Starring: Damian Maffei, Yvonne Emilie Thälker, Marc Romeo, Scott Fowler, Kate Kiddo
NYC Premiere
A man is hired by an AI company to test out their prototype for a BDSM sex doll that bleeds and bruises just like a human. As he spends more time with the doll he is forced to reckon with his own morality and the ethical implications of this technology. Scooter McCrae crafts a complicated story in which tone and theme often clash. This is sure to lead to some fascinating discussions for those who see it. – Tori Potenza
Starring: Bo-Lin Chen, Sandrine Pinna, Gingle Wang, Yi Ti Yao, Bai Bai, Soso Tseng
New York Premiere
After dying a mediocre death and the totem that keeps her among the living being badly damaged, a ghost will have to step her haunting game up in order to avoid getting kicked out of the underworld. To compete with all the top ghosts she joins a small haunting talent agency, literally the only one that would give her a shot. Together with her agent and his only successful client, the legendary but washed-up ghost diva Catherine, she sets out to become the scariest urban legend of them all. John Hsu (2020 Brooklyn Horror selection DETENTION) presents a wonderfully clever fully realized world, filled to the brim with boundless wit and magic. -Joseph Hernandez
Sleep no more after witnessing the terror on display in this chilling block of purely scary horror, complete with Ouija board mishaps, techie ghouls, and cult rituals gone awry.
Dream Creep, dir. Carlos A.F. Lopez (USA); Pop, dir. Josh Jones (USA); Agonist, dir. Annie Marie Elliot (USA); Cease to Exist, dir. Taylor Nodrick (Canada); The Awakening, dir. Al Campbell (UK); Taboo, dir. Almog Avidan Antonir (USA); Inked, dir. Kelsey Bollig (USA); Mr. Static, dir. Mike Williamson (USA); Transylvanie, dir. Rodrigue Huart (France)
East Coast Premiere
On Valentine’s Day of 1945, English farmer Charles Walton was found brutally murdered on the outskirts of his property, triggering a decades-long investigation with ties to witchcraft, vampirism and the occult. Fascinating the entire country of England, the enigmatic homicide inspired classic films like The Wicker Man and, more generally, the rise of British folk horror. Through talking-heads insight and a surplus of film clips, Rupert Russell examines Walton’s death as both a true crime puzzle box and the catalyst for some of the England’s best and most influential horror films. -Matt Barone
Presented by Teeth: The Musical
What’s better than being scared? Laughing your ass off at the same time, which you’ll do thanks to this batch of raucous horror-comedies featuring personal trainers, home invasions, and sexual dysfunction.
Cheat Meal, dir. Drew Bierut (USA); The Last Thing She Saw, dir. Anthony Cousins (USA); Mean Ends, dir. Émile Lavoie (Canada); Erection and Destruction, dir. Eddie Mullins (USA); Make Me a Pizza, dir. Talia Shea Levin (USA); Roger is a Serial Killer, dir. Don Swaynos (USA); Hold Up, dir. Ori Guendelman (USA)
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
