Bruce Campbell’s Horror Film Festival, presented by Starz and their hit original series Ash vs. Evil Dead, returns for its third annual festivities on August 18-21, in conjunction with Wizard World Chicago. Today, the Festival announced highlights of the groovy lineup, sponsored by Shudder and Bloody-Disgusting.com, featuring the critically acclaimed opening night nail-biterDon’t Breathe, directed by Fede Alvarez; a salute to genre hero Fred Dekker; an epic event featuring comedian Doug Benson; and a 25th anniversary celebration of the most excellent sequel, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (originally titled Bill & Ted Go To Hell).
“I’m thrilled to bring our annual horror festival back to the Windy City for the third year,” said Campbell. “There were some wicked cool flicks this year and we went after the cream of the crop. If you love all things horror, check out our lineup!”
The festivities will kick off on Thursday, August 18, with the opening night film Don’t Breathe, the highly anticipated shocker from director-producer-writer Fede Alvarez (Evil Dead) and produced by Sam
Raimi & Rob Tapert. Alvarez will be in attendance. This will reunite Campbell with Alvarez, who directed the successful 2013 remake of Evil Dead. Sony Pictures is set to release Don’t Breathe on August 26, 2016.
The inaugural “Groovy as Hell” award will be presented to writer/directorFred Dekker (Fox’s upcoming The Predator). The awards ceremony will consist of a 30th anniversary screening of the cult classic Night of The Creeps and a very special screening of The Monster Squad with actors Andre Gower (Sean) & Ryan Lambert (Rudy) also in attendance.
Festival favorite Doug Benson (Doug Loves Movies, Chromic-Con, Super High Me) will be in town for a very special ‘Doug Benson Movie Interruption’ of Army of Darkness, with guest interrupter Bruce Campbell! The two will sit in the front row together with a selection of mystery comedy guests, and say whatever hilarious stuff that pops into their head. A limited amount of single tickets for this event are on sale now!
BCHFF is thrilled to present a 25th anniversary celebration of everyone’s favorite time-traveling metalhead slackers, a screening of Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey with director Peter Hewitt in attendance! Additional guests for this screening will be announced at a later date.
The festival will also mark the World Premieres of Found Footage 3D, the long-awaited satirical horror film produced by Kim Henkel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and directed by Steven DeGennaro, and Show Yourself, a haunting & remarkable genre-bending feature debut from Billy Ray Brewton (subject of the wonderful award-winning 2014 documentarySkanks, and programmer for Slamdance Film Festival).
Fans in the region will also experience the Chicago premieres of:
- The Greasy Strangler – The most hilariously disturbing film of the year. From Elijah Wood’s Spectrevision, Drafthouse Films, & Ant Timpson.
- Here Alone – Winner of the 2016 Tribeca Audience Award.
- Abattoir – From Darren Bousman, the director of Saw2, 3, 4, Repo: The Genetic Opera, Mother’s Day, and The Devil’s Carnival. Darren will be in attendance to present the film.
- Pet – The SXSW hit starring Dominic Monaghan (Lord of The RingsTrilogy).
- I am Not a Serial Killer – Starring Christopher Lloyd in yet another career defining performance.
- Beyond The Gates – Winner of the midnight audience award at Los Angeles Film Festival.
The Bruce Campbell Horror Film Festival jury this year includes a few dignitaries well-known to horror fans: Tom Holland (writer/director, Fright Night, Child’s Play); Barry Bostwick (Rocky Horror Picture Show); Cerina Vincent (Cabin Fever); and Zach Hagen (producer, He Never Died).
“It’s been another astonishing year for horror cinema”, said festival director, Josh Goldbloom. “I’m overwhelmed by the amount of talent & creativity working in this field. Their contributions are innovative, visionary, beautifully unnerving, defiantly weird, and of course, bloody as all hell. This year’s festival is a showcase of all the many reasons why genre film & its fans are the best in the world.
Many additional titles, surprises and guest announcements will be announced over the coming month, along with a very special closing night feature, presented by Bloody-Disgusting.com.
Festival badges are $100, and are on sale now at www.bchff.com! Limited single tickets sales for screenings will go on sale Wednesday, July 6th.
The festival and all screenings will be held at the Carmike Muvico Rosemont 18.
First Wave
Opening Night:
DON’T BREATHE
A trio of friends break into the house of a wealthy blind man, thinking they’ll get away with the perfect heist. They’re wrong
Cast: Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovato, Stephen Lang
Dir: Fede Alvarez
Distributor: Sony Pictures
U.S. Release Date: August 26
ABATTOIR
How do you build a haunted house? Ask the enigmatic Jebediah Crone, the main suspect in a case of stolen rooms where horrific tragedies have occurred.
Cast: Jessica Lowndes, Joe Anderson, Lin Shaye, Dayton Callie, Bryan Batt,, J. Larose
Dir: Darren Lynn Bousman
BEYOND THE GATES
Seven months after their father’s disappearance, two brothers reunite to liquidate the family video store. Unfortunately, things go from bad to worse when they find an old VHS boardgame with evil powers, and all hell breaks loose.
Cast: Chase Williamson, Graham Skipper, Brea Grant, Barbara Crampton, Matt Mercer, Jesse Merlin
Dir: Jackson Stewart
FOUND FOOTAGE 3D
A group of low-budget filmmakers sets out to make “the first 3D found footage horror film,” but find themselves *in* the first 3D found footage horror film when the evil entity from their movie escapes into their behind-the-scenes footage.
Cast: Carter Roy, Alena von Stroheim, Chris O’Brien, Tom Saporito, Scott Allen Perry, Jessica Perrin, Scott Weinberg
Dir: Steven DeGennaro
THE GREASY STRANGLER
Pure. Fucking. Chaos.
Cast: Michael St. Michaels, Sky Elobar, Elizabeth De Razzo
Dir: Jim Hosking
HERE ALONE
A young woman struggles to survive on her own in the wake of a mysterious epidemic that has decimated society and forced her deep into the unforgiving wilderness.
Cast: Lucy Walters, Adam David Thompson, Gina Piersanti, Shane West
Dir: Rod Blackhurst
I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER
In a small Midwestern town, a troubled teen with homicidal tendencies must hunt down and destroy a supernatural killer whilst keeping his own inner demons at bay.
Cast: Christopher Lloyd, Laura Fraser, Max Records
Dir: Billy O’Brien
PET
Seth works at an animal shelter, and for years has been secretly in love with a waitress named Holly . When he repeatedly fails in his attempts to woo her, he naturally decides to lock her in a cage at the shelter where he works. And that’s just the beginning…
Cast: Dominic Monaghan, Ksenia Solo, Jenette McCurdy, Nathan Parsons
Dir: Carles Torrens
SHOW YOURSELF
When his friend dies unexpectedly, Travis heads into the woods with his ashes to say goodbye. But as he deals with his grief, and the way it has affected the relationships in his life, he starts to realize that he actually might not be alone.
Cast: Ben Hethcoat, Corsica Wilson, Barak Hardley, Stephen Cone, David McElwee, Robert Longsteet.
Dir: Billy Ray Brewton
Fans can visit www.BCHFF.com for full details and additions to the slate as they happen and dates and times for each screening. Follow the festival on Twitter: @groovyfest
For more info on the 2016 Wizard World Comic Con Chicago (August 18-21 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont), visit http://wizd.me/ChicagoPR.
About Wizard World (OTCBB: WIZD)
Wizard World, Inc. (www.wizardworld.com) produces comic cons and pop culture conventions across North America that celebrate the best in pop-fi, pop culture, movies, television, cosplay, comics, graphic novels, toys, video gaming, sci-fi, gaming, original art, collectibles, contests and more. A first-class lineup of topical programming takes place at each event, with celebrity Q&A’s, comics-themed sessions, costume contests, movie screenings, evening parties and more. Wizard World has also launched Wizard World Store (www.shopwizardworld.com), CONtv, a digital media channel in partnership with leading independent content distributor Cinedigm™ (NASDAQ: CIDM), and ComicConBox™ (www.comicconbox.com), a premium subscription-based monthly box service. Fans can interact with Wizard World on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and other social media services.
The Wizard World 2016 schedule is available at: http://wizardworld.com/searchby/city/.
