Round two of our annual local shorts program, just in case you needed a reminder that NYC genre films are built different.
The Sacrifice, dir. Christopher Werener; VHX, dir. Alisa Stern, Scott Ampleford; Accidental Stars, dir. Emily Bennett; The Retreat, dir. Emmett Kerr-Perkinson; The Shadow Wrangler, dir. Grace Rex; Implied Monsters, dir. Christine Nyland; Strange Creatures, dir. Nicholas Payne Santos; Girl With the Grey Eyes, dir. Kara Grace Miller; Don’t F*ck With Ba, dir. Sally Tran
Starring: Abigail Hardingham, Rowan Polonski, Brad Moore
North American Premiere
Jasper and Harriet are artists who make custom erotic videos to make ends meet. When they take on a mysterious new client who wants them to perform rituals on tape, it begins to have strange effects on the both of them. Tiago Teixeria crafts a thriller that fans of Videodrome and body horror enthusiasts are sure to love. It is nightmare fuel with incredible creepy imagery you won’t soon forget. -Tori Potenza
NY Premiere (restoration)
Setting up shop in a new town, an Aussie schoolteacher has difficult assimilating into the town’s rowdy group of toxically masculine, constantly inebriated locals, whose collective behavior becomes more psychotic as the teacher’s mind becomes less intact. A cinematic powder keg of testosterone and hysteria, acclaimed filmmaker Ted Kotcheff’s 1971 classic has long been one of your favorite genre director’s (take your pick on which director) favorite films, and it now looks better than ever thanks to a new 4K restoration overseen by Not Quite Hollywood director and film historian Mark Hartley. -Matt Barone
A pair of ravenous femme vampires creep around the British countryside searching for men to bring back to their creepy mansion where they fuck and feed on them. But not before serving them a delicious wine from the Carpathian mountains. Also known as DAUGHTERS OF DRACULA, this underseen erotic vamp gem from respected Spanish director José Ramón Larraz overflows with blood, sex and murder. It’s the kind of flick that gives you precisely what you came for. -Joseph Hernandez
East Coast Premiere
Set in the gracefully dangerous world of bull racing, Nejma must endure intense training in the hopes of winning her town’s traditionally male-dominated annual competition. As the race approaches, a string of grisly murders ignites the town into a frenzy. Each of the victims, all young men, appear to have been viciously slain by a wild bull. Imbued with a love and reverence for this beautiful creature, Emma Benestan’s sophomore feature introduces a world seldom explored while balancing its empathetic and fascinating humanity with equal measures of genre thrills. -Joseph Hernandez
World Premiere
Mia has gone through a living hell, having both suffered from a miscarriage and lost her husband under mysterious circumstances. The latter was pinned on her, and although she’s been acquitted, she’s now under house arrest in connection to the miscarriage. Hoping to alleviate some of her troubles, Mia’s friend Marc moves in with her. But because it’s, well, Mia’s horrific luck, Marc’s arrival is coupled with the supernatural of the worst kind. Longtime short film MVP, and multiple time Brooklyn Horror alum, Izzy Lee makes her highly anticipated feature debut with this unpredictable and wonderfully deranged ghost story, complete with thought-provoking gender commentary, a dash of ghost sex and even a fun cameo from a beloved horror filmmaker. -Matt Barone
East Coast Premiere
A loner who passes his time as part of a low-rent heavy metal band, Caleb (Zachary Ray Sherman, one to watch) becomes obsessed with a new female co-worker. At first, he records her under the fake guise of making a documentary, but as his infatuation grows, he resorts to more desperate and dangerous methods to change her mind about him. With stretches of found-footage perspective and a wholesale punk edge, indie rock veteran Tim Kasher’s (frontman of the bands Cursive and The Good Life) first feature brings fresh energy and an experimental approach to stalker-focused horror storytelling, constantly zigging where you expect him to zag. -Matt Barone
Presented by Horror Press
Once again, Brooklyn Horror Fest is back with its Slayed shorts block which focuses on LGBTQIA+ filmmakers and themes. And as always, the selection lives up to the name.
Beach Logs Kill, dir. Haley Z. Boston (USA); Lady Parts, dir. Ariel McCleese (USA); Unsettled, dir. Bella Thorne (USA); Dream Factory, dir. Alex Matraxia (UK); Rat!, dir. Neal Suresh Mulani (USA); Stink, dir. Matias Breuer (USA); Girls, dir. Julien Hosmalin
Brooklyn Horror’s signature celebration of genre-bending horror returns with a fresh crop of short-form innovation, including sexual darkness, animalistic transformations, and coming-of-age supernaturalism.
Evil, I, dir. Vanessa Beletic (USA); Izzy, dir. Yfke van Berckelaer (Netherlands); Poppy’s Saturn, dir. Nicole Tegelaar (Belgium); Calf, dir. Jamie O’Rourke (Ireland); Faces, dir. Blake Simon (USA); Kneading, dir. Lulu Syracuse, Augie Syracuse (USA); Tight, dir. Jessica Barr (USA); Femme, dir. Nina Noël Raaijmakers (Netherlands)
Back like we never left, our annual showcase of NYC local shorts returns with a buffet of genre film goodness.
Red Flag, dir. Malin Barr, Cleo Handler; Be Bad, dir. Lauren Hart; By The Window, dir. Case Avron; Wild Animals, dir. David B Jacobs; I Prefer Monsters, dir. Dylan Brown; Tinkerhell, dir. Noah Sterling; Hammer, dir. Alejandra Parody, Ben Sottak; Stigmata, dir. Ben Gordon; Jump Cut, dir. James Martin Morrison
