It's third year in existence, the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival (BHFF) is home to a vast array of premieres and live programs offering international films and home-grown talent a chance to network and take in the local sights. Now, in a chance at expanding and offering a wider selection of features and live events to offer a diverse curation of genre fare that this site is interested in.
First up is the local premiere of the French/Mexico/Switzerland co-production Knife+Heart. Known for productions like ANAL FURY and HOMOCIDAL, successful gay porn producer Anne (Renowned French actress and model Vanessa Paradis) takes her skin flicks as seriously as the most greatness-minded auteur would his or her own prestige dramas. But Anne isn’t the only one who’s infatuated with her company’s films—one by one, and in an exceedingly brutal fashion, someone is butchering Anne’s actors. As she tracks down the killer, Anne begins recreating the murders as part of an elaborate new project, all while losing track of what’s real, who’s dead, and who’s next on the chopping block.
Also intriguing is the long-lost Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made. This occult-heavy horror film shot back in the '70s focuses on a pair of young siblings who head into the woods to grieve over a dead pet and unwittingly discover a literal Hell on Earth. The film has achieved notoriety due to it's troubled lifespan: A theater in Budapest screened it in 1988 and burned to the ground; several film festival programmers attempted to play it before mysteriously dying; and a violent and blood-drenched San Francisco riot followed a mid-’90s revival effort. Believed to be cursed, ANTRUM has since been untouched—until now.
The next intriguing effort is the German supernatural shocker Luz. On an otherwise nondescript night, taxi driver Luz walks into a police station, claiming that she’s been assaulted. Nearby in a bar, a mysterious woman named Nora is working her magic on Dr. Rossini, recounting how her lover recently jumped out of a taxi. As both situations transpire, the connections between Luz and Nora set the stage for a demonic night from hell for those unfortunate souls who’ve encountered the two women on this particular evening.
Also on the list of interesting efforts is the world premiere of Welcome to Mercy. After returning to her family’s native Latvia to mourn her father’s death, American single mother Madaline begins suffering from inexplicable visions and physical scars, all of which point to the gift—or curse, rather—the Holy Stigmata. To seek help, Madaline travels to an island convent and ingratiates herself within the sisterhood of nuns. But much to her detriment, Madaline’s new acquaintances pray to something far more sinister than the Holy Spirit, leading her to realize that those newfound afflictions come from anywhere but Heaven.
The last big piece worth mentioning is the North American premiere of Party Hard, Die Young from Austrian director Dominik Hartl. To celebrate graduating from high school, Julia and her classmates take off for a party-resort in Croatia to experience the banger to end all bangers. As the epic party rages on, Julia’s best friend Jessica mysteriously disappears leaving nothing but a suspicious text and a Snapchat photo with her face scratched out. Then another friend slips off a roof to her death—and Julia receives another Snapchat photo. Uh oh.
On top of this greatness, the festival includes the 80s Slash-A-Thon Marathon, featuring a retrospective screening of the classics The Burning, The Funhouse, a 35th Anniversary screening of Sleepaway Camp and My Bloody Valentine. As well, former Fangoria editor Tony Timpone will not only introduce each of those specially selected titles but present the launch of Ad Nauseam: Newsprint Nightmares from the 1980s, a 1984 Publishing title presented by Toronto-based horror periodical Rue Morgue and edited by former Rue Morgue editor-in-chief Dave Alexander, highlighting a golden age of horror movie ads. The 248-page, full-color, hardbound book features more than 450 rare, vintage ads culled from Gingold's personal archive. Growing up in the '80s, the future Fangoria writer and editor would carefully cut out ads he saw in local newspapers, leaving him with a collection tracing horror movie history via both blockbusters and obscurities. Also on tap at the site is Drinking With The Dread, a Dread Central-sponsored special screening of THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD. Drunk Ed returns to present a boozy take on religious horror, while the Spirits Podcast will guide you through New York’s intriguing urban legends and monsters (and no, we don’t mean your landlord).
Combined with a bevy of shorts programs, more special programs and a special surprise screening, the event is primed for plenty of fun to be had as the festival continues to expand and grow in popularity in the scene.
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