The 7th Annual Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Brings Thrills and Chills to NYC
The Harbinger, Something in the Dirt, and Satan’s Slaves 2 are just a few of the must-sees this year.
2022’s Brooklyn Horror Film Festival runs October 13th through the 20th in Brooklyn, NY. Sadly, we won’t be there in person, but our love of horror and horror makers means we’ll be there in spirit.
In addition to all of the new films playing this year (see below), 2022’s fest will also include retrospectives, shorts, special events, and more. First up is an 8-film celebration of the great Lucio Fulci called “The Gates of Hell and Beyond.” It’s your chance to catch some of the maestro’s best on the big screen including The Beyond: Composer’s Cut, A Cat in the Brain, City of the Living Dead, Don’t Torture a Duckling, The House by the Cemetery, Manhattan Baby, The New York Ripper, and Zombie. The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies will also be hosting a talk on Fulci called “A Splinter in the Eye, a Cat in the Brain: The Films of Lucio Fulci.”
A second retrospective called “Fear in Focus: French Extremity” will bring several envelope-pushing genre films from France. The titles playing include Baise-Moi, Calvaire, Criminal Lovers, and Fat Girl. The fest will also be hosting a live recording of the Certified Forgotten podcast with hosts Matt Monagle and Matt Donato in attendance. They’re good people, and I’m not just saying that because I’ve guested on their show and had an essay published there… I swear! The duo will be discussing the early 90s horror/thriller from New Zealand, Jack Be Nimble.
Keep reading for a look at all of the new films playing Brooklyn Horror Film Festival this year!
All Jacked Up And Full Of Worms
New York Premiere; USA | 2022 | 72 Min. | Dir. Alex Phillips
If you are looking through the festival slate for a movie that is the most out-there, eye-popping, what-hole-did-this-crawl-out-
Christmas Bloody Christmas
East Coast Premiere; USA | 2022 | 81 Min. | Dir. Joe Begos
All that record store owner Tori wants to do this Christmas is drink and hook up—simple enough, right? Apparently not, thanks to a decorative, human-sized robotic Santa Claus that’s come to life for a nonstop rampage of murder and destruction. Picking up where he left off with his 2019 double bill of BLISS and VFW, modern exploitation maven Joe Begos returns with a relentless and stylish Yuletide adrenaline rush that’s part slasher and part ode to ’80s techno sci-fi/horror like THE TERMINATOR.
Daughter
East Coast Premiere; USA | 2022 | 95 Min. | Dir. Corey Deshon
Held against her will inside an isolated house deep in the woods, a young woman has no choice but to challenge the interpersonal dynamics and self-imposed rules of her captors, a three-person nuclear family that believes the air outside is toxic and that the apocalypse has arrived.
Evil Eye
East Coast Premiere; Mexico | 2022 | 100 Min | Dir. Isaac Ezban
With all hope seemingly lost, and needing time to themselves to find the best medical care, a critically sick young girl’s parents leave her and her older sister at grandma’s house, where bedtime stories about a demonic shapeshifter turn out to be more than fiction.
Falcon Lake
East Coast Premiere; Canada, France | 2022 | 99 Min. | Dir. Charlotte Le Bon
Caught between childhood and adulthood, Bastien and Chloè spend their summer vacation with their families at a haunted lake cabin in rural Quebec. Tropes of drowning, ghosts, and death linger throughout the assured debut by actor turned director Charlotte Le Bon that follows two teens whose few days together will ultimately change them forever.
Flowing
East Coast Premiere; Italy | 2022 | 93 Min | Dir. Paolo Strippoli
Reeling from the devastating death of their matriarch in a tragic car accident, the Morel family is shattered. Rather than bind together in shared grief, father and son deflect blame and lash out at each other in anger. The little sister, also sadly wounded in the accident, can only watch as the rest of her loved ones destroy what’s left of their family from the inside out. All the while a mysterious gas is seeping from out of the sewers that causes you to hallucinate your most painful, repressed thoughts. A dark and stormy Rome sets the stage for despair on a direct path to bloody carnage.
Give Me An A
USA | 2022 | 90 Min | Dir. Natasha Halevi, Meg Swertlow, Bonnie Discepolo, Danin Jacquay, Annie Bond, Sarah Kopkin, Monica Moore-Suryiage, Caitlin Hargraves, Megan Rosati, Hannah Alline, Avital Ash, Mary C. Russell, Valerie Finkel, Kelly Nygaard, Loren Escandon, Francesca Maldonado
An urgent and passionate response to the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, GIVE ME AN A is an anthology collecting 15 brand new shorts and a wraparound piece running the genre gamut from satire to horror, all thematically focused on abortion rights and bodily autonomy. An ambitious project put together in record time, GIVE ME AN A sees a massive ensemble of female filmmakers gather in unprecedented fashion to use their creative voices at a crucial moment in history. This is art for survival.
100% of proceeds from the screening will be donated to The New York Abortion Access Fund (NYAAF) to help provide access to reproductive services.
The Harbinger
East Coast Premiere; USA | 2022 | 86 Min. | Dir. Andy Mitton
While quarantining outside the city with her brother and father at the height of COVID, Monique defies their stay-at-home wishes to visit an old friend in Queens who’s suffering from nightmares of a plague-mask-clad demon. Before long, the demon latches onto Monique, sending her already-present fears and anxieties about COVID into hyperdrive. Writer-director Andy Mitton (THE WITCH IN THE WINDOW) delivers a haunting and clever look at our traumatic, collective pandemic experience through a supernatural, ELM-STREET-tinged lens.
Huesera
Mexico, Peru | 2022 | 93 Min. | Michelle Garza Cervera
Being pregnant with her first child should be the most exciting time of Valeria’s life—everyone else around her, namely her boyfriend, certainly thinks as much. But as nightmarish visions put her at the mercy of a restless demon, Valeria seeks solace from the woman she once loved and help from a coven of witches whose methods are, well, peculiar. A multi-award winner at this year’s Tribeca Festival, BHFF alum Michelle Garza Cervera’s stunning debut sets a new standard for motherhood-minded horror.
Influencer
World Premiere; USA | 2022 | 92 Min | Dir. Kurtis David Harder
Despite what she tells her loyal followers on IG, social media influencer Madison is having a lonely and disappointingly uneventful visit in Thailand. Her experience does a miraculous 180 when she meets CW, another traveler who seems to thrive on her own. After showing Madison all the amazing sights, CW saves the best surprise for last—a deserted island completely off the grid. Kurtis David Harder (BHFF 2019 selection SPIRAL) directs this sneakily twisted thriller that begs the question, are we the stars of our own stories or is no one?
Irreversible: Straight Cut
US Premiere; France | 2002 | 97 Min. | Dir. Gaspar Noè
If you’ve experienced Gaspar Noé’s incredible IRREVERSIBLE, you know that it’s an assaultive and brilliant look at the psychological damages caused by sexual violence and blood-lusting revenge, one presented as a backwards narrative that unconventionally reveals its characters motivations. Their actions, as well as the nihilism of the film itself, take on a whole new dynamic here, with Noé presenting the narrative in its proper chronological order, giving an already singularly powerful masterpiece the ability to cause a newfound dose of visceral devastation.
Jethica
New York Premiere; USA | 2022 | 70 Min. | Dir. Pete Ohs
An impromptu reunion between old high school friends Jessica and Elena (Callie Hernandez, BLAIR WITCH) in New Mexico is rudely interrupted by the implausible arrival of Jessica’s relentless stalker with a lisp, Kevin (Will Madden, THE WOLF OF SNOW HOLLOW). Super funny yet highly respectful of its serious subject matter, this paranormal comedy/noir thriller-hybrid represents the combined creative efforts of the main cast who helped devise the script as they went along. An exciting example of indie filmmaking ingenuity.
King on Screen
East Coast Premiere; USA/France | 2022 | 105 Min. | Daphné Baiwir
It’s no mystery that horror literature icon Stephen King has also been the engine behind some of the genre’s most memorable films, from THE SHINING to CARRIE, MISERY and the recent one-two punch of IT. In this insightful and engaging documentary, filmmaker Daphné Baiwir sits down with several of the directors behind your favorite King adaptations, including Frank Darabont, Mike Flanagan, and Mick Garris, to examine why the legendary author’s works translate so well in visual form.
Living With Chucky
New York Premiere; USA | 2022 | 102 Mins. | Dir. Kyra Gardner
The most famous pint-sized serial killer and My Buddy doll from hell, Chucky, has turned out to be the most enduring slasher icon of the 80’s. Piling up eight features, multiple reinventions and now a hit television show, the Chucky franchise has bewitched multiple generations of horror film lovers and enriched the queer horror canon like no other before it. Director Kyra Elise Gardner takes you on an incredibly personal behind-the-scenes journey from the very beginnings of CHILD’S PLAY through its continued evolution with interviews from the likes of Don Mancini, Brad & Fiona Dourif, and Jennifer Tilly—the people who have lived with Chucky the longest.
Megalomaniac
US Premiere; Belgium | 2022 | 100 Min. | Dir. Karim Ouelhaj
An uncompromising vision exploring the grimiest recesses of humanity, MEGALOMANIAC presents a tale of darkness in its many fucked up forms. With undeniably stunning composition, violence, and performances, Director Karim Ouelhaj shows off his next-level craftsmanship with this toolbox of horrors inspired by the true life and never caught Belgian serial killer, The Butcher of Mons.
Mother, May I?
World Premiere; USA | 2022 | 99 Min. | Dir. Laurence Vannicelli
Emmett (Kyle Gallner, JENNIFER’S BODY, DINNER IN AMERICA) enters into a nightmarish game of therapy with his wife Anya (Holland Roden, Teen Wolf, Channel Zero) who has inexplicably taken on the persona of his estranged and recently-deceased mother. Bizarre and creepy in equal doses, this psychological thriller from director Laurence Vannicelli (co-writer/EP of 2019’s PORNO) will keep you guessing if this is truly possession or just a twisted battle of wills?
Mother Superior
International Premiere; Austria | 2022 | 71 Min. | Dir. Marie Alice Wolfszahn
Sigrun Fink, an anesthesiologist-in-training, agrees to work as in-home nurse for an aging Baroness in her dilapidated manor. The old woman, once director of an Aryan maternity ward, might be able to help Sigrun locate her real parents—a mystery she’s been tormented by her entire life. Although answers quickly begin to reveal themselves, they come at a high price, one of dangerous folk magic and insidious occult ideals. From the incredibly stylish opening credits to the gorgeous gothic imagery and dynamic storytelling, you’d never guess this is director Marie Alice Wolfszahn’s first feature. A remarkable debut.
Next Exit
USA | 2022 | 106 Min. | Dir. Mali Elfman
The world changes in a flash when a scientist shockingly claims she’s able to track consciousness after death hence proving the existence of an afterlife. Rose and Teddy, two deeply tormented strangers on their way to join this new study, cross paths and reluctantly agree to travel together cross-country. The journey to voluntarily end their lives proves not to be such an easy exit plan as they’re haunted both literally and figuratively by the ghosts of their pasts.
NightMare
East Coast Premiere; Norway | 2022 | 99 Min. | Dir. Kjersti Helen Rasmussen
Eager to start their new life together, Mona and Robby have everything set: a new apartment, Robby’s new job, and Mona’s pregnancy. While things feel wonderful for Robby, though, Mona can’t shake the feeling that the strange occurrences around their apartment building are connected to her feeling that something inhuman wants the baby that’s inside her.
Nocebo
East Coast Premiere; Ireland | 2022 | 97 Min. | Dir. Lorcan Finnegan
Successful fashion designer Christine (Eva Green, Penny Dreadful) is plagued by a baffling ailment that causes a myriad of issues including paralyzing muscle spasms, memory loss and terrible hallucinations. Much to her surprise, a mysterious Filipino caretaker named Diana arrives on her doorstep claiming Christine hired her to help with the house. When Diana begins to use traditional folk remedies to heal Christine, she causes a rift between her and her husband Felix (Mark Strong, 1917, THE KINGSMAN franchise) and slowly unravels the disturbing truth behind Christine’s illness. Brooklyn Horror is proud to welcome back Lorcan Finnegan to the fest, director of eco-horror WITHOUT NAME (BHFF 2016 Best Feature winner) and psychological thriller VIVARIUM. Based on the Nocebo Effect—the idea that negative thinking will lead to negative results—NOCEBO is a mind-bending folk horror stunner with haunting real-world implications.
Old Flame
World Premiere; USA | 2022 | 91 Min. | Dir. Christopher Denham
A horrible secret from the past can no longer be contained when two ex-lovers meet up at a college reunion. Tension mounts and slowly builds over a series of conversations told in a theatrical three-act structure before boiling over into violence. Accomplished actor Christopher Denham (SHUTTER ISLAND, ARGO), directing for the first time since 2014’s PRESERVATION, puts truth, memory, and perspective dangerously into question in a compelling and challenging two-character thriller.
Repulse
North American Premiere; Czech Republic | 2022 | 86 Min. | Dir. Emil Křižka
The lives of two families with nothing in common —other than heavy emotional dysfunction — randomly collide and spiral into a web of abduction, filth, terror, and death in this disturbing and unique knockout. With its minimal dialogue and off-kilter lack of narrative chronology, writer-director Emil Křižka’s stunning mystery box of a debut upends familiar tropes and horror imagery as it seeps into your mind and leaves its grimy mark. It’s the kind of discovery that film festivals are all about.
Run Sweetheart Run
New York Premiere; USA | 2022 | 103 Min. | Dir. Shana Feste
What starts off as a promising client meeting for single mom Cherie devolves into a fight for her life throughout the streets of Los Angeles in writer-director-producer Shana Feste’s slick, must-see thriller. Originally launching at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, this Blumhouse-Prime Video backed horror film will make its New York debut in Brooklyn.
Satan’s Slaves 2: Communion
North American Premiere; Indonesia | 2022 | 119 Min. | Dir. Joko Anwar
In this direct sequel to his terrifying instant classic SATAN’S SLAVES (2017), director Joko Anwar re-introduces us to the same family now living in a doomed high-rise apartment building. After a night of terrible floods traps them inside, the dead return to terrorize them once again. Anwar continues to build out an exciting mythology with this gory and demented follow-up that is appointment viewing for all fans of the current wave of Indonesian horror.
Sick of Myself
New York Premiere; Norway | 2022 | 97 Min. | Dir. Kristoffer Borgli
Everything in their relationship is a competition for Signe (Kristine Kujath Thorp, NINJA BABY) and her boyfriend Thomas. When Thomas finds success in the modern art world, Signe scratches for a way to put the spotlight back on herself. She finds her answer in sympathy baiting, ultimately landing on a new pill with a dangerous side-effect. Body horror by trojan horse, SICK OF MYSELF sees the fantastic Norwegian actress Kristine Kujath Thorp create a literal attention-seeking monster. A must-see.
Sinphony
World Premiere; USA | 2022 | 88 Min. | Dir. Jason Ragosta, Steven Keller, Haley Bishop, Sebastien Bazile, Nichole Carson, Wes Driver, Kimberley Elizabeth, Michael Galvan, Mark A. Pritchard, Jason Wilkinson
Ghosts, witches, parasites, and more populate the nine segments in this ambitious and uniquely conceived anthology. Born out of the social audio app Clubhouse, SINPHONY introduces a new crop of horror filmmakers who pack as much energy and unpredictability as possible into their respective shorts, resulting in a lively omnibus that never lets up.
Slash/Back
New York Premiere; Canada | 2022 | 86 Min. | Dir. Nyla Innuksuk
It’s another boring summer lamenting how lame their lives are for Maika and the girls of Pangnirtung, a tiny northern hamlet in the Arctic Ocean. When Pang is invaded by shape shifting aliens, the teens are forced to become the hunters they were born to be and rediscover a love for their beautiful home.
Something in the Dirt
New York Premiere; USA | 2022 | 116 Min. | Dir. Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead
Two neighbors in a future Los Angeles join forces to record and document an otherworldly phenomena taking place in one of their apartments. Now major players in the Marvel Universe sandbox, genre film darlings Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (SPRING, THE ENDLESS) have returned to their independent sci-fi roots, adding another cosmic mindfuck to their resume.
Summoners
World Premiere; USA | 2022 | 88 Min. | Dir. Terence Krey
Former witch Jessica Whitman hasn’t casted a spell in almost ten years. When her childhood friend Alana Wheeler desperately seeks her help in performing a dark spell, Jessica is plunged back into a world of witchcraft more dangerous and powerful than ever before. Terence Krey and Christine Nyland, the filmmaking team behind 2020’s indie gem AN UNQUIET GRAVE, followed their witchy hearts with this deeply humanistic chiller co-starring indie icon Larry Fessenden.
Swallowed
USA | 2022 | 92 Min | Dir. Carter Smith
A quick, easy drug run orchestrated by his best friend Dom is supposed to send Ben off to his new life in California with some extra cash in his pocket. They arrive at the pick-up location to find Dom’s cousin drugged up and her intense, take-no-bullshit girlfriend Alice (Jena Malone, DONNIE DARKO, THE NEON DEMON) calling the shots. She insists the only way to get their money is to smuggle the drugs past the state border by way of ingesting them. Then it all goes to hell. A new queer nightmare from Carter Smith (director of THE RUINS), SWALLOWED is a dirty and disturbing, body horror love story featuring a delightfully unhinged supporting turn from Mark Patton (SCREAM, QUEEN! MY NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET).
Terror Train
World Premiere; US/Canada | 2022 | 91 Min | Dir. Philippe Gagnon
Lovers of ’80s slasher cinema know all about the Jamie-Lee-Curtis-led favorite TERROR TRAIN (1980). Now, 42 years later, Tubi is set to thrill horror fans with a contemporary reimagining of this cult classic. Keeping many of the original’s elements, including the killer’s clown mask obsession, intact, Tubi’s rambunctious and blood-drenched new remake takes place during a Halloween-themed bash, where college seniors on board a party train soon find themselves amidst locomotive-bound carnage en route to its body-count-heavy final destination.
V/H/S/99
New York Premiere; USA | 2022 | 99 Min. | Dir. Maggie Levin, Johannes Roberts, Flying Lotus, Tyler MacIntyre, Vanessa & Joseph Winter
Experience the pandemonium of Y2K all over again with the latest entry in the iconic V/H/S found-footage horror anthology franchise, featuring a collection of the series’ most impressive segments to date. With directors Joseph and Vanessa Winter (DEADSTREAM) hosting an insane New Year’s Eve party, Flying Lotus’ (KUSO) gross-out game show, Johannes Roberts’ (47 METERS DOWN) sorority hazing ritual, Maggie Levin’s (INTO THE DARK) punk rock terror, and Tyler MacIntyre (TRAGEDY GIRLS) voyeuristic freak out, V/H/S/99 is a nostalgic trip through the past laced with ’90s rock, spiders, and lots of blood.
The Weird Kidz
World Premiere; USA | 2022 | 80 Min | Dir. Zach Passero
Three 12-year-old boys, including the precocious Dug, excitedly tag along with Dug’s older brother and his new girlfriend for a night of fireside camping. Their good times are rudely interrupted, though, when a local monster legend known as the “Night Child” turns out to be all too real. Painstakingly hand-drawn over eight years, veteran editor Zach Passero’s animated horror-comedy nails every fun-loving beat you could possibly want from a raucous yet heartfelt ode to ’80s coming-of-age genre films.
Year of the Shark
East Coast Premiere; France | 2022 | 84 Min | Dir. Ludovic Boukherma, Zoran Boukherma
Tough and humorless maritime cop Maja is finally ready for well-deserved retirement when bodies begin washing up on the shore. As she becomes hell-bent on proving it’s all a bloodthirsty shark’s doing, the community shrugs off her warnings.
2022’s Brooklyn Horror Film Festival runs October 13th through the 20th in Brooklyn, NY.
