Horror Highlights: PIFF After Dark, Salem Horror Fest, Screaming Pods Network, ROAD TRASH, Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, BEYOND THE WOODS

The lineup for the 41st Portland International Film Festival has arrived and we have all the details on the After Dark program. Also in today's Horror Highlights: Salem Horror Fest details, Screaming Pods Network, a Road Trash teaser trailer, Miskatonic Horror Institute Studies class information, and Beyond the Woods digital and DVD release details.

PIFF After Dark Lineup Announced:Press Release: "(PORTLAND, OR) — The Northwest Film Center’s 41st Portland International Film Festival once again includes the popular, boundary pushing fare that constitutes our PIFF After Dark program, showcasing late night movies like Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani’s (Amer, The Strange Color of Your Body’s Tears) giallo-inflected, spaghetti western Let the Corpses Tan, Joseph Kahn’s (Torque) caustic, rap battle comedy Bodied, Can Evrenol’s (Baskin) riff on 1970s Italian horror Housewife, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s (Spring) looping, sci-fi thriller The Endless, Lukas Figelfeld’s folk-horror tale Hagazussa: A Heathen’s Curse, and Michael Matthews’ western set in South Africa Five Fingers for Marseilles.

All PIFF After Dark at PIFF 41 screenings is at the Northwest Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium, located in the Portland Art Museum (1219 SW Park Ave.)

Complete program listings:
February 16 – Friday 9:30 p.m.
Bodied (Dir. Joseph Kahn) – United States
A UC Berkeley grad student whose thesis explores the use of racial slurs in rap battles finds himself drawn into the ring in this Eminem-produced feature directed by hip-hop/pop music video director Joseph Kahn and written by battle rap legend Alex “Kid Twist” Larsen. Winner of the Midnight Madness Audience Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, “Bodied is pure zany fun disguised as a pure provocation, and sometimes vice versa, mainly because any attempt to characterize its narrative as problematic proves its point.”—IndieWire. (120 mins.)

Trailer: https://youtu.be/YgpL6R-X5Ng

PRECEDED BY:
Tickle Monster (Dir. Remi Weekes) – United Kingdom
A wannabe rapper doesn’t believe his girlfriend’s claim that her apartment is home to a tickle monster. (4 mins.)

February 17 – Saturday 9:30 p.m.
Let the Corpses Tan (Dir. Hélène Cattet, Bruno Forzani) – France/Belgium
A gang of ne’er-do-wells rob an armored truck, getting away with the gold bars. Hiding out, trouble ensues when unexpected guests AND the cops arrive, resulting in epic and complexly staged action. Cattet and Forzani (Amer, The Strange Colour of Your Body’s Tears) continue to channel their love of Giallo cinema but stretch in new directions, gloriously borrowing from spaghetti Westerns and Italian crime films. “Boiled down to a blurb, it’s like Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo) directed Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire.”—Birth. Movies. Death. (90 mins.)

Trailer: https://youtu.be/8Cx48AN5_y8

Sponsored by TV5Monde
PRECEDED BY:
Manila Death Squad (Dir. Dean Colin Marcial) – United States/Philippines
A journalist embeds herself with a violent vigilante group leader during the Philippine drug war. (13 mins.)

February 18 – Sunday 9:30 p.m.
Housewife (Dir. Can Evrenol) – Turkey
A woman who experienced a tragic loss as a child comes under the spell of a mysterious and charismatic cult leader. Pivoting (mostly) from the H.P. Lovecraft and Anton Levay influences of his debut film (Baskin), Evrenol instead projects a mélange of cosmic horror and Giallo influences mixed with a 1980s European soft-core production aesthetic. “Evrenol shows that he’s more than a one-trick pony. Housewife is an intriguing and strangely sensual tale of the descent into madness.”—The Hollywood News. (82 mins.)
Trailer: https://youtu.be/IuBs3WtYnLY

PRECEDED BY:
Setaceous (Dir. Tel Benjamin) – Australia
A neighborhood is terrorized by a car alarm in the dead of the night. (11 mins.)

February 23 – Friday 9:30 p.m.
Five Fingers for Marseilles (Dir. Michael Matthews) – South Africa
A recent parolee returns to his hometown, vowing to turn his back on his criminal ways. Before long he finds that some of his friends from the Apartheid era have internalized and recreated the tyranny they struggled against. “Director Michael Matthews and scripter Sean Drummond skillfully employ recycled genre elements to enhance the mythic qualities of their slow-burn narrative and reinforce the underlying sense that their archetypical characters are fulfilling destinies as inescapable as the fates that might befall major players in a conventional Wild West saga.”—Variety. (120 mins.)
Trailer: https://youtu.be/vaWV8YhoYCQ

PRECEDED BY:
Catherine (Dir. Britt Raes) – Belgium
An animated look into the origins of a crazy cat lady. (10 mins.)

February 24 – Saturday 9:30 p.m.

Hagazussa: A Heathen’s Curse (Dir. Lukas Feigelfeld) – Austria/Germany
In a small Austrian mountain village in the 15th century, a single mother is ostracized by the other residents, who claim she is a witch. With his debut feature, director Lukas Feigelfeld has constructed a folk-horror tale that hews more closely to a black metal aesthetic than any other film in recent memory. “It looks and feels far more substantial than most indie debuts, confidently bending genre rules with its minimalist dialogue and hallucinatory plot, which owes more to David Lynch or Lars Von Trier than to more orthodox horror.”—Hollywood Reporter. (102 mins.)
Trailer: https://youtu.be/ctr9g-9gVkU

PRECEDED BY:
Möbius (Dir. Sam Kuhn) – United States/Canada
Following the death of her true love, a high school poet describes what led her there in this highly textured, neo-noir short film. (15 mins.)

February 25 – Sunday 9:30 p.m.

The Endless (Dir. Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead) – United States
After receiving a cryptic video in the mail, two brothers return to the Southern California cult they left a decade ago. They discover that no one they left behind has aged, and the event that the cult’s doctrine foretold has yet to happen. The directors make the most of the sci-fi tropes at the center of their micro-budget film, which has more in common with My Dinner With Andre and Primer than it does with the Hollywood-produced spectacles that pass for science fiction today. “The Endless isn’t just terrific—it’s poised to be that breakout genre hit that It Follows and The Babadook were.”—Slash Film. (111 mins.) (111 mins.)

PRECEDED BY:
Zarr-Dos (Dir. Bart Wasem) – Switzerland
Two giant heads blow shit up. (7 mins.)

Tickets for PIFF After Dark shows available at https://nwfilm.org/film-series/piff-41-piff-after-dark/

ADDITIONAL FESTIVAL DETAILS
Following Opening Night, PIFF retains a sizable presence downtown and throughout the city with screenings at the Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium, located inside the Portland Art Museum (1219 SW Park Avenue), Cinema 21 (616 NW 21st Avenue), Regal Fox Tower (846 SW Park Avenue), Laurelhurst Theater (2735 E Burnside Street), the Empirical Theater at OMSI (1945 SE Water Ave.), Regal Pioneer Place Stadium 6 (340 SW Morrison St.), and Cinemagic (2021 SE Hawthorne Blvd.).

Over the past 41 years, the Festival has populated its schedule with diverse and innovative films for an audience of more than 40,000 annually from throughout the Northwest.  As Oregon’s largest, most culturally diverse film event, the Portland International Film Festival pulls together a multi-faceted experience with over 130 films (88 features and 48 shorts) and special events presenting a full spectrum of features, documentaries, and shorts – featuring works by both returning masters and emerging talents.

FULL SCHEDULE
The full PIFF 41 Program is available online at https://nwfilm.org/festivals/piff41/

ADVANCE TICKET OUTLET
Mark Building, Portland Art Museum, 1119 SW Park Avenue

Opens February 5 — daily from 12-6 p.m. (through March 1)

Advance tickets by phone at (503) 276-4310

Festival passes are available for sale NOW at https://nwfilm.org/festivals/piff41/

Admission Prices: 
$12 General; $11 Portland Art Museum Members, Students, Seniors (65+); $8 Silver Screen Club Friends, Supporters, New Wave members, and, Children
Opening Night: $25 general; $20 Silver Screen Friends, Supporters, and New Wave members

The 41st Portland International Film Festival is sponsored by LAIKA, The James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, The Henry Lea Hillman Jr. Foundation, Willamette Week, Pat and Trudy Ritz, The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Organization, The Lamb Baldwin Foundation, BankPurely, Oregon Public Broadcasting, KINK FM, All Classical Portland, XRAY.FM, and many others.

The Northwest Film Center is a regional media arts organization offering a variety of exhibition, education programs, and artist services throughout the region. The Center presents a program of foreign, classic, experimental, and independent works year-round at the Whitsell Auditorium, located in the Portland Art Museum. For more information, visit www.nwfilm.org."

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Salem Horror Fest Call For Submissions: Press Release: "SALEM, MA - Salem Horror Fest has announced the return of its annual exploration of social themes in horror with a city-wide program of premieres, double features, speakers, guests, live podcasts and parties in the Halloween capital of the world this October 4 - 14, 2018.

Following its 2017 debut, Salem Horror Fest seeks to find the most compelling horror shorts from around the globe with disturbing stories that reveal something about our societal fears. The best shorts curated by a jury will be featured as part of a two-hour showcase.

“What good is having a voice if you can’t scream? That’s why we created this platform. Horror is one of the most effective ways to help process the cultural anxieties many of us feeling right now,” said festival director Kay Lynch.

Last year, the Orlok Audience Award went to Topher Hannson’s ‘Dark Roast,’ a blood-splattered horror/comedy of errors with a punk rock ethos. Watch the trailer here.

Filmmakers interested in submitting their horror short can visit salemhorror.com/submit to be considered. Deadline is July 16, 2018."

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Screaming Pods Podcast Network: Press Release: "The creator and host of The Screamcast podcast, Sean Duregger (@seanCduregger), has created Screaming Pods (@ScreamingPods), a podcast network.

The network officially launches today (2/1/2018), you can subscribe to our network feed on iTunes here: https://t.co/KrpOAZFqkD

Our logo was created by Derik Hefner. Check out his work at http://Derik-Hefner.squarespace.com.

Screaming Pods is a co-op of independent broadcasters & shows dedicated to producing quality content about topics they are incredibly passionate about while deepening connections within their respective communities.

Shows range from humorous entertainment (The SPLATHOUSE, The SOVPOD, You Can’t Sit With Us), film reviews (The Screamcast, Just The Discs, Bloody Popcorn), to philosophical dialogues (The Life After, The AxPx). Here you’ll find great shows with high standards in production and conversation.

Our current line-up is:
The Screamcast: A Horror focused podcast with Sean Duregger, BJ Colangelo, Stephanie Crawford and Brad Handerson
THE SOVPOD: A podcast covering every shot-on-video movie ever made with Mike Delaney and Brad Henderson.
Splathouse: A small group of film, theatre, and music artists dedicated to furthering the conversation around cult films with Mike Delaney, Sarah Coykendall, Jim Schiller and John Terrell.
Just The Discs: A podcast about Blu-rays. Each episode, Brian Saur (of Rupert Pupkin Speaks) will go through a stack of discs from various distributors and talk about them.
Bloody Popcorn: Join the Bloody Popcorn team -- Joanna and Johnny -- every two weeks as they discuss a variety of topics pertaining to the horror/off-beat genres.
>Xenopod From The Year 5000: A monthly Science Fiction focused podcast with Sean Duregger.
You Can’t Sit With Us: A Queer Culture and Cult Cinema podcast with John Doolan & Spencer Swindon. We love horror movies, RuPaul’s Drag Race, vintage porn, our TVs loud, and our homosexuals FLAAAMING.Brew Bloods: Drink beer, think beer! Join Marc and Dustin each week as they pick a craft beer, drink a craft beer, and rate a craft beer, plus dispensing education and laughs along the way.
At The Fire: At the Fire brings back the memories of telling scary stories around the campfire. Jillian and Ben share stories about anything and everything weird, unusual, and just plain creepy. Come share your story, At the Fire.
The Life After: Each episode, hosts and formerly-committed Christians, Brady Hardin and Chuck Parson, interview someone who has also left their religion behind. Topics include discovering sexuality, growing up in a Christian background, parenthood after faith, rebuilding a personal morality, crushing the patriarchy, navigating complex family dynamics, thriving after divorce, embracing homosexuality, healing from spiritual abuse, acknowledging Religious Trauma Syndrome, and much, much more.
Ezer Uncaged: Ezer Uncaged is a conversation in progress between Lauren RE Larkin and Sarah Taras focusing on Biblical discussions about the Gospel, Jesus, womanhood, and gender relations.
The Armchair Philosopher: Conversations about faith, hope, doubt, disbelief, and everything in-between with Sean Duregger.
As we grow, a few more shows will be joining the family. Follow @ScreamingPods for more info! http://ScreamingPods.com is live right now."

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Watch a Teaser Trailer for Short Film Road Trash: "Teaser for the short horror film "Road Trash."

Featuring narration by Heather Langenkamp and music by James Malone. Shot by Rob Neilson and Savage Henry Films!"

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Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies: "Coinciding with Black History Month Miskatonic NYC is extremely proud to offer a class on black horror lead by Brooklyn based author, editor, and journalist Dianca London Potts.

From Spencer Williams’ Son of Ingagi to Jordan Peele’s Get Out, the cinematic screen has consistently served as a site of subversion for filmmakers of the African diaspora. Through the camera’s lens, tales of hauntings, demonic possession, vampirism, and hoodoo rituals gone awry have become a celluloid metaphor for colonization and racism’s toll on the Black psyche. Within this space, expressions of Black embodiment and the Black experience are momentarily freed from the limitations the white gaze. The narrative shifts, allowing for the complexity and depth of Black identity and its subsequent anxieties, fears, and vulnerabilities to be examined outside the constraints of traditional tropes.

Whether it’s Blaxploitation classics like Blacula and Sugar Hill, or successors like Spike Lee’s Da Sweet Blood of Jesus and the aforementioned Get Out, Black horror films are a historically visual mode of resistance within a pervasive supremacist culture. Rather than being sacrificial lambs, wise sages, or saviors to non-POC protagonists, Black characters within this context determine their goals and desires in opposition to whiteness rather than their proximity to it.  William Crain’s Prince Mamuwalde becomes the immortal Blacula, Ben — the sole Black character depicted in George Romero’s cult classic Night of the Living Dead —becomes a hero. Jordan Peele’s Chris becomes a survivor. Within this narrative context, the off-screen script is flipped. The marginalized aren’t merely centered, they’re canonized.

This multimedia presentation will offer an immersive thematic overview of Black horror narratives while highlighting noteworthy films within the genre-spanning the early 1900s to modern day. Select films will be paired with excerpts of literary, sociological, and philosophical texts to enhance students understanding of the cinematic genre and its radical roots. Through visual, cultural, and historical exploration, this presentation aims to examine and foster dialogue about what happens when subjection is subverted and what stories can be told when the white gaze is decentered.

About the Instructor:
Dianca London Potts earned her MFA in fiction from The New School. She is a Kimbilio Fiction Fellow, a VONA Voices alumna, and the online editor of Well-Read Black Girl. Her words have been featured in Lenny Letter, The Village Voice, Vice, and elsewhere. Her memoir, Planning for the Apocalypse, is forthcoming from 37 Ink. She currently works and resides in Brooklyn. You can follow her musings on Twitter via @diancalondon.

The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies – NYC - Black Horror: The Revolutionary Act of Subverting the White Gaze

Date: February 13th, 2018
Time: 7:00pm-9:30pm
Venue: Film Noir Cinema
Address: 122 Meserole, Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Prices: $12 advance / $15 on the door / $50 Full semester pass
www.miskatonic-nyc.com
http://www.miskatonic-nyc.com/events/black-horror-the-revolutionary-act-of-subverting-the-white-gaze/

About the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies:
Named for the fictional university in H.P. Lovecraft’s literary mythos, the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies is an international organization that offers university-level history, theory and production-based masterclasses for people of all ages, founded by film writer and programmer Kier-La Janisse in March 2010, with regular branches in London and New York as well as presenting special events worldwide."

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Beyond the Woods Digital and DVD Release Details: Press Release: "Left Films presents supernatural Irish horror Beyond the Woods, on Digital 5 February and DVD 19 February.

Hell is waiting for you…BEYOND THE WOODS.

Shot on location in Ireland, Beyond the Woods echoes the creepy supernatural horror of recent Irish genre hits The Hallow and The Canal, with its eerie and grisly tale of an unknown evil.

Seven friends meet up in the Irish countryside for a secluded weekend getaway but unfortunately for them, a fiery sinkhole has opened up in the mountains nearby. It’s burning hot, spewing out sulfur and casting a hellish stench over the local area. Determined to make the most of the weekend, the group decide not to let the noxious atmosphere get to them...but it’s getting worse. Soon the troubling hallucinations begin as an ancient evil starts to take hold. What malevolent force has crawled from the sinkhole and will any of them survive the weekend?

Following a successful run on the festival circuit where it picked up the Best Feature Film Award at the World International Film Festival Montreal in 2017, Seán Breathnach’s spine-chilling low budget nightmare finally makes its way to and North American DVD and VOD courtesy of Left Films.

www.beyondthewoodshorror.com"