The 2016 Los Angeles Film Festival kicks off on Wednesday, June 1st, and this year’s Nightfall lineup looks to be yet another strong selection of genre films set to thrill festival-goers night after night.
For those of you in the southern California area, the 2016 LAFF runs through Thursday, June 9th and is calling the ArcLight Culver City Cinema home this year. Here’s a look at what we’re anticipating once the LAFF begins later this week, and for more information on the festival, please visit:
Abattoir (directed by Darren Lynn Bousman)
Full disclosure: Abattoir was edited by my significant other, so I am certainly biased, but my enthusiasm for the film comes from my excitement to see Bousman return to the hardboiled world of horror after working on The Devil’s Carnival musicals and his comedy-infused segment in last year’s Tales of Halloween anthology.
LAFF synopsis: "Julia, an investigative reporter with the style and confidence of a young Bacall, happens upon a series of gruesome murders tied to real estate mysteries, where entire rooms have been dismantled and pulled from their foundations. The fact that those rooms were the exact settings for heinous tragedies sets Julia and hardboiled cop Grady on a search for the unimaginable. The stakes go up when it suddenly becomes very personal in this stylized and increasingly horrifying modern-noir.
Director Darren Lynn Bousman has an impressive horror background, from helming SAW II-IV, to his passion project REPO! The Genetic Opera, and that love of genre in all its various forms comes across in this haunted house hybrid thriller, based on a comic book mini-series."
Abattoir screens on Tuesday, June 7th at 8:55pm, and again on Wednesday, June 8th at 5:40pm.
Beyond the Gates (directed by Jackson Stewart)
When Beyond the Gates was first announced last year, it immediately caught my eye. Jackson Stewart is a fixture in the horror community, and I was intrigued to see Barbara Crampton come on board not only as a co-star in the film, but as a producer as well. The rest of the cast in Beyond the Gates have all done stellar previous work in the genre, making Stewart’s directorial debut a must-see event for me this LAFF.
LAFF synopsis: "Two estranged brothers reunite at their missing father’s video store to liquidate the property and sell off its assets. As they dig through the store, they find a VCR board game that holds a mysterious connection to their father’s disappearance—and deadly consequences for anyone who plays it.
In the capable hands of first-time director Jackson Stewart, tensions rapidly escalate from the familial to the corporeal, as the supernatural pull of the game takes over. Paying homage to the best of ‘80s horror and kitsch, Beyond The Gates is visually rich and musically packed, incorporating the style and music from the era. A precursor to today’s interactive video games, this film will fright you with delight."
Beyond the Gates screens on Thursday, June 2nd at 10:45pm, and again on Monday, June 6th at 8:45 pm.
Don’t Hang Up (directed by Alexis Wajsbrot & Damien Macé)
Who hasn’t made a few prank phone calls in their youth? I’m certainly guilty of driving a few folks nuts in my earlier years and Don’t Hang Up looks like an intriguing cautionary tale for those out there who love to push people to their limits and film their shenanigans along the way. I’m looking forward to seeing what first-time directors Alexis Wajsbrot and Damien Macé can bring to the table for Don’t Hang Up, and it’s nice to see Sienna Guillory (the Resident Evil franchise) pop up in the horror genre again.
LAFF synopsis: "Following a long tradition of cocky teenage boys with too much time on their hands, Brady, Sam and Mosley like to amuse themselves by making prank calls. However, their cellular diversions are intensified by the extreme nature of the pranks they put their unsuspecting victims through, and the delight and encouragement they receive when they post videos of their hijinks online for maximum humiliation. Having pushed the wrong person too far, they find themselves on the other side of a call, and an evening intended for normal high school revelry turns increasingly bloody as their unknown assailant ramps up a prank of his own.
Award-winning visual effect artists and first-time directors Damien Macé and Alexis Wajsbrot (Gravity, Game of Thrones) have crafted a polished and fast-paced thriller with truly deadly intentions."
Don’t Hang Up screens on Saturday, June 4th at 10:30pm.
Mercy (directed by Chris Sparling)
I’m a huge fan of Buried (aka the movie featuring Ryan Reynolds in a box), so when I saw that the writer of that project was going to debut his second horror feature at this year’s LAFF, I knew it was one I didn’t want to miss. Chris Sparling did a decent job on The Atticus Institute, which was his first time in the director’s chair, so I’m excited to see what else is up his proverbial sleeve for Mercy.
LAFF synopsis: "Two sets of brothers, tied by their mother but with different fathers, return to their childhood home in the woods to be with their mother on her deathbed. Estranged and antagonistic, the lines are clearly divided between brothers, fueled by old hurts and current strains and heightened by the presence of a seething father and an inquisitive girlfriend. As the night stretches on, old family secrets begin to surface, testing all of their bonds and setting up almost unbearable tensions in this home invasion thriller."
Mercy screens on Saturday, June 4th at 11:30pm.
Officer Downe (directed by Shawn Crahan)
Shawn Crahan (aka “Clown” from Slipknot) made his acting debut in Darren Lynn Bousman’s The Devil’s Carnival, and while I wish he had done more in front of the camera, I’m really excited to see what he brings to the table as a director for Officer Downe. The film boasts a killer cast and was produced by Mark Neveldine (one of the madmen behind projects like Crank, Crank: High Voltage, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, and Gamer), so I’m expecting a badass and crazy-ass time with Officer Downe.
LAFF synopsis: "A young rookie cop is tasked with shadowing Officer Downe, an LAPD cop waging a war to clean up the streets of Los Angeles. Officer Downe’s foes comprise of a cadre of super villains, including the criminal syndicate of humanoid beasts dubbed the Fortune 500, Mother Supreme and her gun-toting nuns, and kung fu overlord Zen Master Flash. The rookie soon learns that you can’t keep a good cop down, as Office Downe takes a licking and keeps on ticking, again, and again, and again…
Based on the cult graphic novel by Joe Casey and Chris Burnham, the directing debut of Shawn “Clown” Crahan, of Slipknot fame, is a stylish, in your face, ultra-violent, non-apologetic, politically incorrect adrenaline romp that is sure to please comic book enthusiasts and cult hounds alike."
Officer Downe screens on Friday, June 3rd at 11:15pm, and again on Tuesday, June 7th at 9:10 pm.
Villisca (directed by Tony Valenzuela)
All it took for me was to read the name Jon Gries (most may know him as Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite, but I first came to adore him as an actor because of his scene-stealing performance in Fright Night 2), and I knew I wasn’t going to miss Villisca at this year’s LAFF. Director Tony Valenzuela has made a name for himself over the years with his work featured on BlackBoxTV, so I’m curious to see how he’ll do at the helm of an entire feature film.
LAFF synopsis: "On a June evening 104 years ago, Josiah and Sarah Moore, along with their four children and two young guests, were ruthlessly murdered in their home in Villisca, Iowa; the case remains unsolved to this day. In Tony E. Valenzuela's directorial debut, outcast high schoolers Caleb, Denny and Jess travel to the titular town intent on detecting paranormal activity at the home where the murders took place. After a brief daytime tour, they return late at night to explore the dark spirits trapped within the walls, at which point they find that the past is not exactly dead and buried. In a house full of bumps in the night, these three friends must grapple with malevolent forces, not only from this world and beyond, but also from within themselves."
Villisca screens on Tuesday, June 7th at 6:45pm.
Lights Out (directed by David F. Sandberg)
If you’ve seen the short film version of Lights Out, then you know precisely why I’m excited about the feature film getting an early screening during this year’s LAFF. I’m a big sucker for urban legend-type stories and with James Wan on board as a producer and champion of the project, I can’t wait to see what director David F. Sandberg is going to do with a bigger budget and a talented cast at his disposal.
LAFF synopsis: "Rebecca spent her entire life never quite sure of what was real when the lights went out at night, tormented by childhood fears and unexplained memories. Now grown, she finds herself overcome with dread when her little brother reports the same terrifying visions that threatened her own safety and sanity: a creature with a mysterious attachment to their mother that appears only when the lights go out.
Adapted from his successful short film that bears the same name and nightmare-inducing premise, first-time feature director David F. Sandberg–championed by producer and horror veteran James Wan–builds exquisitely pained suspense from every shadow, every flicker, every floorboard creak. Fear of the dark has never been so haunting or so deserved."
Lights Out screens on Wednesday, June 8th at 10:00pm.
The Conjuring 2 (directed by James Wan)
Considering that the first Conjuring debuted at the 2013 LAFF, it just makes sense that James Wan would return this year with his follow-up effort that has him reteaming with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson to chronicle one of the most difficult cases Ed and Lorraine Warren tackled throughout their paranormal careers. I enjoyed the original Conjuring and everything I’ve seen in the trailers for The Conjuring 2 looks stellar, so I’m absolutely on board for Wan’s return to the horror genre.
LAFF synopsis: "Renowned paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren travel to North London to help a single mother raising four children in a house plagued by a malicious spirit known as the Enfield Poltergeist. They quickly discover that the demonic presence is now also targeting them.
Reprising their roles of married demonologists, Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson once again brave the shadows and surprises of a haunted house, bringing intellect and sympathetic perspectives to a film that smartly crafts old-school scares and supernatural thrills. Veteran director James Wan concentrates on building tension and creating a rich, creepy atmosphere in this effective return to genuinely frightening storytelling."
The Conjuring 2 screens on Tuesday, June 7th at 7:30pm during a special event being held at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
Heather A. Wixson was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs, until she followed her dreams and moved to Los Angeles in 2009. A 14-year veteran in the world of horror entertainment journalism, Wixson fell in love with genre films at a very early age, and has spent more than a decade as a writer and supporter of preserving the history of horror and science fiction cinema. Throughout her career, Wixson has contributed to several notable websites, including Fangoria, Dread Central, Terror Tube, and FEARnet, and she currently serves as the Managing Editor for Daily Dead, which has been her home since 2013. She's also written for both Fangoria Magazine & ReMind Magazine, and her latest book project, Monsters, Makeup & Effects: Volume One will be released on October 20, 2021.
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