By MICHAEL GINGOLD
There’s not a Cenobite in sight, but plenty of found-footage chills in this Australian film.
Welcome Villain Films has announced its acquisition of PUZZLE BOX, from writer/director Jack Dignan (AFTER SHE DIED). The movie screens this Friday, March 29 at San Francisco’s Unnamed Footage Festival, and will see wider release later in 2024. Kaitlyn Boye, Laneikka Denne, Cassandre Girard, Janelle McMenamin, Matias Klaver and Hazel Pompeani star; the synopsis: “PUZZLE BOX follows recovering drug addict Kait [Boye], who flees to a house in the woods to self-rehabilitate. Joined by her sister Olivia [Denne], who decides to document the process, strange things begin to happen as the house’s layout mysteriously begins to change, and the two find themselves trapped inside an inescapable, nightmarish puzzle box of a house.”
“We are in the golden age of horror right now, and it’s a moment I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of,” Dignan says. “My first film, AFTER SHE DIED, was described as being akin to experiencing a dream. If that film was the dream, then my new film PUZZLE BOX is the nightmare. This is a terrifying, mind-bending found-footage horror flick that’ll scare you, move you and give you an experience you truly cannot prepare yourself for, and there’s no better home for it than with Welcome Villain Films. This is a company that understands horror, champions the genre, and takes a strategic approach to each film, and I’m so stoked to be releasing my film with such wonderful people.”
“PUZZLE BOX is an incredibly thoughtful and surprising take on addiction that also delivers on the scares and creepiness in a big way,” says Welcome Villain Films’ head of development Luke LaBeau. “What Jack and Morgan [Wright, who produced with Dignan] were able to pull off here is nothing short of remarkable, and is reminiscent of classic mind-bending horror but with a memorable and effective found-footage twist. We’re honored to add PUZZLE BOX to the Welcome Villain family, and we’re excited to watch horror fans and movie lovers embrace this unique and terrifying experience.”
