induce belly laughs, it has a wicked edge to it and is ultimately a fun thrill ride. Alison (Maaike Neuville) is a young woman who wants to get breast reduction surgery because her current F-cup size leads to copious unwanted attention. Her mother Sylvia (Annick Christiaens) accompanies her to also get some work done, and Alison’s boyfriend Michael (Bart Hollanders) — a former medical student who dropped out because he is afraid of blood — volunteers to drive them to an Eastern European plastic surgery clinic. As the ladies are being prepped for their surgeries, Michael makes a horrifying discovery, which quickly

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jun 25, 2020
Horror Fuel

Brazil’s Fantaspoa Fantastic Film Festival Announces Its Virtual Version for 2020 and Its Incredible First Wave of Genre Titles

Brazil’s Fantaspoa Fantastic Film Festival has announced that, because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, its sixteenth edition will be held online and completely free of charge, with more than 110 genre features and shorts geo-blocked to Brazilian viewers but with digital versions of the festival’s popular lectures and masterclasses available free to cinema lovers around the world. The event is slated to run July 24th through August 2nd, 2020. Fantaspoa joins other genre-film festivals around the world in moving to a virtual version this year in these uncertain times. The fest’s move comes courtesy of an unprecedented partnership with Darkflix, a Brazilian video streaming service aimed at fantastic genre productions. The opening film of Fantaspoa’s sixteenth edition will be Keola Racela’s Porno, which has already won over audiences at SXSW, Fantasia, Sitges, and FrightFest. You can read Horror Fuel’s review here. The closing films of the festival’s sixteenth edition will be dual co-productions of Fantaspoa Productions: Skull: the Mask and

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jun 21, 2020
Horror Fuel

South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival Takes a Hybrid Approach to Horror for 2020

South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) — Asia’s largest genre film fest — will take what it calls a hybrid approach for its July 9–16 run. Because of COVID-19 concerns, the fest will screen 174 features and short films from 42 countries on cinema screens, and offer 69 of those movies on a Korean online platform. According to the fest’s official website, “BIFAN 2020 would like to present the blueprint for future film festivals: a ‘hybrid’ film festival that keeps pace with the changing media environment, a festival that effectively combines offline and online events . . . Overseas directors who cannot travel to Korea will be meeting audiences by introducing their films and giving talks online.” As always, BIFAN is offering a treasure trove of intriguing horror films. Here are five that I am looking forward to watching at the fest, with program notes from the official BIFAN site. Amulet Tomaz is a homeless man in London

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jun 18, 2020
Horror Fuel

Review: Scare Package

Fear-fare anthology Scare Package combines satirical meta takes on horror movie tropes and delivers a fair share of laughs and grins along with a heaping helping of crackerjack practical gore effects. As might be expected with most portmanteau features, a couple of segments slow things down a bit, but for the most part, the film is a fun effort that tends to dig deeper for its laughs than most horror-trope send-ups. “Cold Open” establishes the tone for the omnibus, as Mike Myers (Jon Michael Simpson) dreams of having more to do in life than merely being the character who sets up the frights to come. Writer/director Emily Hagins delivers a wry take on events and Simpson delivers a solid comical performance. “Rad Chad’s Horror Emporium” serves as a wrap-around for the segments that follow and a lead-in to the final segment; both are directed by Aaron B. Koontz (Camera Obscura). Chad (Jeremy King in a solid comic performance) runs an

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jun 16, 2020
Horror Fuel

Review: Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street

Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street is a documentary about how Mark Patton’s life and acting career were negatively impacted after he toplined A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), and how that ultimately led him to becoming a positive voice for a new generation of horror fans, gay and straight alike. A young closeted gay man trying to make a name for himself when AIDS made headlines and claimed the lives and livelihoods of gay men, Patton disappeared from the public eye for decades and blamed Freddy’s Revenge writer David Chaskin for being a major reason why he chose to do so. Scream, Queen! is a poignant journey from Patton’s childhood and his decision to leave home and take a chance on an acting career in New York City to his rather sudden rise to becoming a Broadway star and the lead in Freddy’s Revenge, to his being discovered living an anonymous lifestyle in Mexico by

Continue reading →
Joseph Perry
Jun 15, 2020
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