Chicago’s Cinepocalypse 2017’s First Wave of Programming Includes TRAGEDY GIRLS, SUSPIRIA Uncut, MOHAWK

Zombies, serial killers, and all manner of creepy creatures will descend upon the inaugural Cinepocalypse film festival in November 2nd–9th at Chicago's Music Box Theatre, and the first wave of programming has officially been announced, including Tyler MacIntyre's Tragedy Girls, Ted Geoghegan's Mohawk, and the 35mm uncut version of Suspiria.

Press Release: August 31, 2017 - The Music Box Theatre is proud to announce their first wave of programming and guests for the debut year of CINEPOCALYPSE (an evolution to the program design of Bruce Campbell's Horror Film Festival), which will take place November 2 - 9 at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre. The Midwest’s largest gathering of genre films and fans, the festival’s organizers are proud to have acclaimed screenwriter Simon Barrett (You’re Next, The Guest) guest host the entirety of the festival.

Writer/director Joe Carnahan (The Grey, Smokin’ Aces, The A-Team) will guest curate “Blood, Guts, Bullets, and Octane” - a special program of 35mm repertory films screening during the fest - while Oscar-nominated thespian Eric Roberts will take part in a very special live recording of Doug Tilley and Liam O’Donnell’s acclaimed film podcast “Eric Roberts Is The Fucking Man” - uniting the actor and the program that bears his name for the very first time!

Cinepocalypse’s first round of phenomenal feature films have also been unleashed upon the world. Featuring a wide variety of World, U.S., and Regional Premieres, they represent the latest and greatest in genre cinema from around the globe. First Wave titles include:

Rendel - World Premiere
Finland, 2017
Director: Jesse Haaja
Finland’s first superhero film, Rendel is dystopian action/fantasy unlike anything ever witnessed Stateside. When a massive criminal organization takes over his town, a masked vigilante strikes back through a series of brutal attacks that leave blood spilled and cash ablaze. A dark adventure that harkens to the finest in 80s era comics, Rendel is the anti-Marvel crusader: an all-too-human superhero from the streets, driven solely by rage and revenge!

Attack of the Adult Babies - North American Premiere
UK, 2017
Director: Dominic Brunt
High-powered middle-aged men intend to refuel the world’s economy by very sinister, sick, and monstrous means in this British gross-out extravaganza.
$1 of each ticket sale will be donated to the ACLU to assist in continuing their support of defending the world from further adult baby attacks.

Lowlife - U.S. Premiere
USA, 2017
Director: Ryan Prows
The sordid lives of an addict, an ex-con, and a Luchador collide when an organ harvesting caper goes very, very wrong in this wildly clever - and incredibly brutal - modern LA noir.

Mohawk - U.S. Premiere
USA, 2017
Director: Ted Geoghegan
Over one very long day late in The War of 1812, a young Mohawk woman and her two lovers strike back at a squadron of American soldiers responsible for the death of her people. From the writer/director of We Are Still Here.

Poor Agnes - U.S. Premiere
Canada, 2017
Director: Navin Ramaswaran
A female serial killer and her next victim form an unexpected relationship in this intense thriller that won raves out of Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival.

Animals (Tiere) - Midwest Premiere
Germany, 2017
Director: Greg Zglinski
A vehicle colliding with a sheep on a country road starts into motion a series of strange and unsettling events for a couple in this darkly comical, Lynchian nightmare.

Before We Vanish - Midwest Premiere
Japan, 2017
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
In this Cannes smash, three aliens travel to Earth in preparation for a mass invasion, taking possession of human bodies and learning what it’s like to live and love in modern day Tokyo. From the writer/director of Pulse.

Dead Shack - Midwest Premiere
Canada, 2017
Director: Peter Ricq
While staying at a rundown cabin in the woods, three children must save their parents from a neighbor who intends to feed them to her undead family.

Hagazussa - A Heathen's Curse - Midwest Premiere
Germany, 2017
Director: Lukas Feigelfeld
Set in the Austrian Alps during the Middle Ages, this morbid and visually-stunning tale deals with the fine line between ancient belief in magic and delusional psychosis.

Housewife - Midwest Premiere
Turkey, 2017
Director: Can Evrenol
On a snowy eve, a young girl’s mother kills her father and sister. 20 years later, as she’s slowly losing her grip on reality, the girl runs into a celebrity psychic who claims he is destined to help her. And then things get ultra weird. From the writer/director of Baskin.

Jailbreak - Midwest Premiere
Cambodia, 2017
Director: Jimmy Henderson
As all of Kol Kla Prison riots, a no-nonsense special task force is in to protect a key witness - and kick a whole lot of ass. Featuring a phenomenal, hard-hitting international cast, and a star-making turn from adult film star Celine Tran.

Sweet Virginia - Midwest Premiere
USA, 2017
Director: Jamie M. Dagg
A former rodeo champ with a dark past unknowingly starts a rapport with a young man who has a propensity for disturbing sociopathic violence that has suddenly gripped a small town.

Trench 11 - Midwest Premiere
Canada, 2017
Director: Leo Scherman
In the final days of World War I, a shell-shocked soldier must lead a mission deep beneath the trenches to stop a German plot that could turn the tide of the war. But what lies beneath is far more dark and sinister than he ever could have imagined.

Veronica - Midwest Premiere
Spain, 2017
Director: Paco Plaza
After making a Ouija with friends, a teenager is besieged by dangerous supernatural forces that threaten to destroy her entire family. From the writer/director of the [•REC] franchise.

Tragedy Girls - Illinois Premiere
USA, 2017
Director: Tyler MacIntyre
This clever twist on the slasher genre follows two death-obsessed teenage girls who use their online profiles dedicated to real-life tragedies to send their small Midwest town into a frenzy - and cement their legacy as modern horror legends.

Suspiria - 40th anniversary screening, newly-discovered Italian Uncut 35mm print!
Italy, 1977
Director: Dario Argento

The Cinepocalypse Midnight Movie Challenge

The production team at Boulderlight Pictures consists of 23-year-old JD Lifshitz and 24-year-old Raphael Margules. Alongside both Contracted films, they also produced Bad Match, which received its premiere at FrightFest; the upcoming Dismissed (starring Dylan Krause); and numerous other genre titles.

With their youthful exuberance and heavy output, we've issued them a challenge: produce a genre feature exclusively for Cinepocalypse 2017. There are no parameters other than it must be a feature-length midnight movie, and that they must begin production immediately upon release of this announcement.

Together, attendees of Cinepocalypse will all experience the World Premiere of this yet-untitled (and unwritten… and unfilmed) production during a special midnight slot in this year’s inaugural festival!

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Josh Goldbloom, Founder and Artistic Director of The Awesome Fest and what had been known as Bruce Campbell’s Horror Film Festival, and Ryan Oestreich, General Manager of The Music Box Theatre, aim to make this year bigger, better, and scarier than any in the festival’s history. Since 2014, the festival has terrorized audiences with an annual slate of premiere films, guests, and bloodcurdling entertainment. Leaving a trail of apocalyptic annihilation in the suburbs, as Cinepocalypse, the festival sheds its suburban skin, forms an epic alliance with the city’s historic Music Box Theatre and reemerges as a brand new horror behemoth for Chicago.

The Music Box Theatre stands as one of the nation’s most prestigious art house theatres, and has recently made a concerted effort to diversify programming and bolster local audiences. Located on the city’s Northside at 3733 North Southport Ave, The Music Box's year-round programming has consistently offered genre fans some of the very finest cinematic experiences in digital, 35mm, and 70mm formats.

This year’s Cinepocalypse, November 2-9, will features scary-good world, U.S., and regional premieres, repertory screenings, special guests, parties, and much more. For more information, visit www.musicboxtheatre.com. To purchase early bird badges, please visit https://www.musicboxtheatre.com/events/cinepocalypse.