Popcorn Frights Announces Homegrown Lineup and More Premieres

On the heels of its announcement last week, Popcorn Frights Film Festival has announced more films for their fifth edition. The festival, taking place August 8-16 at Savor Cinema, revealed such features as Paradise Hills, Knives and Skin, and Haunt last week. The second release includes details about their long-established Homegrown program.

Continuing Popcorn Frights' commitment to South Florida filmmakers, the Homegrown: 100% Pure Fresh Squeezed Florida Horror program features short films by locals and homegrown talent. The world premieres of A Doll for Edgar, Always Listening, The Final Girl Returns, and The Limits will be part of the program, as will the U.S. premiere of Jon Rhoads and Michael Marrero's Call for a Good Time. Rhoads and Marrero won Best Short Film at the festival with Buzzcut in 2017.


Also featured in the program are the Florida premieres of two Borscht Corp productions: Brett Potter's Spirit No. 1 and Michael Arcos' Valerio's Day Out. The block of short local programming will be rounded out by the films Fever and Terror Road. These films are part of this year's collection of 50 shorts from 11 countries, a number of which will be eligible for distribution through the brand Alter, with which the festival is partnering for the first time this year.

And there's more from South Florida-based filmmakers: Erynn Dalton's directorial debut, The Gravedigger, an adaptation of Joseph Zettelmaier's Frankenstein play of the same name, will make its world premiere at the festival. World premieres from folks outside our fair state include Micah Gallo's Itsy Bitsy, about a family that moves into a mansion only to find themselves targeted by a giant spider, and Tom Botchii's Artik, a thriller about a comic book-obsessed serial killer.


Another festival highlight will be the U.S. premiere of Infección, Flavio Pedota's Venezuelan zombie film and social satire. The East Coast premieres of Keola Racela's horror sex comedy Porno and Brandon Christensen's Z make their way to Popcorn Frights, along with the Southeast premiere of the doomsday epic The Unthinkable and the haunted house film The Girl on the Third Floor, starring C.M. Punk. Additional features include the North American premiere of Queen of Spades: The Looking Glass, and a screening of Blumhouse's Bloodline starring Seann William Scott.

Popcorn Frights Film Festival 2019. Thursday, August 8, through Friday, August 16, at Savor Cinema, 503 SE Sixth St., Fort Lauderdale; 954-525-3456; fliff.com. All-access badges are on sale for a limited time for $99 per person and $169 for couples; single-screening tickets cost $12 via popcornfrights.com.