Sun-soaked scares returned to the big screen in South Florida and made a cinematic splash virtually throughout the past couple of weeks during the epic tenth edition of the Popcorn Frights Film Festival, and we're thrilled and chilled to share this year's juried and audience award winners, including J.T. Mollner’s Strange Darling (Jury Prize for Best Feature Film), Ross Partridge's Birthrite (Audience Award for Feature Film), Cody Ashford’s Drive Back (Scariest Feature Film Prize), and Steven Hugh Nelson's Old Wounds (New Nightmare Prize for Best Debut Film).
Below, we have the official press release with full details on all of the winners, reactions, and highlights of this year's Popcorn Frights Film Festival, and to learn more about Popcorn Frights, be sure to visit their website:
Press Release: August 22, 2024 // — After a fantastic 11 night run filled with in-person and virtual programming experiences, the milestone 10th edition of the Popcorn Frights Film Festival has come to a thrilling close. The festival takes pride in unveiling its juried and audience awards, carefully selected from a robust lineup of 131 films — a program encompassing 48 features and 83 shorts hailing from 20 different countries, spanning nine distinct categories, that reached 12,700 fans.
This year, the jury panel, comprised of national media figures and local filmmakers, selected J.T. Mollner’s terrifying cat-and-mouse thriller STRANGE DARLING for the Jury Prize for Best Feature Film. In accepting the award, J.T. Mollner stated, “Wow. This is such an honor. Sincere thanks to Popcorn Frights, the jury, and all the horror fans we made this film for who came out to support. Getting this news was such a pleasant surprise.”
The Scariest Feature Film Prize was awarded to Cody Ashford’s chilling tale DRIVE BACK, an inventive twist on the slasher genre that had its world premiere at the festival. To further highlight emerging talent, Popcorn Frights introduced the New Nightmare Prize, honoring filmmakers making their feature film debuts. This year’s recipient was Steven Hugh Nelson for his found footage thriller OLD WOUNDS, which also world premiered at the festival to widespread acclaim. In accepting the award, Steven shared:
“We’re so incredibly grateful to receive the New Nightmare Prize for our micro-budget debut feature. The team behind Popcorn Frights truly champions independent horror filmmaking, and we couldn’t be more excited for their love and support. We hope that our film inspires other creatives and proves that you don’t need many resources to express yourself.”
The Jury Prize for Best Short Film was awarded to THE SOUND OF FEAR by Aidan Rea Payne, selected from 83 films competing across nine shorts blocks. The Scariest Short Film Prize was claimed by Will Lee for HER HOUSE, a sinister haunted house tale that turns a simple story into something truly special.
The festival’s spotlight on Florida horror marked its largest program to date, featuring a curated collection of the weirdest, wildest, and most off-the-wall films from the “sun & scuzz” capital of the world. Central to this showcase was Popcorn Frights’ HOMEGROWN: 100% PURE FRESH SQUEEZED FLORIDA HORROR, a dedicated program highlighting ten films that represent the cream of Florida’s homegrown crop. In this fierce competition, the award for Best Florida Short Film went to Frank Volk’s uniquely hand-drawn animated film THIS EDIBLE AIN’T SHIT, a project that took two years to complete.
In total, Popcorn Frights welcomed over 12,700 attendees to its films and events, offering both in-person and uniquely experienced virtual gatherings across all 50 U.S. states. During the festival, audience members in every hybrid screening had the opportunity to cast their votes online for as many films as they liked—but only once per film.
Claiming the title of Popcorn Frights’ Audience Award for Best Feature Film was Ross Partridge’s BIRTHRITE, a timely maternal horror tale. The Audience Award for Best Short Film went to PJ Magerko-Liquorice animated horror delight BRIM BROOME BOULEVARD.
In receiving the prize, Ross Partridge shared:
“Thank you to the whole Popcorn Frights Universe! We couldn’t be more grateful and excited to be included in Popcorn Frights 2024 festival and to be acknowledged by the audience with this award. We were thrilled to premiere Birthrite in front of such an enthusiastic, passionate, well-versed cinephile audience. It’s truly an honor to be welcomed into this horror family and to be a small part of this great festival’s history. The state of independent filmmaking is in a precarious place these days and we are so thankful that there still is a place that exudes so much excitement and hope.”
Celebrating a remarkable run of cinematic mayhem, this year’s Popcorn Frights Film Festival proudly featured 22 world premieres, 61 scheduled in-theater and virtual screenings and events, while drawing more than 70 filmmakers from all over the world to the heart of downtown Fort Lauderdale.
The 2024 Popcorn Frights Film Festival kicked off on August 8 with the premiere of J.T. Mollner’s electrifying thriller STRANGE DARLING starring Kyle Gallner and Willa Fitzgerald, and the frights kept rolling through August 18 with a wild mix of live events, parties, premieres, and industry panels. The festival featured legendary showdowns, with cult icons William Lustig and Adam Rifkin facing off head-to-head with their films in epic battles: PSYCHO COP RETURNS vs MANIAC COP 2, and MANIAC vs THE INVISIBLE MANIAC. Horror legend Brian Yuzna also joined the fray, celebrating the 35th anniversary of his masterpiece SOCIETY and presenting the never-before-seen “Lost First Cut” of RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD 3 with the audience—his first time watching it too! A star-studded Masters of Horror Panel featured William Lustig, Adam Rifkin, Stephen Susco, and Brian Yuzna, all moderated by Meagan Navarro of Blood Disgusting. Between the scares, there were beach parties, a spotlight on local talent with the HOMEGROWN: 100% PURE FRESH SQUEEZED FLORIDA HORROR program, a special 25th anniversary screening of Martin Scorsese’s BRINGING OUT THE DEAD starring Nicolas Cage, horror movie trivia presented by Paramount Scares, 22 world premieres, and the inaugural Golden Skull Award was presented to screen legend Tony Todd. The festival wrapped up with an “Up All Night with Freddy” marathon that dared the brave to watch all seven ELM STREET films in one night, capped off with the Bollywood horror musical MAHAKAAL, inspired by Wes Craven’s nightmare. It was a festival to die for—literally!
The full list of the festival’s award winners can be found below:
Jury Prize for Best Feature Film: STRANGE DARLING, dir. J.T. Mollner
Jury Prize for Best Short Film: THE SOUND OF FEAR, dir. Aidan Rea Payne
Scariest Feature Film Prize: DRIVE BACK, dir. Cody Ashford
Scariest Short Film Prize: HER HOUSE, dir. Will Lee
New Nightmare Prize for Best Debut Film: OLD WOUNDS, dir. Steven Hugh Nelson
Best Florida Short Film: THIS EDIBLE AIN’T SHIT, dir. Frank Volk
Audience Award for Feature Film: BIRTHRITE, dir. Ross Partridge
Audience Award for Short Film: BRIM BROOME BOULEVARD, dir. PJ Magerko-Liquorice
The 10th edition of the Popcorn Frights Film Festival was made possible with the support of its generous sponsors, including AGFA, Dark Sky Films, Epic Pictures, Fangoria, FlickDirect, Kino Cult, MVD, Nightmare Weekend Miami, Paradigm Cinemas, Paramount Scares, Savor Cinema, and its loyal fans.. Submissions for the 2025 Popcorn Frights Film Festival are now open via FilmFreeway: http://filmfreeway.com/popcornfrights
For all further details please visit www.popcornfrights.com
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facebook.com/popcornfrightsABOUT POPCORN FRIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL
Popcorn Frights Film Festival is the ultimate summer celebration of the art of horror, showcasing the finest contemporary genre cinema from around the world. As the largest genre film festival in the Southeast U.S., this 11-day event takes pride in premiering works from both emerging and established filmmakers. By offering a platform for these artists, the festival aims to provide an immersive experience that highlights the captivating power of storytelling through genre film.
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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