By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Joining the features previously announced, another wave of scary cinema has been revealed for the Popcorn Frights Film Festival, running next month in Florida, along with the event’s new trailer.
The fest, which plays August 8-16 at Fort Lauderdale, FL’s Savor Cinema (503 SE 6th St.), will host horror movies from all over the world, among them a number of premieres. The new additions to the roster are:
• ALIVE (U.S.) Directed by Rob Grant. A severely injured man and woman awake in an abandoned sanitarium only to discover that a sadistic caretaker holds the keys to their freedom and the horrific answers as to their real identity. Cast: Thomas Cocquerel, Camille Stopps, Angus Macfadyen (Florida Premiere)
• ARTIK (U.S.; pictured) Directed by Tom Botchii. A comic-book-obsessed serial killer teaches his son how to get away with a series of brutal murders until the boy befriends a mysterious man who threatens to expose the family’s horrifying secret. Cast: Chase Williamson, Jerry G. Angelo, Lauren Ashley Carter (World Premiere)
• BLOODLINE (U.S.) Directed by Henry Jacobson. Evan (Seann William Scott) values family above all else, and anyone who gets between him, his wife, and newborn son learns that the hard way. Cast: Seann William Scott, Mariela Garriga, Dale Dickey (South Florida Premiere)
• THE GIRL ON THE THIRD FLOOR (U.S.) Directed by Travis Stevens. A father tries to renovate a rundown mansion with a sordid history for his growing family, only to learn that the house has other plans. Cast: C.M. Punk, Trieste Kelly Dunn, Sarah Brooks (Southeast U.S. Premiere)
• THE GRAVEDIGGER (U.S.) Directed by Erynn Dalton. Set in the late 1700s, in one of Bavaria’s forgotten cemeteries, a lone gravedigger discovers a hideously scarred man hiding in a fresh grave. What the gravedigger doesn’t know is that the man is none other than the monster created by a mad doctor. Cast: Paul Homza, Gisbert Heuer, Arlette Del Toro, Tyler Charles Kane (World Premiere)
• INFECCIÓN (Venezuela, Mexico) Directed by Flavio Pedota. A father races against time to protect his son from a deadly zombie epidemic in Venezuela that has toppled the government and put society on the brink of total collapse. Cast: Rubén Guevara, Leonidas Urbina, Magdiel González (US Premiere)
• ITSY BITSY (U.S.) Directed by Micah Gallo. Based on the centuries-old poem, a family moves into a secluded mansion where they soon find themselves being targeted by an entity taking the form of a giant spider. Cast: Bruce Davison, Denise Crosby, Elizabeth Roberts (World Premiere)
• PORNO (U.S.) Directed by Keola Racela. When five teen employees at the local movie theater in a small Christian town discover a mysterious old film hidden in its basement, they unleash an alluring succubus who gives them a sex education…written in blood. Cast: Evan Daves, Jillian Mueller, Katelyn Pearce (East Coast Premiere)
• QUEEN OF SPADES: THE LOOKING GLASS (Russia) Directed by Aleksandr Domogarov. The sinister ghost of the Queen of Spades is again thirsty for blood, and this time its victims are the pupils of the boarding school, located in an old mansion, shrouded in gloomy rumors. Cast: Angelina Strechina, Daniil Izotov, Yan Alabushev (North American Premiere)
• THE UNTHINKABLE (Sweden) Directed by Crazy Pictures. Sweden is under attack by an unknown force, and in the midst of the chaos, a young man tries to reunite with his girlfriend and family. Cast: Christoffer Nordenrot, Lisa Henni, Jesper Barkselius (Southeast U.S. Premiere)
• Z (U.S.) Director: Brandon Christensen. A family find themselves terrorized by their eight-year-old son’s imaginary friend. Cast: Keegan Connor Tracy, Jett Klyne, Sean Rogerson (East Coast Premiere)
There will also be a slew of short films, both international and locally grown. For more info and advance tickets, head over to the festival’s official website.
