Screamfest Announces Official Lineup

Festival Oct 03, 2017

The countdown has officially begun for Screamfest 2017 and we have dropped the official lineup. With less than two weeks before the festival kickoff, we here at Screamfest are gearing for another kick ass year of genre films from around the world. Aside from the killer American films to look forward to, we also have an especially great lineup of international films to check out. Some of our most well received films in recent years have been international titles, including last year’s Lake Bodom out of Finland. So, since it’s important not to sleep on this particular collection of international films, we have compiled you a list of some of the titles that we are particularly excited for.

The Laplace’s Demon [Italy]
Sunday, October 15, 2017 at 6:00pm

“Eight people are imprisoned in a secluded mansion on an uninhabited island. After waiting in vain for the host, they find a model with eight self-propelled pawns that reproduces the movements of each group member in real time...”

“We may regard the present state of the universe as the effect of its past and the cause of its future. An intellect which at a certain moment would know all forces that set nature in motion, and all positions of all items of which nature is composed, if this intellect were also vast enough to submit these data to analysis, it would embrace in a single formula the movements of the greatest bodies of the universe and those of the tiniest atom; for such an intellect nothing would be uncertain and the future just like the past would be present before its eyes.”
— Pierre Simon Laplace, A Philosophical Essay on Probabilities

Directed by Giordano Giulivi, The Laplace’s Demon explores the scientific principle that, by thoroughly studying the past, you may have the ability to predict the future. But how does this apply to human beings and free will? The Laplace’s Demon explores this concept in the style of House on Haunted Hill, a film that it clearly drew inspiration from. The stylistic black & white cinematography and period aesthetic pay tribute to the classic American horror films of the 1950’s and 60’s,

For more information about the film, filmmakers, and ticketing, check it out here.

Double Date [UK]
Wednesday, October 18, 2017 at 9:30pm

“Meet innocent Jim, terrified of girls, and on a reluctant quest to prove his manhood the night before he turns 30. He and his cocky friend Alex think they've hit the jackpot when they meet the beautiful siblings Kitty and Lulu, who seem up for anything on a wild party-fuelled night. But little do they know that the femmes fatales want to make Jim lose much more than just his virginity - Getting laid has never been so bloody difficult.”

If you are a fan of British dark comedies, this one is for you. Double Date is a wacky (and bloody) rollercoaster of a film. Double Date is the brainchild of Director Benjamin Barfoot and Writer Danny Morgan, whose mutual black sense of humor unites in this first feature film endeavor.
For more info and ticketing, click here.

Tigers Are Not Afraid [Mexico]
Thursday, October 12, 2017 at 7:00pm

“We are in a Mexican city turned into a ghost town by the drug-war. Estrella is 11, and when her mother vanishes, she makes a wish: she wants her mother to come back. And mom does return—from the dead. Terrified, Estrella escapes and joins a rag-tag gang of other children orphaned by the violence, all escaping their own past. But she learns that in a city ruled by death, you can’t simply leave the ghosts behind; they walk with you wherever you go.”

The third feature for Writer, Director Issa López, Tigers Are Not Afraid is a brutal and fantastical tale that would be right at home in the world of Guillermo Del Toro. The film is a topical and significant window into an underworld of Mexico’s forgotten children. López has received various awards for her literary pursuits and seems to be quite the force to be reckoned with.
For more info on her and Tigers Are Not Afraid, check it out here.

Vidar the Vampire [Norway]
Thursday, October 12, 2017 at 9:30pm

“Vidar Haarr is a 33 year old, sexually frustrated bachelor farmer who leads a Christian, monotonous and strenuous working life on his mother's farmstead in the Western outskirts of Norway. In a desperate attempt to break free from routine, Vidar prays to a higher power to grant him a life without boundaries. Unfortunately, his prayers are heard and Vidar wakes up one evening as the Prince of Darkness in sin city, Stavanger.”

VIdar the Vampire is the debut feature for directorial duo Thomas Aske Berg and Fredrik Waldeland, In a similar vein as the mockumentary masterpiece What We Do in The Shadows, Vidar the Vampire is a kafka-esque horror/comedy made on an impressively low budget.
To read more about the directors and more, check it out here.

Alone [France]
Wednesday, October 11, 2017 at 9:30pm

“Leïlais 16. She wakes up late, like any other morning. Except that today, no one is here to tell her to get moving. Where are her parents? She gets on her bike and rides through the neighborhood: it's all empty. Everybody has disappeared. Thinking she's the sole survivor of an unexplained disaster, she eventually crosses ways with four other teenagers: Dodji, Yvan, Camille and Terry. Together they will try to understand what has happened and to learn to survive in a world that has become hostile... But are they really alone?”

Based on the comic book of the same name by Fabien Vehlmann and Bruno Gazzotti, Alone is the second on this list that falls into the increasingly popular “Kid Squad” craze that has recently re-entered the zeitgeist. The nostalgic feeling of the unsupervised-kids-on-bikes-save-the-world aspect of the film is a strong draw in today’s market and it will be interesting to see how this trope translates into French culture.