Four Brooklyn Horror feature film veterans return to the festival with excellent new short films, each rooted in classic literary inspirations; more specifically, a trio of classic fairy tales remixed and a chilling Algernon Blackwood adaptation.
The Sleeping Beauty, dir. Mattie Do (USA, Thailand, Laos); Jaques the Giant Slayer, dir. Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead (USA); Cinderella, dir. Adam Egypt Mortimer (USA); The Occupant of the Room, dir. Kier-La Janisse (Canada)
Featuring a post-screening discussion with the filmmakers.
NYC is home to some of the best genre filmmaking on the planet and it’s Brooklyn Horror’s proud honor to showcase this cold hard fact every year with our locals-only Home Invasion program.
The Binding; dir. Ryan Kennedy; Y.M.G., dir. Alexandra Warrick; Brian Won’t Wear Condoms, dir. Genna Edwards; The Man & the Scarecrow, dir. Justin Knoepfel; Some Dark Matter, dir. Molly Fisher; You Have Her Eyes, dir. Jordan Sommerlad, Cory Stonebrook; Rebrand, dir. Edoardo Ranaboldo
Featuring a post-screening Q&A with the filmmakers.
Brooklyn Horror’s signature celebration of genre-bending horror is back with a fresh dose of short-form innovation, including coming-of-age trauma, a harrowing depiction of witchcraft accusations and the worst game night imaginable.
Overgrown, dir. Nathan Ginter (USA); Far from the Plains, dir. Luigi Sibona (UK); Barlebas, dir. Malu Janssen (Belgium, Netherlands); Would You Rather, dir. Sophie O’Donovan (Ireland); Metal, dir. Samuel McIntosh (USA); Belloe, dir. Jayden Rathsam Hua (Australia)
Screening on 35mm
Refusing to sell his property to a local mob boss, a nightclub owner is brutally murdered by the mobster’s goons, leaving his wife thirsty for revenge. Her desired method: Using a voodoo priestess’s skills to summon a small army of the living dead. With that delightfully twisted set-up, the Blaxploitation knockout SUGAR HILL goes to town in delivering one hell of a good time with pure sleaze, shock, and figurative tongue firmly planted in cheek. One of the better ’70s horror films that folks don’t talk about enough, it’s a no-brainer for Brooklyn Horror’s “Zombies!” sidebar that we’re excited to screen in glorious 35mm. —Matt Barone
Fans of animated psychedelia, this one’s for you. Provocative and phantasmagoric in equal measure, BELLADONNA OF SADNESS is a triumph of unique animation and uncompromising storytelling, following a young woman who conspires with the Devil himself, taking the form of an elf, to seek vengeance on the sinister overlord who raped her, turning her into a black-robed agent of destruction. With its watercolor-esque visuals, surreal energy and explicit edge, director Eiichi Yamamoto’s film is the perfect animated midnight movie and ripe for a rediscovery. —Matt Barone
4K restoration
In celebration of Heavy Metal magazine’s triumphant return to print, Brooklyn Horror is proud to present the influential adult animation classic HEAVY METAL in a beautiful 4K restoration. Replicating the experience of reading an issue of the revered magazine, this anthology style film tells the tale of an evil green orb that infects the lives of all who dare to cross its path. Helping bring the pages to life is an all-star creative team including the likes of Bernie Wrightson, Dan O’Bannon and Ivan Reitman. —Joseph Hernandez
Featuring a post-screening Q&A with director Adam MacDonald.
Caught within the chaos of a zombie outbreak, suicidal teen Sloane (Olivia Holt, HEART EYES) and a small group of her classmates escape their suddenly apocalyptic hometown streets and barricade themselves in their high school. The 90’s period set THIS IS NOT A TEST packs an emotional gut punch to go along with the zombie guts, balancing affecting drama with the horror as director Adam MacDonald did so wonderfully in 2017’s PYEWACKET. Adapted from the popular YA novel by Courtney Summers and celebrating its World Premiere at Brooklyn Horror. —Joseph Hernandez
Featuring a post-screening Q&A with director Robbie Banfitch.
Robbie has not visited his home town in New Jersey since his sister disappeared years ago. Finally he returns to document any information he can gather from his mother and the locals in town, but the longer he spends there the more it becomes clear he has stumbled upon something otherworldly. After his stunning found footage feature THE OUTWATERS, Robbie Banfitch returns with a haunting investigation that will reel you in with mounting terror and dread. —Tori Potenza
One of the best critics covering the horror genre, award-winning Australian writer Alexandra Heller-Nicholas showed love to the countless women who’ve made their marks on scary cinema, whether they’ve been publicly celebrated or unfairly overlooked, with her excellent 2020 book 1000 WOMEN IN HORROR, 1985–2018. Using that book as an inspiration, filmmaker Donna Davies has assembled a surplus of film clips and an extensive list of notable interviewees—including Akela Cooper, Kate Siegel, Nikyatu Jusu, Mary Harron and Lin Shaye—to chronicle the female gender’s longstanding history of tapping into themes both universal and specifically feminine to create some of horror’s greatest achievements. —Matt Barone
Starring: Ana Serradilla, Juan Pablo Velasco, Ricardo Galina, Jesús Zavala, Paloma Woolrich, Armando Silva, José Sefami
Recently widowed, a single mother leaves her two pre-teen sons home alone so she can attend a work function. What starts off as a fun night for the boys begins spiraling out of control once an entity starts messing with them in increasingly malevolent ways, kicking their sibling rivalry into full gear via mistrust, paranoia, and abject terror. As playful as it is mean-spirited, Mexican filmmaker’s Emilio Portes’s return to horror after his well-received 2017 film BELZEBUTH plays like an early Amblin production from Hell in all the most delightfully nasty ways. —Matt Barone
