Haunter. Image courtesy IFC Films.
Now in its eighth year, the Spooky Movie International Horror Film Festival remains one of the area’s best. But it does so not by programming the best new horror films around, but by programming some of the campiest, corniest, and most gruesome blood-and-guts genre flicks each year. By not taking itself too seriously, Spooky Movie has gained notoriety among horror film aficionados for its loose, fun vibe and eclectic programming at the AFI Silver Theater each year.
Basically, Spooky Movie shows the kind of gruesome, fun horror films akin to what you would find channel surfing in the wee hours of the night in the 80s or 90s. You know, the head-scratching, gut-churning kind of stuff. And this year is no exception.
DCist got a sneak peak at what’s playing this year, and here are some of the highlights. Warning: Those with weak stomachs should probably avoid. Also, wusses.
100 BLOODY ACRES
“We’re not psycho killers, alright! We’re small business operators!” Writers/directors Colin and Cameron Cairnes bitingly funny, blood-soaked horror/comedy follows two brothers who own run a small business providing fertilizer among their small community in Australia. Recently, business has been booming because of Reg and Lindsay Morgan’s secret new fertilizer ingredient: The blood and bones of mangled corpses who died in nasty car crashes. But when their supply runs out, Reg makes a rash decision by abducting three young people stranded on a remote country road. Tonally similar to 2010 Spooky Movie opening night film, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, 100 Bloody Acres is a bloody gem of a film.
Screens Saturday, October 12 at 9:30 p.m. Get tickets here.
THANTAMORPHOSE
Body horror at its most visceral, Thantamorphose tells the story of a young woman named Laura, who, just days after moving into a cushy new apartment, begins exhibiting weird symptoms: Strange patches of dead skin, hair falling out, fingernails and teeth falling out. To put it bluntly, Laura’s body is rotting from the inside out. A kind of David Cronenberg-meets-Cabin Fever riff, Thantamorphose succeeds in its unrelenting brutality.
Screens Saturday, October 12 at midnight. Get tickets here.
CHASTITY BITES
A legendary serial killer has learned the secret to stay young forever: Just regularly bathe in virgin blood. She keeps her secret safe by traveling around high schools in the conservative Bible Belt of America, disguised as an abstinence educator in order to lure in young, horny virgins. But when a young blogger uncovers her secret, all is compromised. Chastity Bites might not offer much more than a lot of bare breasts, splattering blood, and a needlessly convoluted plot, but c’mon, what more do you expect from low-budget horror movies?
Screens Thursday, October 17 at 7 p.m. Get tickets here.
DARK TOUCH
In this Carrie-esque creeper from French writer/director Marina de Van, peculiar eleven-year-old Neve is adopted by her generous neighbors after a freak accident kills her entire family. But things aren’t what they seem as Neve begins exhibiting bizarre, psychokinetic powers that leaves a bloody trailer around her. One of the standout films from this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Dark Touch is subtle and slow-burning, but nonetheless haunting.
Screens tonight at 9:30 p.m. Get tickets here.
HAUNTER
Probably the most ‘Hollywood’ film playing at Spooky Movie this year, Haunter stars Abigail Breslin as Lisa, a precocious teen who is killed along with her entire family a day before her sweet sixteen. Now, she and her family live in a loop, blissfully unaware that they’re repeating the same day, over and over. That is until Lisa thinks that her house is haunted. Soon, however, she realizes that she is the one doing the haunting after a new family moves in and, she teams up with the family’s teenage daughter to stop a more insidious spirit that occupied the house before Lisa’s family. Haunter feels a bit like if Groundhog’s Day were spliced with The Sixth Sense and The Lovely Bones. It’s shaky at times, and doesn’t quite land on its feet, but is nonetheless and rather enjoyable tale.
Screens Saturday, October 12 at 7 p.m. Get tickets here.
BIG BAD WOLVES
Man, those Israelis sure know how to make a twisted film. The grisly revenge thriller Big Bad Wolves, from writers/directors Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado, follows a father, whose daughter was brutally hacked up, on his quest for revenge. Thrown into the web of grisly murders is a vigilante detective, determined to crack the case at all costs, as well as a religious studies teacher, suspected to be responsible for the killings. Big Bad Wolves is dark as hell, but gorgeously shot and masterfully crafted. One of the bests of the fest.
Screens Friday, October 18 at 7 p.m. Get tickets here.
