Popcorn Frights Announces First Wave of Programming for Hybrid Festival

Highlights include the World Premiere of DELIVER US on Opening Night; seven feature film World Premieres including Brandon Christensen’s THE PUPPETMAN; a special spotlight of made-in-Florida films featuring World Premieres of BIG EASY QUEENS, SANTASTEIN, and a live original score performance for Herschell Gordon Lewis’ splatter masterpiece BLOOD FEAST for its 60th anniversary; a “1983-D” celebration of 3-D films; and a focus on the “Australian Invasion” of bold new genre films coming from down under headlined by the World Premieres of PSYCHOSIS and PUZZLE BOX

The Ninth Annual Popcorn Frights Film Festival will be a hybrid experience presenting both in-theater and virtual film offerings from August 10-20, 2023

Popcorn Frights returns with a vengeance for its ninth edition, unleashing a wicked lineup of 25 films that delve into the darkest corners of international genre cinema, including seven world premieres, and with many more macabre delights and film premieres yet to be revealed!

Summoning darkness on opening night is the world premiere of DELIVER US, a sinister and dread-soaked tale that unveils an ancient prophecy where a nun defies the laws of nature and gives birth to both the messiah and the antichrist. Audiences will need to brace themselves for the unhinged chaos that will be released within the eerie confines of Savor Cinema, a state-of-the-art theater that was once a Methodist Church in the 1940s, yet still echoes with the whispers of its haunting past.

Running August 10-20, Popcorn Frights’ first wave of films is headlined by a special spotlight on made-in-Florida films featuring the world premieres of the glam horror queer celebration BIG EASY QUEENS with original musical numbers, voodoo, zombies, Drag Queens, and campy neo-giallo delight soaked in blood, gristle, and glitter, oh my! Complementing the premiere will be a 4-piece band performance and live show featuring the BIG EASY QUEENS stars themselves! Also premiering is the gruesome slice of made-in-Miami mayhem SANTASTEIN, a holiday slasher that puts the axe back in Xmas! Fans will need to buckle in for some bloody holiday cheer that will leave them having a ho-ho-whole lot of fun!

Brimming with mad, macabre, and just downright bizarre as the first-ever splatter movie, Herschell Gordon Lewis’ shot in Miami Beach gore-fest masterpiece BLOOD FEAST will receive a one-night-only showing courtesy of AGFA. Swoon at the violence in this unhinged, gore-soaked extravaganza as we celebrate its 60th anniversary with the special accompaniment of a live original score performance by Miami artist Richard Vergez.

Scream and dive into a mind-blowing ’80s time warp as Popcorn Frights presents the ultimate 3-D extravaganza with its “1983-D” revival showcase, featuring 3-D screenings of FRIDAY THE 13TH PART III, Demi Moore’s haunting film debut PARASITE 3-D, the underseen over-the-top slasher SILENT MADNESS 3-D, and the monstrously fun Florida-made sequel JAWS 3-D, celebrating its 40th anniversary in all its severed-limb-and-head-floating and shark-exploding gory… er 3-D glory!

Worldwide, weird, and wonderful genre films return with a selection of titles that defy categorization, featuring unmissable highlights such as the world premiere of Brandon Christensen’s curse-laden creation THE PUPPETMAN; the US premiere of the gripping underwater thriller THE DIVE, the cannabis-infused chiller TRIM SEASON; and Jennifer Reeder’s coming-of-age high-school body-horror PERPETRATOR, starring an unforgettable Alicia Silverstone as a suburban auntie from hell.

Recognized as the largest genre film event in the Southeast U.S. and one of “The World’s 50 Best Genre Festivals” by MovieMaker Magazine, Popcorn Frights will complement its in-theater festival program with an online virtual component, granting audiences across the entire United States the opportunity to immerse themselves in the heart-pounding, adrenaline-fueled experience of the festival, no matter where they are.

Popcorn Frights’ virtual program is set to unleash an “Australian Invasion” featuring the world premieres of the found-footage nightmare PUZZLE BOX and the stylishly gloomy tour-de-force PSYCHOSIS, as well as Alice Maio Mackay’s utterly defiant genre-bender T BLOCKERS. The festival’s virtual program also includes world premieres of the mind-bending thriller QUANTUM SUICIDE and the hair-raising tale SORRY, CHARLIE, about a malevolent stranger who lures unsuspecting women with a haunting recording of a crying baby.

Other highlights playing as part of the festival’s virtual experience include the audacious puppet horror ABRUPTIO, the fiercely haunting THE BANALITY, the twisted time loop horror BRIGHTWOOD, the Lovecraftian horror musical ELDRITCH, USA, the engrossingly disturbing GHOSTS OF THE VOID, the chillingly dystopian NO MORE TIME, the whimsical horror comedy THE LAST MOVIE EVER MADE, and the unapologetically queer folk horror SAINT DROGO.

A second wave of Popcorn Frights 2023 titles with more than two dozen additional feature film premieres for in-theater and virtual programming will be announced in the coming weeks.

Access to the in-theater experience will be available through individual tickets or an all-access badge, which will provide an all-inclusive experience for films and special events hosted at the Savor Cinema Fort Lauderdale and O Cinema South Beach (“The Horror Collective Screening Room”), Popcorn Frights official host venues this year. Separate virtual passes are also available and will provide access to every film streaming in the festival’s virtual program. To order an In-Theater All-Access Badge, click here, to order a Virtual All-Access Pass, click here.

This year’s Popcorn Frights official poster was created by South Florida artist Kent Hernandez, who previously crafted imagery for the event in 2022, and has designed a new original poster for the festival.

The ninth edition of the Popcorn Frights Film Festival is made possible with the support of its generous sponsors, including 88 Films, AGFA, ALTER, The Betsy, Daily Dead, Dread Central, Fangoria, Fright Rags, The Horror Collective, Kino Cult, MVD, O Cinema, Savor Cinema, Severin Films, and its loyal fans.

IN-THEATER FEATURE FILM LINEUP
(First Wave):

OPENING NIGHT
Deliver Us
World Premiere
USA | 2023 | Dir. Crus Ennis, Lee Roy Kunz
*Directors Cru Ennis & Lee Roy Kunz, and actors Maria Vera Ratti & Isaac Bauman expected in person

Big Easy Queens
World Premiere
USA | 2023 | Dir. Erynn Dalton
*Director Erynn Dalton and actors Miss Bouvèé, Jennifer McClain, Matthew Darren, and Benjamin Shaevitz expected in person

The Dive
US Premiere
Germany | 2023 | Dir. Maximilian Erlenwein

Perpetrator
Southeast US Premiere
USA | 2023 | Dir. Jennifer Reeder

The Puppetman
World Premiere
USA | 2023 | Dir. Brandon Christensen
*Director Brandon Christensen expected in person

Santastein
World Premiere
USA | 2023 | Dirs. Benjamin Edelman & Manuel Camilion
*Directors Benjamin Edelman & Manuel Camilion, producer Vasisth Sukul, and actors Jared Korotskin, Makenzie Rivera, Kaylie Heyner, and Fernando Morales expected to in person

Trim Season
Florida Premiere
USA | 2023 | Dir. Ariel Vida

VIRTUAL FEATURE FILM LINEUP
(First Wave):

Abruptio
Southeast US Premiere
USA | 2023 | Dir. Evan Marlowe

The Banality
Southeast US Premiere
USA | 2023 | Dirs. Michael Stevantoni, Strack Azar

Brightwood
Southeast US Premiere
USA | 2023 | Dir. Dane Elcar

Eldritch, USA
East Coast Premiere
USA | 2023 | Dirs. Ryan Smith, Tyler Foreman

Ghosts of the Void
Southeast US Premiere
USA | 2023 | Dir. Jason Miller

The Last Movie Ever Made
Florida Premiere
USA | 2023 | Dir. Nathan Blackwell

No More Time
Southeast US Premiere
USA | 2022 | Dir. Dalila Droege

Psychosis
World Premiere
Australia | 2023 | Dir. Pirie Martin

Puzzle Box
World Premiere
Australia | 2023 | Dir. Jack Dignan

Quantum Suicide
World Premiere
Canada | 2023 | Dir. Gerrit Van Woudenberg

Saint Drogo
Southeast US Premiere
USA | 2023 | Dirs. Michael J. Ahern, Ryan Miller, Brandon Perras-Sanchez

Sorry, Charlie
World Premiere
USA | 2023 | Dir. Colton Tran

T Blockers
Southeast US Premiere
Australia | 2023 | Dir. Alice Maio Mackay

RETRO FILM LINEUP
(First Wave):

Blood Feast
60th Anniversary Presentation
USA | 1963 | Dir. Hershell Gordon Lewis
*Live Performance

Friday the 13th Part III
1983-D Special Event
USA | 1982 | Dir. Steve Miner
*3-D Screening

Jaws 3-D
40th Anniversary Presentation
USA | 1983 | Dir. Joe Alves
*3-D Screening

Parasite 3-D
1983-D Special Event
USA | 1982 | Dir. Charles Band
*3-D Screening

Silent Madness 3-D
1983-D Special Event
USA | 1984 | Dir. Simon Nuchtern
*3-D Screening