Visitors come to South Florida to enjoy the sun, sand, and ocean, but for the past decade, they have had another reason to head to Fort Lauderdale… in August no less. This year marked the tenth anniversary of the largest horror film festival on the Eastern Seaboard, Popcorn Frights. As usual, the festival had plenty to offer those who enjoy the genre with guest appearances, plenty of world premieres, and some classic movies that true horror fans know and love. The film offerings included Society, Maniac, and Psycho Cop Returns in the classic category, Old Wounds, Scared to Death, and Lizzy Lazarus as a few of the entries into World Premieres and a plethora of other scary fare that thrilled audiences for two consecutive weekends free of charge.
The opening night, August 8, 2024, was the World Premiere of Beezel - a story about a blind witch who watches the inhabitants of a cursed New England home from below the floorboards while thirsting for the souls of those who reside there. Then, immediately following was a showing of Strange Darling, which comes out in limited release this weekend and which was awarded the festival's Jury Award. Friday the 9th paid tribute to some of the movies from the past with screenings of Psycho Cop Returns, Maniac, Maniac Cop 2, and The Invisible Maniac.
Saturday, August 10th, boasted another stellar night with the Masters of Horror Panel that included directors Adam Rifkin, Will Lustig, Brian Yuzna, and Stephen Susco. These artists shared anecdotes from their movies and wisdom about the filmmaking process and the industry as a whole. Audience members were then able to see the Masters' films The Grudge, Society, and Return of the Living Dead III. The next day featured four World Premieres - Lizzy Lazarus, Birthrite, Scared to Death, and Old Wounds.
The second weekend had more slasher and thriller movies to tempt every palette. Another World Premiere, Drive Back, opened Thursday night with The Demon Disorder following two hours later. Friday was highly anticipated as actor Tony Todd was supposed to join the festival and receive an award, but unfortunately, was too ill to travel. Saturday closed the festival in style with a special event entitled Up All Night with Freddy. The movie marathon played all seven Nightmare on Elm Street movies back-to-back from 10 pm to 1 pm the next day. Those who made it through the entire night received a prize.
The festival was free this year (or for those who wanted to upgrade, they were able to purchase a badge entitling them to special seating) due to generous donations from the festival sponsors, including Paramount Scares, and, yours truly, FlickDirect.
Tags: popcorn frights. horror film festival, adam rifkin, masters of horror
