The 8th Annual Popcorn Frights Film Fest will be a hybrid experience with in-theater and virtual film offerings from August 11-21, 2022.
The Popcorn Frights Film Festival was established in 2015 and has quickly grown into the leading international genre film festival in the Southeast United States. The fest’s strong programming voice, unique among genre film festivals, has gained recognition for its numerous discoveries and prize winners.
This popular festival has just announced its highly anticipated second wave of programming, which represents its most ambitious program ever. The lineup includes 37 feature film premieres, embracing 20 countries, and bringing together established filmmakers and emerging new voices to its annual celebration of all things genre.
Running August 11-21, this year’s cinematic mayhem is unleashed both online across the US and in-theater across South Florida.
Popcorn Frights is bringing the most electrifying and provocative genre cinema from around the globe to the Sunshine State — and to genre fans nationwide via its virtual programming.
First up is the world premiere of the made-in-Miami, sensationally gory shocker DO NOT DISTURB, which will open the Festival’s inaugural “ALTER Screening Room” at the O Cinema South Beach, located right across from Ocean Drive.
Setting an unprecedented record at this year’s Festival, more than 20 films are receiving their world premieres at Popcorn Frights.
FANGA
This includes Lucky McKee’s mysterious thriller OLD MAN starring Stephen Lang, the throwback retro slashers TIME’S UP with Felicia Rose, and THE BARN: PART II with Linnea Quigley, the audacious and subversive BAD GIRL BOOGEY with Bill Moseley, and the fever dream to the hellish heart of the soul BREATHING HAPPY, which will be complemented by a mind-melting live magic show by director Shane Bradley.
Other Festival highlights include the Icelandic visual marvel FANGA that reimagines the classic fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast,” the North American Premiere of the claustrophobic nerve-wrecker THE EYES BELOW, the US Premiere of the transgressive splatter comedy ALL JACKED UP AND FULL OF WORMS, the one-of-a-kind experimental remix of Stephen King’s The Langoliers, THE TIMEKEEPERS OF ETERNITY, and the darkly funny serial killer mockumentary WHEN THE SCREAMING STARTS.
Closing Popcorn Frights’ in-theater film program is the 35th anniversary of the made-in-Florida, international cult sensation MIAMI CONNECTION that will be accompanied by fun live commentary.
Many notable features will be exclusively playing as part of Popcorn Frights’ virtual program, comprised of 22 feature films.
CUBE
These include the North American Premiere of the Japanese sci-fi remake CUBE executive produced by original franchise creator Vincenzo Natali (Splice, In the Tall Grass), the snow-streaked Northern Gothic heist thriller PEPPERGRASS, the diabolical found footage thriller MALIBU HORROR STORY that was ten years in the making, and the black magic horror PRESENCE.
In tribute to Hollywood icon Bruce Willis and his legendary onscreen career, Popcorn Frights will host a special 25th anniversary, under the stars presentation of the sci-fi masterpiece THE FIFTH ELEMENT on Ocean Drive, Miami’s most famous stretch of sand and nightlife.
Beyond Popcorn Frights’ film experiences, there will be a night of Horror Movie Trivia hosted by ALTER and Fangoria, as well as industry-dedicated sessions at the renowned The Betsy South Beach, which will host a continental breakfast for filmmakers at an industry panel moderated by ALTER representatives. At night, The Betsy will throw a rooftop party overlooking the beach with complimentary drinks provided.
Access to the “ALTER Screening Room’s” in-theater experience will be available for free, but priority access will be provided to Festival badge holders.
Popcorn Frights’ all-access badge offers an all-inclusive experience for films and special events hosted at the Savor Cinema Fort Lauderdale and “The Alter Screening Room,” Popcorn Frights’ official host venues this year. Separate virtual passes are also available and will provide access to every film streaming in the festival’s virtual program throughout the US. To order an In-Theater All-Access Badge, click here, to order a Virtual All-Access Pass, click here.
FEATURE FILM LINEUP
MIAMI CONNECTION
CLOSING NIGHT
Miami Connection
35th Anniversary Presentation
United States | 1987 | 87 Min. | Dirs. Woo-sang Park, Y.K. Kim
*Event features live commentary
*In-Theater Exclusive
A martial arts rock band goes up against a band of motorcycle ninjas who have tightened their grip on Florida’s narcotics trade.
All Jacked Up and Full of Worms
US Premiere
United States | 2022 | 72 Min. | Dir. Alex Phillips
*Available in-theater and virtually
A maintenance man for a seedy motel discovers a hidden stash of powerful hallucinogenic worms that leads him to a path of self-destruction, sex, and violence.
Bad Girl Boogey
World Premiere
Australia | 2022 | 95 Min. | Dir. Alice Maio Mackay
*Available in-theater and virtually
A group of teens must fight their fears to stop a killer wearing a parasitic mask cursed with black magic and bigotry, before he, or it, slaughters everyone they hold dear.
THE BARN: PART 2
The Barn: Part II
World Premiere
United States | 2022 | 85 Min. | Dir. Justin M. Seaman
*Director Justin M. Seaman expected in person
*In-Theater Exclusive
Takes place three years after the events of the first film, the sorority girls of Gamma Tau Psi place original final girl Michelle in charge of their annual haunted house. Unfortunately for Michelle, some uninvited trick-or-treaters from her past come knocking…
Breathing Happy
Theatrical World Premiere
United Stated | 2022 | 93 Min. | Dir. Shane Brady
*Director Shane Brady expected in person to perform a live magic show
*In-Theater Exclusive
In this mind-bending drama, a recovering drug addict can achieve one year of sobriety alone on Christmas day, but his demons tempt him to relapse.
Cube
North American Premiere
Japan | 2021 | 108 Min. | Dir. Yasuhiko Shimizu
*Virtual Exclusive
Six people awake from their daily lives to find they are imprisoned in a deadly, seemingly endless maze — an enigmatic cube with which they must match wits in order to survive.
DO NOT DISTURB
Do Not Disturb
World Premiere
United States-Canada | 2022 | 93 Min. | Dir. John Ainslie
*Director John Ainslie and actress Kimberly Lafferriere expected in person
*Available In-theater and virtually
A honeymooning couple in Miami take a peyote trip to strengthen their marriage that quickly turns into a narcotic nightmare.
The Eyes Below
North American Premiere
France | 2022 | 77 Min. | Dir. Alexis Bruchon
*Available In-theater and virtually
Everything is calm and silent in the house as a man falls asleep, until he feels something creep up his legs, stomach, and then his chest, and soon realizes that the night won’t be as peaceful as he thought.
Fanga
East Coast Premiere
Iceland | 2022 | 94 Min. | Dir. Max Gold
*Director Max Gold scheduled in person
*Available In-theater and virtually
A farm girl becomes prisoner to a flesh-eating beast to cure her father’s illness in this reimagining of the classic fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast.”
The Fifth Element
25th Anniversary Presentation
France-UK | 1997 | 126 Min. | Dir. Luc Besson
*Outdoor Special Presentation
In the colorful future, a cab driver (Bruce Willis) unwittingly becomes the central figure in the search for a legendary cosmic weapon to keep evil at bay.
MALIBU HORROR STORY
Malibu Horror Story
Florida Premiere
United States | 2021 | 93 Min. | Dir. Scott Slone
*Virtual Exclusive
In this found footage film that was ten years in the making, a team of paranormal investigators search a sacred Native American cave for clues in the unsolved disappearance of four local teens.
Old Man
World Premiere
United States | 2022 | 97 Min. | Dir. Lucky McKee
*In-Theater Exclusive
Set deep in the woods, the story follows a lost hiker (Marc Senter) who stumbles upon the cabin of an erratic and reclusive Old Man (Stephen Lang). What starts off as cordial conversation soon turns dangerous as it becomes clear that one or both of them might be hiding a terrifying secret.
Peppergrass
East Coast Premiere
Canada | 2022 | 98 Min. | Dir. Steven Garbas, Chantelle Han
*Virtual Exclusive
In this stirring crime thriller, a pregnant restaurateur plans to steal a priceless truffle from a reclusive veteran.
PRESENCE
Presence
East Coast Premiere
United States | 2022 | 98 Min. | Dir. Christian Schultz
*Virtual Exclusive
After joining a weeklong yachting voyage with a potential investor, Jennifer begins to have strange dreams, and it becomes clear that she may have unknowingly brought something else with her.
The Timekeepers of Eternity
Florida Premiere
Greece-UK | 2021 | 64 Min. | Dir. Aristotelis Maragkos
*Available in-theater and virtually
Stephen King television movie The Langoliers is compressed and transformed through hypnotic black and white collage animation that meticulously reconstructs and reshapes its supernatural drama to an eerie and profound effect.
Time’s Up
World Premiere
United States | 2022 | 82 Min. | Dir. L. C. Holt
*In-Theater Exclusive
At a New Year’s Eve party, a group of teachers from an idyllic high school still reeling from the suicide of a bullied student suddenly find themselves stalked by an assailant disguised as the holiday figure Father Time.
When the Screaming Starts
East Coast Premiere
UK | 2021 | 89 Min. | Dir. Conor Boru
*Available in-theater and virtually
When a struggling journalist is invited into the home of an aspiring serial killer, he believes he has the subject for the documentary that will make his career.
Horror Movie Trivia Presented by ALTER & Fangoria
Would you like to play a game? If you know your frightful facts, join ALTER & Fangoria as they cover on-screen mayhem and the darkness behind-the-screams. We promise you a terrifyingly terrific time at our horror movie quiz with bite. Expect some mind-benders and maybe some bone breakers, as we test the limits of your horror knowledge. See if you have what it takes to survive our fiendish horror trivia quiz and win special prizes!
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