The Popcorn Frights Film Festival is back this year, both in-person and virtually, from August 8-18. They’ve unleashed the first wave of programming, indicating that the fest is going big for its tenth anniversary celebration with new premieres, virtual screenings, and exciting retro showings including the “Lost First Cut” of Brian Yuzna‘s Return of the Living Dead 3.
To add to the pure mayhem of its anniversary celebration, Popcorn Frights 2024’s in-theater experience will be offered free and open to the public, as a gift back to the community for ten years of their dedicated support and moviegoing love. Popcorn Frights’ free festival is made possible by the generous support of Nightmare Weekend Miami.
Highlights include the 35th anniversary presentation of Brian Yuzna’s spectacularly insane masterpiece Society, one of the ickiest, sweatiest, gloopiest, horniest, and most original body horror shockers of all time. The master of horror will also attend the first screening of the “Lost First Cut” of Return of the Living Dead 3, featuring ten minutes of uncovered footage that Brian Yuzna himself hasn’t seen! This exclusive screening event is made possible by filmmakers Dustin Ferguson and Chris MacGibbon, who unearthed this previously unknown cut of the film — a testament to their efforts in uncovering this hidden gem of horror cinema. Legendary directors William Lustig and Adam Rifkin are set to join Popcorn Frights for two special double-bill events.
Brimming with encroaching dread, the festival is also unleashing the supernatural horror film The Grudge with a special 20th anniversary screening attended by writer Stephen Susco. Before the screening, a Masters of Horror Panel will be moderated by Bloody Disgusting and will feature Brian Yuzna, William Lustig, Adam Rifkin, and Stephen Susco. That doesn’t even touch on the brand new premieres and virtual screenings, including a special presentation of IFC Films’ beauty revenge thriller Skincare starring Elizabeth Banks.
The fun doesn’t stop there; a second wave of Popcorn Frights 2024 titles with more than two dozen additional feature film premieres for in-theater and virtual programming will be announced next week.
In the meantime, read on for the packed first wave of Popcorn Frights 2024 programming:
IN THEATER FEATURE FILM LINEUP
OPENING NIGHT DOUBLE-BILL
Beezel
World Premiere
United States | 2024 | 81 Min. | Dir. Aaron Fradkin
A horrifying incident involving a child reveals the malevolent presence of an ancient witch residing within the basement walls.
OPENING NIGHT DOUBLE-BILL
Strange Darling
Florida Premiere
United States | 2023 | 96 Min. | Dir. JT Mollner
Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, and Barbara Hershey star in this acclaimed cat-and-mouse thriller where nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer’s vicious murder spree.
Birthrite
World Premiere
United States | 2024 | 100 Min. | Dir. Ross Partridge
*Director Ross Partridge and actress Jennifer Lafleaur expected in person
When a pregnant woman inherits a home from an estranged aunt, she and her girlfriend leave the city to start anew, only to face a karmic debt that endangers their unborn child and reveals their link to the town’s cursed history.
The Bunker
World Premiere
United States | 2024 | 91 Min. | Dir. Brian Hanson
*Director Brian Hanson expected in person
When mysterious alien ships appear in the sky, a scientist is sealed in an underground bunker and must create a bio-weapon to stop the unknown visitors, but paranoia and isolation cause her to question the true intention of her mission. Starring Chelsea Edmundson, Tony Todd, and Tobin Bell.
The Demon Disorder
International Premiere
Australia | 2024 | 85 Min. | Dir. Steven Boyle
Three estranged brothers discover a family secret that transforms their deceased father’s garage into a site of supernatural revenge.
Drive Back
World Premiere
United States | 2024 | 94 Min. | Dir. Cody Ashford
*Director Cody Ashford, actors Whit Kunschik and Madonna Magee, producer Orlando J. Gomez, and composer Richard Breakspear expected in person
A couple returning from their engagement party must escape a sinister and seemingly endless road.
The Funeral
East Coast Premiere
Turkey | 2023 | 109 Min. | Dir. Orcun Behram
A hearse driver is secretly tasked with transporting a young girl’s body, only to hear eerie groans from the back of the truck despite her lack of a pulse.
Lizzie Lazarus
World Premiere
United States | 2024 | 91 Min. | Dir. Aviv Rubinstien
*Director Aviv Rubinstien and actors Omar Maskati and Lianne O’Shea expected in person
On the Summer Solstice in 1990, two strangers carry a corpse through the woods in search of a mythical zone they believe can resurrect the dead, only to uncover hidden secrets.
Scared to Death
World Premiere
United States | 2024 | 98 Min. | Dir. Paul Boyd
*Director Paul Boyd, producer Eric Barrett, and actor Kurt Deimer expected in person
A group of filmmakers attend a seance at an abandoned children’s orphanage in order to do research for a movie… that’s their first mistake. Starring Lin Shaye, Bill Moseley, and Kurt Deimer.
Skincare
Special Presentation
United States | 2024 | 97 Min. | Dir. Austin Peters
Famed aesthetician Hope Goldman’s skincare business faces sabotage when rival Angel Vergara opens a boutique across the street. Aided by friend Jordan, Hope seeks to uncover who’s trying to ruin her reputation. Starring Elizabeth Banks and Nathan Fillion.
Voidcaller
World Premiere
Sweden | 2024 | 85 Min. | Dir. Nils Alatalo
A woman waking up with amnesia realizes she may have been involved in something sinister on a cosmic scale.
VIRTUAL FEATURE FILM LINEUP
Chateau
World Premiere
United States | 2024 | 83 Min. | Dir. Luke Genton
While on a French vacation funded by odd jobs, an aspiring influencer covertly films a vlog in a reportedly haunted chateau she’s been hired to clean.
The Darkside of Society
North American Premiere
United States | 2023 | 85 Min. | Dir. Larry Wade Carrell
Screenwriter Zeph E. Daniel, formerly known as Woody Keith, steps out of his closet-of-dark-secrets and tells the incredible story behind the subversive oddity of his cult film, SOCIETY.
The Night Is Young
World Premiere
United States | 2024 | 76 Min. | Dir. Patrick Rea
An influencer filming her failed dates with her brother finds herself on a date with a vampire, leading them to become targets of murderous vampire hunters.
There’s A Zombie Outside
World Premiere
United States | 2024 | 74 Min. | Dir. Michael Varrati
A struggling artist becomes entangled in the world of cult cinema, blurring his identity with his dark creations as the monster from his films invades his reality, leaving him unable to distinguish fact from fiction.
Videoteka
World Premiere
United States | 2024 | 112 Min. | Dir. Luka Bursac
Running from the police, a small-time thief finds refuge in an abandoned video store and, forced to spend the night there, decides to watch three horror films.
IN THEATER RETRO LINEUP
Bringing Out the Dead
25th Anniversary Presentation
United States | 1999 | 121 Min. | Dir. Martin Scorsese
Haunted by the patients he failed to save, a monumentally burned-out Manhattan ambulance paramedic fights to maintain his sanity over three increasingly turbulent nights.
The Grudge
20th Anniversary Presentation
United States | 2004 | 91 Min. | Dir. Takashi Shimizu
*Writer Stephen Susco expected in person
An American nurse living and working in Tokyo is exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse, one that locks a person in a powerful rage before claiming their life and spreading to another victim.
The Invisible Maniac
The Big Sleaze Double-Bill Event
United States | 1990 | 86 Min. | Dir. Adam Rifkin
*Director Adam Rifkin expected in person
An invisible scientist escapes from an asylum and teaches high-school physics to nubile teens.
Maniac
The Big Sleaze Double-Bill Event
United States | 1980 | 87 Min. | Dir. William Lustig
*Director William Lustig expected in person
A psychopathic man goes on a killing and mutilation spree in New York City.
Maniac Cop 2
Right “2” Remain Silent Double-Bill Event
United States | 1990 | 90 Min. | Dir. William Lustig
*Director William Lustig expected in person
A supernatural, maniac killer cop teams up with a Times Square serial killer.
Psycho Cop Returns
Right “2” Remain Silent Double-Bill Event
United States | 1993 | 80 Min. | Dir. Adam Rifkin
*Director Adam Rifkin expected in person
A psychopath cop decides to kill everyone who he thinks has broken the law.
Return of the Living Dead 3
“Lost First Cut”
United States | 1993 | 105 Min. | Dir. Brian Yuzna
*Director Brian Yuzna expected in person
Having recently witnessed the horrific results of a top secret project to bring the dead back to life, a distraught youth performs the operation on his girlfriend after she’s killed in a motorcycle accident.
Society
35th Anniversary Presentation
United States | 1989 | 99 Min. | Dir. Brian Yuzna
*Director Brian Yuzna expected in person
An ordinary teenage boy discovers his family is part of a gruesome orgy cult for the social elite.
Access to the in-theater experience is free and open to the public on a first come first served basis, but a limited number of In-Theater All-Access VIP Badges will be available for guests who would like an all-inclusive experience with reserved seating for all films and special events hosted at the Savor Cinema Fort Lauderdale and Paradigm Cinema’s Gateway Theater, Popcorn Frights’ official host venues. 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 VIP Badge, click here, to order a Virtual All-Access Pass, click here.
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