After Dark Horrorfest

I’ve had my eye on the After Dark Horrorfest site for a couple months. They said they’d be unrolling a national film fest for one weekend only in hundreds of theaters. And now that their website has been updated, it looks like a crazy good time.

The Horrorfest website (at http://www.horrorfestonline.com ) has been updated with a promo video (slick!), descriptions of 7 of the 8 films to be shown, and a huge list of theaters taking part in the event. (In Rochester, the Regal Cinema 18 in Henrietta is playing host.)

It looks like mostly independent product, including Mike Mendez’s Grave Dancers. There’s also one from Takashi Shimizu of The Grudge movies.

They’ve also been conducting a search for “Miss Horrorfest,” a sort of scream queen representative. Voting takes place on YouTube at http://youtube.com/horrorfest

After Dark Horrorfest: 8 films to Die For
http://www.horrorfestonline.com/

Each year, there are movies produced that are never seen by the public. Their content is considered too graphic, too disturbing, and too shocking for general audiences.

The festival, After Dark Horrorfest: 8 Films to Die For, is an exciting way of getting real, quality horror movies back to true horror fans . Tickets go on sale Oct 31, and the festival is scheduled to run from November 17th to the 19th. After Dark Horrorfest features 8 independent films (featuring Chloe Sevigny and Jamie Lynn Sigler amongst others), giveaways and parties.

THE FILMS:

Unrest
http://www.unrestfulmovie.com

Alison Blanchard begins her journey to become a physician in her Gross Anatomy class, where she must confront rows of cadavers and her own fearof mortality. When the sheets are drawn back revealing her cadaver, Alison senses a presence in the lab. Her jaded professor chalks it up to first year “jitters” but her worries increase when a friend is found dead in the basement. Alison must find out the truth behind her cadaver before its angered spirit can wreak further vengance on those who dared to disturb the body.

Directed by:
Jason Todd Ipson, director of the award winning short film “Peeping Tom” and “The First Vampire”.

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Penny Dreadful
http://www.pennydreadfulthemovie.com/

Penny, (Rachel Miner: “The Black Dahlia”, “Bully”, “The Memory Thief”), a young woman traumatized by a childhood auto accident that killed her parents, accompanies her therapist, (Mimi Rogers: “Austin Powers”, “Someone To Watch Over Me”), on a road trip back to the scene of the accident as part of her therapy to overcome her fear of cars. But, when the two women accidentally cross paths with a dark and mysterious Hitch Hiker on a lonely stretch of mountain highway an attempt at healing suddenly takes a terrifying detour into a horrorific life and death struggle with a ruthless, deranged killer bent on preying upon Penny’s worst fears.

Directed by:
Richard Brandes (“Out For Blood”, “Devil In The Flesh”)

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The Grave Dancers
http://gravedancers.com/

“Old-school terror the way it should be.” Winner of rave reviews at the Tribeca Film Festival. A group of friends’ lives are invaded by a trio of hostile ghosts after they engage in a drunken bout of gravedancing during a wake for an old chum.

Directed by:
Mike Mendez (The Convent, Killers)

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The Hamiltons
http://www.sffilms.tv/thehamiltons/

The highly-acclaimed winner of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and the Malibu Film Festival. The Hamiltons seem to be the picture-perfect American family. They are hardworking community members; giving to their local charities, attending town hall meetings and always respectful of their neighbors… except for the fact that they usually end up killing them.

Directed by:
The Butcher Brothers

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Reincarnation (Rinne)
http://www.j-horror.com/rinne/index.html

From the director of “The Grudge” and “The Grudge 2” comes Reincarnation,a suspenseful psychological horror film that deals with the topic of reincarnation.

Directed by:
Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge, The Grudge 2)

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Dark Ride
http://www.darkridethemovie.com/

Ten years after he brutally murdered two girls, a killer escapes from a mental institution and returns to his turf, the theme park attraction called “Dark Ride”. About to crash his path are a group of college kids on a road trip who stumble across the park, unaware that this thrill ride is the last one they’re ever going to take.

Directed by:
Craig Singer (Kill Charlie, A Good Night to Die)

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The Abandoned

Called “Truly frightening and Original”. A film producer who was adopted as a baby and sent to America, returns to her native Russia and the family farm. Once there, strange things begin to happen including the disappearance of her guide, the manifestation of ghosts (including her own!) and the appearance of another man who has been drawn to the farm for the same reasons. Directed by Spanish Director Nacho Cerda (Ataudes de Luz, Genesis).

Directed by:
Nacho Cerda (Ataudes de Luz, Genesis)

10/29/06 EDITED TO ADD:
There are no longer any New York State locations listed on the website. Does this mean no screenings in Rochester after all?