While the beachside sun may have set on another amazing Popcorn Frights Film Festival, the talented team behind the fest has more scares in store for South Florida horror fans with their annual Wicked Weekend that kicks off on September 25th and features a killer lineup that includes Shelby Oaks, V/H/S/Halloween, Bone Lake, and more!
Press Release: September 2, 2025 // – Sharpen those fangs, polish your pitchforks, and prepare your popcorn offerings to the dark gods of cinema, because Popcorn Frights’ Wicked Weekend is back to possess your senses September 25–28 at the historic Gateway Theater. With six electrifying presentations over four nights that celebrate the outrageous, the unholy, and the gloriously unhinged, Wicked Weekend promises to be the ultimate baptism by blood for horror lovers who dare to surrender to the dark gods of cinema!
Opening this year’s Wicked Weekend is Sony’s SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE—a relentless, high-octane sequel to the cult phenomenon SISU. The immortal “man who refuses to die” returns to reclaim his past, but when a ruthless Red Army commander (Stephen Lang) comes hunting, the result is a savage cross-country showdown forged in fire, steel, and pure survival.
Headlining the program is Neon’s SHELBY OAKS, a nerve-shredding supernatural nightmare following a woman’s obsessive search for her missing sister—one that leads her straight into the suffocating clutches of an unknown evil. Also leading the lineup is Paramount+’s VICIOUS, starring Dakota Fanning, where a mysterious box triggers a chilling ritual demanding a sacrifice of love, hate, and need. What begins as a game unravels into a reality-bending labyrinth of terror, memory, and impossible choices.
For the bold souls who crave the grotesque with their gore, Wicked Weekend dares audiences with FUCK MY SON, the jaw-dropping, no-boundaries shocker from Johnny Ryan and Todd Rohal. Equal parts nauseating, hilarious, and horrifying, the film follows a mother and daughter kidnapped by a twisted old woman whose grotesque demands push terror into bleak absurdist comedy. This gleefully offensive midnight movie is guaranteed to leave audiences gasping, gagging, and laughing in disbelief.
Rounding out the program is V/H/S/HALLOWEEN, the latest installment in the cult anthology series. Trick-or-treat becomes a death sentence as haunted videotapes unleash twisted tales where every knock at the door could be your last. Also featured in the lineup is BONE LAKE, a wickedly funny, sexually charged descent into paranoia and terror, where a couple’s dream getaway unravels into a nightmarish spiral of seduction, manipulation, and survival.
From big screams to underground fever dreams, Popcorn Frights’ Wicked Weekend is a fright-fueled horror-palooza that celebrates everything eerie, outrageous, and gloriously unholy about genre cinema. For four nights only, South Florida becomes the beating heart of horror.
Access to Popcorn Frights’ Wicked Weekend in-theater experience is available through an all-access pass, which will provide an all-inclusive experience for films and special events hosted at the historic Gateway Theater in Fort Lauderdale. To order an all-access pass, click here.
The official poster for this year's Popcorn Frights Wicked Weekend was created by South Florida artist Jason Sheppard, who has been crafting imagery for the event over the past five years.
Celebrated as one of “25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World” by MovieMaker Magazine, Popcorn Frights recently wrapped its eleventh edition this past August with more than 13,000 filmgoers and industry professionals attending its summer week of wicked films, events, and parties. The twelfth annual Popcorn Frights Film Festival will take place August 6-16, 2026 across South Florida with submissions now open via Film Freeway. Shorts, features, documentaries, animation, film and video — all are welcome and can be submitted at the link: https://filmfreeway.com/popcornfrights
WICKED WEEKEND LINEUP
Bone Lake
Special Presentation
United States | 2025 | 94 Min. | Dir. Mercedes Bryce MorganA couple's vacation at a secluded estate is upended when they're forced to share the mansion with a mysterious couple. A dream getaway spirals into a nightmarish maze of sex, lies, and manipulation, triggering a battle for survival.
Fuck My Son
Special Presentation
United States | 2025 | 94 Min. | Dir. Todd Rohal
A mother's manic quest pulls an unwitting bystander into a twisted, obscene ordeal that spirals into lunacy and terror.
Shelby Oaks
Special Presentation
United States | 2024 | 91 Min. | Dir. Chris Stuckmann
A woman's desperate search for her long-lost sister falls into obsession upon realizing that the imaginary demon from their childhood may have been real.
Sisu: Road to Revenge
Special Presentation
Finland-United States | 2025 | 88 Min. | Dir. Jalmari Helander
SISU: ROAD TO REVENGE is a wall-to-wall cinematic action event, a sequel to the original sleeper hit SISU. Returning to the house where his family was brutally murdered during the war, “the man who refuses to die” (Jorma Tommila) dismantles it, loads it on a truck, and is determined to rebuild it somewhere safe in their honor. When the Red Army commander who killed his family (Stephen Lang from Don’t Breathe) comes back hellbent on finishing the job, a relentless, eye-popping cross-country chase ensues - a fight to the death, full of clever, unbelievable action set pieces.
Vicious
Special Presentation
United States | 2025 | 103 Min. | Dir. Bryan Bertino
When Polly (Dakota Fanning) receives a mysterious Box from an unexpected late-night visitor (Kathryn Hunter), it comes with a simple instruction: place three things inside: something you need, something you hate, and something you love. What begins as a strange ritual quickly unravels into a waking nightmare. Trapped in a terrifying world where reality bends and memory betrays, Polly must navigate a series of impossible choices. As time slips away, she's forced to confront the darkness not just around her, but within her—before it consumes everything and everyone she's ever known.
V/H/S/Halloween
Special Presentation
United States | 2025 | 115 Min. | Dirs. Bryan M. Ferguson, Casper Kelly, Micheline Pitt-Norman & R.H. Norman, Alex Ross Perry, Paco Plaza, Anna Zlokovic
A collection of Halloween-themed videotapes unleashes a series of twisted, blood-soaked tales, turning trick-or-treat into a struggle for survival.
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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 year-round 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.
Artwork by Jason Sheppard:
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.
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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