TagPopcorn Frights
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Film FestivalsReviews
Howling Village Japanese director Takashi Shimizu takes viewers back to the heyday of J-horror — of which he was a big part, including helming Ju-On: The Grudge (2002), Ju-On: The Grudge 2 (2003), and the American reimagining The Grudge (2004) — with his 2019 effort, Howling Village. Featuring hallmarks of the director such as an ever-present sense of dread and eerie figures lurking all around, this tale sees Kanata Morita (Ayaka Miyoshi in a fine performance), a doctor at a hospital, go down a deadly rabbit hole when her teenage brother Yuma (Ryota Bando) and his girlfriend Anika (Rinko Otani) go searching for the titular location — a place of urban legend — with tragic consequences. Kanata has been seeing strange figures at the hospital where she works — or has she? When the other members of her family act strangely in different manners, and Yuma goes missing when he tries to return to Howling Village, Kanata learns that there
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Film Festivals
Ditched From its opening sequence to its jaw-dropping climax, writer/director Christopher Donaldson’s Canadian feature Ditched is one wild swerve after another. Paramedic Melina (Marika Sila) comes to and finds herself in an overturned ambulance with memory loss from a concussion. A man strapped to a gurney (Kris Loranger as Franson) is also awake. As Melina tries to make sense of what happened before she blacked out, she finds other people both alive and dead around the rural, isolated scene — and then something hairy and dangerous makes its presence known. Giving away more than that would be heading into spoiler territory, but suffice it to say that what I have described happens very early on in the film, and plenty more is in store for viewers. Donaldson skillfully peels back layers while planting seeds for further mystery, and keeps the suspense at a hand-wringing pace. The members of the sizable cast give solid performances, especially Sila as a confused, scared,
Continue reading →
Film Festivals
This year’s Popcorn Frights Film Festival, the seventh annual installment of this outstanding Florida horror film fest tradition, will be a hybrid experience offering both in-theater and virtual film offerings from August 12-19, 2021. After previously announcing the first wave of its incredible in-theater line-up, the fest now releases the equally amazing offerings for both more of its in-theater selections and its nationwide virtual version. You read that correctly — you can bring this highly acclaimed horror film festival right into your own home! The virtual program highlights include eight feature film World Premieres, Popcorn Frights’ first-ever Virtual Reality experience, a Sneak Preview of Alex Proyas’ new short film set in the DARK CITY universe, and a record-setting 68 film premieres! Following is the official press announcement. www.PopcornFrights.com July 15, 2021 // – The Ex North American Premiere Russia | 2021 | 87 Min. | Dir. Evgeniy Puzyrevskiy The screws are tightened in this wickedly entertaining, juicy supernatural-thriller about the
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesThriller
Canadian feature The Oak Room is a lean, gripping, dark thriller with horror overtones that celebrates the art of storytelling. Its settings are two closed bars in isolated locations on bitterly cold nights with snowstorms, with each bar story set a week apart. Prodigal son Steve (RJ Mitte) returns to his hometown after not bothering to do so for his father Gordon’s (Nicholas Campbell) funeral, and receives an unwelcoming reception from Gordon’s bartender buddy Paul (Peter Outerbridge). Paul has been saving Gordon’s ashes in a fishing tackle box, but he is not about to turn them over to Steve until the drifter son pays off a monetary debt. Steve tries to bargain to settle up with a story instead of cash, which kicks off the second tale set in another bar in which a stranger (Martin Roach) seeks a few minutes of shelter from an equally unwelcoming barkeep (Ari Millen). Peter Genoway’s screenplay unfolds at a tantalizing pace, slowly revealing
Continue reading →
Film Festivals
Popcorn Frights Film Festival, Florida’s premiere horror-themed film fest, will hold a Wicked Weekend virtual event from October 29th through November 1st. What a way to spend the Halloween weekend this year! Wicked Weekend boasts 21 film premieres, including the world premiere of Smiley Face Killers starring Crispin Glover and the Florida premiere of supernatural thriller Spell, along with the North American premieres of such films as the paranormal thriller They Reach, the documentary about horror anthology movies Tales of the Uncanny, the chiller Babysitter Must Die, and the creature feature The Retreat. Following is the official press announcement. Hang on to your popcorn, boils and ghouls, Popcorn Frights is celebrating this spooky season with a Wicked Weekend virtual event taking place all through Halloween weekend, from October 29th-November 1st, featuring 21 film premieres, conversations, panels, and other special surprises. Come and escape into Halloween with us, it’s our favorite time of year! Highlights from the film line-up include the
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsNews
Film festivals around the world have had to make the difficult choice of either canceling or experimenting with digital versions this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With several fests finding success and in some cases wider audiences with online formats, the trend is growing stronger. Now five highly regarded U.S. horror and genre film themed festivals are joining together to create NIGHTSTREAM with an online launch planned for October. Following is the official press release. Artwork by Sister Hyde In response to the many challenges impacting the film community amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and the concerns of safety and security that presently come with physical exhibition and festivals, a collective online initiative will be launched by organizers of a number of American genre festivals for the upcoming fall season to offer a singular experience for U.S. audiences. Together the Boston Underground Film Festival (MA), Brooklyn Horror Film Festival (NY), North Bend Film Festival (WA), the Overlook Film Festival (LA),
Continue reading →
More from Popcorn Frights
Film FestivalsReviews
Howling Village Japanese director Takashi Shimizu takes viewers back to the heyday of J-horror — of which he was a big part, including helming Ju-On: The Grudge (2002), Ju-On: The Grudge 2 (2003), and the American reimagining The Grudge (2004) — with his 2019 effort, Howling Village. Featuring hallmarks of the director such as an ever-present sense of dread and eerie figures lurking all around, this tale sees Kanata Morita (Ayaka Miyoshi in a fine performance), a doctor at a hospital, go down a deadly rabbit hole when her teenage brother Yuma (Ryota Bando) and his girlfriend Anika (Rinko Otani) go searching for the titular location — a place of urban legend — with tragic consequences. Kanata has been seeing strange figures at the hospital where she works — or has she? When the other members of her family act strangely in different manners, and Yuma goes missing when he tries to return to Howling Village, Kanata learns that there
Continue reading →
Film Festivals
Ditched From its opening sequence to its jaw-dropping climax, writer/director Christopher Donaldson’s Canadian feature Ditched is one wild swerve after another. Paramedic Melina (Marika Sila) comes to and finds herself in an overturned ambulance with memory loss from a concussion. A man strapped to a gurney (Kris Loranger as Franson) is also awake. As Melina tries to make sense of what happened before she blacked out, she finds other people both alive and dead around the rural, isolated scene — and then something hairy and dangerous makes its presence known. Giving away more than that would be heading into spoiler territory, but suffice it to say that what I have described happens very early on in the film, and plenty more is in store for viewers. Donaldson skillfully peels back layers while planting seeds for further mystery, and keeps the suspense at a hand-wringing pace. The members of the sizable cast give solid performances, especially Sila as a confused, scared,
Continue reading →
Film Festivals
This year’s Popcorn Frights Film Festival, the seventh annual installment of this outstanding Florida horror film fest tradition, will be a hybrid experience offering both in-theater and virtual film offerings from August 12-19, 2021. After previously announcing the first wave of its incredible in-theater line-up, the fest now releases the equally amazing offerings for both more of its in-theater selections and its nationwide virtual version. You read that correctly — you can bring this highly acclaimed horror film festival right into your own home! The virtual program highlights include eight feature film World Premieres, Popcorn Frights’ first-ever Virtual Reality experience, a Sneak Preview of Alex Proyas’ new short film set in the DARK CITY universe, and a record-setting 68 film premieres! Following is the official press announcement. www.PopcornFrights.com July 15, 2021 // – The Ex North American Premiere Russia | 2021 | 87 Min. | Dir. Evgeniy Puzyrevskiy The screws are tightened in this wickedly entertaining, juicy supernatural-thriller about the
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsMoviesThriller
Canadian feature The Oak Room is a lean, gripping, dark thriller with horror overtones that celebrates the art of storytelling. Its settings are two closed bars in isolated locations on bitterly cold nights with snowstorms, with each bar story set a week apart. Prodigal son Steve (RJ Mitte) returns to his hometown after not bothering to do so for his father Gordon’s (Nicholas Campbell) funeral, and receives an unwelcoming reception from Gordon’s bartender buddy Paul (Peter Outerbridge). Paul has been saving Gordon’s ashes in a fishing tackle box, but he is not about to turn them over to Steve until the drifter son pays off a monetary debt. Steve tries to bargain to settle up with a story instead of cash, which kicks off the second tale set in another bar in which a stranger (Martin Roach) seeks a few minutes of shelter from an equally unwelcoming barkeep (Ari Millen). Peter Genoway’s screenplay unfolds at a tantalizing pace, slowly revealing
Continue reading →
Film Festivals
Popcorn Frights Film Festival, Florida’s premiere horror-themed film fest, will hold a Wicked Weekend virtual event from October 29th through November 1st. What a way to spend the Halloween weekend this year! Wicked Weekend boasts 21 film premieres, including the world premiere of Smiley Face Killers starring Crispin Glover and the Florida premiere of supernatural thriller Spell, along with the North American premieres of such films as the paranormal thriller They Reach, the documentary about horror anthology movies Tales of the Uncanny, the chiller Babysitter Must Die, and the creature feature The Retreat. Following is the official press announcement. Hang on to your popcorn, boils and ghouls, Popcorn Frights is celebrating this spooky season with a Wicked Weekend virtual event taking place all through Halloween weekend, from October 29th-November 1st, featuring 21 film premieres, conversations, panels, and other special surprises. Come and escape into Halloween with us, it’s our favorite time of year! Highlights from the film line-up include the
Continue reading →
Film FestivalsNews
Film festivals around the world have had to make the difficult choice of either canceling or experimenting with digital versions this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With several fests finding success and in some cases wider audiences with online formats, the trend is growing stronger. Now five highly regarded U.S. horror and genre film themed festivals are joining together to create NIGHTSTREAM with an online launch planned for October. Following is the official press release. Artwork by Sister Hyde In response to the many challenges impacting the film community amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and the concerns of safety and security that presently come with physical exhibition and festivals, a collective online initiative will be launched by organizers of a number of American genre festivals for the upcoming fall season to offer a singular experience for U.S. audiences. Together the Boston Underground Film Festival (MA), Brooklyn Horror Film Festival (NY), North Bend Film Festival (WA), the Overlook Film Festival (LA),
Continue reading →
