Horror takes a bite into the Big Apple this fall as The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival rises from the grave again to deliver the most gruesome and provocative horror cinema. The festival will take place October 11th – 18th in venues across Brooklyn. Films from all around the globe will creep their way onto the screen, including the brand new “Head Trip” block, which will spotlight films that push the boundaries and expectations of the horror genre.
Its an amazing time to love horror, with the genre being as diverse and challenging as its ever been, and our programming this year exemplifies the best of where the genre is currently at as well as the daring new directions in which its heading, says Matt Barone, BHFFs senior programmer. Our mission remains to buck the genres conventions with forward-thinking films. Ranging from KNIFE + HEARTs modernization of classic slasher vibes to LUZs reinvention of exorcism tropes, not to mention TOWER. A BRIGHT DAYs singular approach to the occult and THE CANNIBAL CLUBs melding of gore and social commentary, our biggest lineup yet represents horror at its boldest.
Knife + Heart (NY Premiere)
France, Mexico, Switzerland | 2018 | 100 Min | Dir. Yann Gonzalez
Known for productions like ANAL FURY and HOMOCIDAL, successful gay porn producer Anne (Renowned French actress and model Vanessa Paradis) takes her skin flicks as seriously as the most greatness-minded auteur would his or her own prestige dramas. But Anne isnt the only one whos infatuated with her companys filmsone by one, and in an exceedingly brutal fashion, someone is butchering Annes actors. As she tracks down the killer, Anne begins recreating the murders as part of an elaborate new project, all while losing track of whats real, whos dead, and whos next on the chopping block.
Shot on 35mm and featuring a killer retro score from M83, Yann Gonzalezs KNIFE + HEART is an ultra-stylish and blood-soaked ode to 70s-era De Palma, Argento, and Friedkin. The kills are impeccably staged and gruesome, the performances are campy and spot-on, and the whodunit twists are relentless. Take note, slasher and giallo fans: This will be your new obsession.
The Rusalka (North American Premiere)
USA | 2018 | 80 Min | Dir. Perry Blackshear
Looking for some peace and quiet, Tom rents out a small and isolated lakehouse, one marked by a local legend of a woman who, after drowning, haunts the surrounding woods and drowns anyone she encounters. That myth particularly intrigues Toms new neighbor, Al, whos mourning the recent death of his boyfriend. Starting off rather friendly, Tom and Als rapport slowly changes as the former befriends a mysterious woman named Nina, for whom Al cant shake his negative suspicions.
Back in 2015, Perry Blackshear turned heads with his creepy lo-fi breakout THEY LOOK LIKE PEOPLE; for his follow-up, the NY-based filmmaker reunites the same cast and tells a story thats different in scope and tone yet just as subtly powerful. Equal parts supernatural romance and intimate tragedy, THE RUSALKA flips the conventions of star-crossed soul-mates fiction into a lyrical and genre-infused look at the darker side of love.
ANTRUM: The Deadliest Film Ever Made (World Premiere)
USA | 2018 | 95 Min | Dir. Michael Laicini & David Amito
Theres a reason why you havent seen ANTRUM: because youd be dead. This occult-heavy horror film shot back in the ’70s focuses on a pair of young siblings who head into the woods to grieve over a dead pet and unwittingly discover a literal Hell on Earth. The film has achieved notoriety due to it’s troubled lifespan: A theater in Budapest screened it in 1988 and burned to the ground; several film festival programmers attempted to play it before mysteriously dying; and a violent and blood-drenched San Francisco riot followed a mid-90s revival effort. Believed to be cursed, ANTRUM has since been untoucheduntil now.
Bookending the original 35mm ANTRUM print with an all-new documentary about the films legend, filmmakers Michael Laicini and David Amito have packaged a truly singular viewing experience, one part catnip for film historians and a much bigger part experientially demonic cinema.
BOO! (World Premiere)
USA | 2018 | 91 Min | Dir. Luke Jaden
Married with two kids, James and Elyse are struggling to keep it together. Along with the couples own rifts, their daughter, Morgan, is hiding her own suicidal thoughts, while younger son Caleb channels his suppressed emotions through troublingly macabre artwork. One night, their true test arrives: a strange Halloween game left on their doorstep that, legend has it, leaves a curse on those who choose not to play. Unfortunately, thats the choice this family makesand evil spirits of all kinds are ready to make them pay.
Back in 2015, Detroit-raised teenage filmmaker Luke Jaden made waves with the proficiently made and brutal short KING RIPPLE, starring a then-unknown Lakeith Stanfield. Three years later, with BOO!, the now-22-year-old filmmaker has delivered on that potential, crafting a supernatural chiller thats big in scope yet intimate in character. Leading up to a whopper of a spook-show climax, Jadens debut feature is the real deal.
THE CANNIBAL CLUB (North American Premiere)
Brazil | 2018 | 81 Minutes | Dir. Guto Parente
Life is a dream for Octavio and Gilda. Residing on Brazil scenic waterfront coast, the rich-as-all-hell couple spends their non-work hours sipping fancy drinks, basking in the sun, and eating the finest of meats. The only problem? Thats human meat, pulled from the bodies of young, financially strapped victims that Gilda lures into their home. Theyre part of a secret society of wealthy flesh-eaters, all of whom answer to a charismatic yet dangerous leader. And when Gilda starts getting cold feet about eating, well, cooked limbs, she and Octavios marriage, as well as their lives, are put in jeopardy.
The goriest satire of 2018 so far, Brazilian up-and-comer Guto Parentes THE CANNIBAL CLUB is the best kind of, pun intended, food for thought, a razor-sharp indictment of classism thats also raucous and viscera-laden. Politically charged and gruesomely shocking, its proof that horror remains the best channel through which to bomb the hierarchical system.
Field Guide To Evil (NY Premiere)
Various Countries | 2018 | 117 Min | Dir. Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, Peter Strickland, Agnieszka Smoczynska, Katrin Gebbe, Can Evrenol, Calvin Reeder, Ashim Ahluwalia, Yannis Veslemes
No matter where youre from, two things are universal: fear and death. To exemplify that in the most horror-minded way possible, the minds behind the ABCS OF DEATH films have assembled THE FIELD GUIDE TO EVIL, an anthology of eight shorts that explore nightmare-geared legends specific to the filmmakers own native country. The sights include an Austrian ghoul known as the Trud (via GOODNIGHT MOMMY directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala), a Polish heart-eating ritual (THE LUREs Agnieszka Smoczynska), a Turkish djinn (BASKIN helmer Can Evrenol), and backwoods American mongoloids (THE RAMBLERs Calvin Reeder).
Keeping its culture-fueled mission at the forefront, THE FIELD GUIDE TO EVIL separates itself from the recent wave of horror omnibuses through its uniquely measured vibe. There are scares, for sure, but its segments thrive more on Gothic unease and patient folk-tale creepiness than any supercharged shocks. The result is one of the most ambitious, diverse, and altogether fascinating horror anthologies youll ever see.