Popcorn Frights Film Festival has announced their lineup for their first wave of programming for their in-theater festival. This festival experience to take place next month, from August 12-19, 2021.
Celebrated 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 for those unable to travel to the festival in South Florida. The virtual program will offer an entirely separate and unique lineup that will be available to stream throughout the United States, and which will be unveiled in the coming weeks as part of Popcorn Frights second wave announcement.
Below is the in-theater feature film lineup:
OPENING NIGHT
The Night House
Florida Premiere
United States | 2020 | 110 Min. | Dir. David Bruckner
THE NIGHT HOUSE follows a widow (Rebecca Hall of Godzilla vs. Kong) who begins to uncover her
recently deceased husband's disturbing secrets.
The Beta Test
Southeast US Premiere
United States | 2021 | 90 Min. | Dir. Jim Cummings
Indie auteur Jim Cummings stars as an engaged Hollywood agent who receives a mysterious letter for an
anonymous sexual encounter and becomes ensnared in a sinister world of lying, infidelity, and digital
data in this gleefully over-the-top dark comedy.
Cryptozoo
South Florida Premiere
United States | 2021 | 95 Min. | Dir. Dash Shaw
In this richly-drawn hallucinatory animated thriller, Cryptozookeepers try to capture a dream-eating
hybrid creature of legend, and start wondering if they should display these beasts or keep them hidden
and unknown.
Ditched
World Premiere
Canada | 2021 | 90 Min. | Dir. Christopher Donaldson
After a routine prison transfer crashes in the forest, a young Inuit paramedic finds herself surrounded by
murderers with a mere 100 feet to climb out of a ditch to escape.
Offseason
Southeast US Premiere
United States | 2021 | 83 Min. | Dir. Mickey Keating
Anchored by a mesmerizing performance by Jocelin Donahue (The House of the Devil), this southern
gothic horror story follows a woman who travels to a desolate Florida island town after receiving a
mysterious letter and soon becomes trapped in an unending nightmare.
Pretty Boy
World Premiere
United States | 2021 | 97 Min. | Dir. Marcel Walz
In this gloriously melodramatic suspense slasher, a masked killer named Pretty Boy takes a blind woman
from her home in the Hollywood hills and crashes a Valentine's Day party where the bloodshed
continues as he runs amok with his butcher's knife.
Superhost
World Premiere
United States | 2021 | 83 Min. | Dir. Brandon Christensen
Sara Canning, Osric Chau, Gracie Gillam, and Barbara Crampton star in this wickedly twisted chamber
piece about two travel vloggers who check into a vacation rental with a host that will do anything for a
good review.
Take Back the Night
World Premiere
United States | 2021 | 90 Min. | Dir. Gia Elliot
Finding herself the victim of a violent monster attack, a young woman launches a vigilante campaign to
hunt the beast that tried to kill her, even though her family, friends, and authorities question the
authenticity of her account in this biting social critiques and downright gripping horror thrill ride.
We Need to Do Something
Southeast US Premiere
United States | 2021 | 97 Min. | Dir. Sean King O'Grady
With a tornado on the way, a dysfunctional family (Pat Healy, Vinessa Shaw, and Sierra McCormick)
takes shelter in their bathroom, only to end up trapped. As hours turn to days, it's clear something even
deadlier is at play beyond the walls, toying with them.
The Welder
World Premiere
United States | 2021 | 90 Min. | Dir. David Liz
In this ambitious and unsettling Florida-set horror film, a young couple travels to the Everglades for a
vacation that they hope will bring them closer together. But what at first appears to be a seemingly
pastoral paradise soon transforms into a sinister, dread-soaked nightmare as a vicious madman
terrorizes them for his demented experiments.
IN-THEATER SPECIAL EVENTS
Friday the 13 th Part VI - Jason Lives
35 th Anniversary Presentation
United States | 1986 | 86 Min. | Dir. Tom McLoughlin
After an intended victim impales the corpse of Jason Voorhees with a metal pole during a lightning
storm, the deranged killer is resurrected, rising from the grave to wreak havoc upon a new group of
unsuspecting campers.
Homegrown: 100% Pure Fresh Squeezed Florida Horror
This film showcase is designed to be a springboard for new filmmakers from Florida and a space that
helps forge a new direction for Florida's genre scene by further cultivating and nurturing its growing film
community:
American Cryptid
World Premiere
United States | 2021 | 5 Min. | Dir. Erynn Dalton
Campfire stories, passed down for generations, may give you a thrill... but you never know who (or
what) is listening.
American Diablo
World Premiere
United States | 2021 | 10 Min. | Dir. Juan Carlos Castaneda
A police checkpoint turned awry takes an undocumented, deaf woman on a downward spiral into the
underworld hiding beneath Miami.
deMonica
Southeast US Premiere
United States | 2021 | 22 Min. | Dir. Miguel Angel Ferrer
A former gang member must recruit a Jesuit priest in order to help her save her younger sister, not only
from the ruthless prostitution ring she fell into, but from the demon that's possessing her body.
It Comes from Outside
World Premiere
United States | 2021 | 10 Min. | Dir. Jack Kierski
After she sees a mysterious figure staring at her from the window, a curious but skeptical woman goes
outside in her back patio area to find who it is. Is it human or something supernatural?
Tech Savvy
South Florida Premiere
United States | 8 Min. | 2020 | Dir. Scott Vasey
A mom discovers her Photoshop program can make changes that become permanent in real life. After
some friendly fun, she destroys a photo of her Ex's prized car, inadvertently creating a disaster in need
of an "undo" button.
Too Far
South Florida Premiere
United States | 15 Min. | 2020 | Dir. Juan Alonso
A jokester tries to pull a prank on his girlfriend with the help of his two friends, but when a masked
figure sabotages the prank, they quickly learn that someone has been the punch line of their jokes for
way too long and now is taking matters into their own hands.
What Can Be Broken Should Be Broken
World Premiere
United States | 20 Min. | 2021 | Dir. Steve Vaynshtok
A mob hit gone awry embroils two mobsters in a series of unfortunate events too calculated to
be a coincidence, leading ultimately to ruin and an act of savage revenge.
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 Silverspot Cinema Coconut Creek, Popcorn Frights official host venue 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.
