FLICKERS Horror Film Festival Opens Oct 27-30

 

A symphony of cinematic horror slashes its way across the big screen as the FLICKERS: Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) unwraps its 12th Annual RI International Horror Film Festival, October 27-30th. In addition to its traditional spooky film fare, this year's festival includes its popular H.P. Lovecraft Walking Tour with the RI Historical Society, a Double-Feature Date-Night Evening with Scream4 at The Vets, and a special partnership with Woodhaven Production Company, creators of the locally produced Inkubus starring noted horror film icon, Robert Englund who will be on hand. The 2011 festival will include an expanded focus that will include horror, thrillers and sci-fi that will run as a thread throughout the screenings.

 

 

The Festival kicks off officially on Thursday, October 27th, 7:00 p.m. at the Bell Street Chapel Theatre, 5 Bell Street, Providence. The Opening Night Spooktacular will feature a series of international shorts and the feature film State of Emergency directed by Turner Clay. The story follows a small group of survivors forced into hiding after a chemical facility explodes in their small town as they defend themselves against those who were affected by the chemicals.

 

 

On Friday, October 28th, at 10:30 a.m. Horror fans will want to be at the Mary Tefft White Cultural Center, University Library at Roger Williams University in Bristol. Thanks to Rhode Island-based Woodhaven Productions, a preview of the highly anticipated horror film Inkubus, will take place. The free program, called “Behind the Camera Lens,” will feature star Robert Englund (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy vs. Jason, Hatchet), director Glenn Ciano and Producer Chad A. Verdi, who will be on hand to answer questions and discuss their new film. Inkubus opens in Rhode Island at the Showcase Cinemas in Providence and Warwick over the weekend.

 

Inkubus tells the story of a skeleton crew working the final shift of a closing police station when a demon named Inkubus (Robert Englund) calmly walks in. The screenplay was penned by Carl Dupre of Hellraiser: Hellseeker and Hellraiser: Hellworld, and was filmed in Cranston, Rhode Island.

 

On Friday evening, screenings will take place in both Providence and Jamestown, Rhode Island.

 

The Jamestown Arts Center located at 18 Valley Street; Jamestown presents nine international short films in a program called RIIFF Bloody Shorts of Horror. From Australian werewolves to viral contagion, it’s non-stop horror starting at 7:00 p.m.

 

At the Bell Street Chapel Theatre, there will be two screenings. At 7:00 p.m., the Canadian feature The Corridor is a buddy feature with a macabre twist. It’s paired two shorts: Paths of Hate from Poland, and Worm from the United Kingdom. At 9:15 p.m. the thriller An Evening With my Comatose Mother leads off a new film by acclaimed Oculus director Mike Flanagan--Absentia tells the story of a woman and her sister who begin to link a mysterious tunnel to a series of disappearances.

 

 

On Saturday, October 29th, The Festival’s “Weekend of Frights” will continue with screenings when The Vets, the elegant and historic 1,900-seat theater located in the heart of the capital city (1 Avenue of the Arts, Providence) becomes ground zero for this year’s frightful programming.

 

Matinees at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. will focus on international horror shorts including, Cabine Of The Dead, directed by Raul Cerezo (France), centers on an ordinary man who gets stuck in a phone booth, the night when the dead return to life; Enter The Dark directed by Todd Miro (USA), takes you into the dark recesses of a haunted house and the even darker fathoms of the human soul; Doll Parts directed by Karen Lam (USA), a serial killing driver's bad day becomes much worse when he picks up the wrong girl; Last Seen On Dolores Street directed by Devi Snively (USA), a heartbroken woman says goodbye to an old pet and hello to a new nightmare; Maquinas Infernales directed by Simon Pernollet (France), In Mexico, a boss makes a deal with evil forces from another world; and I Rot directed by Josef J. Weber (Australia), a high powered business man takes a deadly turn when his job and all that he knows is threatened by a group of employees he fears most.

 

 

In true horror-style, the Festival will be “slashing” its Saturday-night prices when it presents a double-bill of terror. The night’s line-up will begin at 7:00 p.m. with a pair of short horror films Vampyre Compendium directed by Matteo Bernardini (Italy) an ironic take on classic vampire tales starring Oona Chaplin (Charlie Chaplin’s grand daughter) and Incubator, directed by Jimmy Weber (USA), an edgy tale of a young man who wakes up in a bathtub full of ice in a dingy motel room only to discover his problems have just begun. These will be followed by the evening’s main event: a double bill of Wes Craven’s Scream 4 and Kevin MacDonald’s Beg.

 

In a special arrangement with Starz Media, the Festival presents an exclusive screening of Wes Craven’s Scream 4. The story features the original cast members and follows Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), now the author of a self-help book who returns home to Woodsboro on the last stop of her book tour. There she reconnects with Sheriff Dewey (David Arquette) and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), who are now married, as well as her cousin Jill (played by Emma Roberts) and her Aunt Kate (Mary McDonnell). Unfortunately Sidney’s appearance also brings about the return of Ghostface, putting Sidney, Gale, and Dewey, along with Jill, her friends, and the whole town of Woodsboro in danger.

 

Then director Kevin MacDonald’s Beg receives its Rhode Island Premiere. The tale follows Tony Moran (The Original Michael Myers, Halloween, and Halloween II) who returns to the screen as burnt out detective Jack Fox, who is being forced into early retirement. When the worst serial killer since the Boston Strangler begins a killing spree, Jack is torn between a life of retirement and sanity, or helping rookie detective Steve Ryan (Brandon Stumpf) stop the maniac who is stalking the streets of Salem.

 

The double-bill will be offered for the frighteningly low price of $10 per person/$15 per couple. College students, members of the military and seniors (over age 65) with valid IDs receive half-price admission of $5 per person/$7.00 per couple for the evening of horrors. Those who come in costume will be eligible for a special drawing of Scream4 DVDs, slap bands and tickets to the 2012 RIIFF!

 

 

On Sunday, October 30th, at 12:00 noon, the Festival presents its popular annual H.P. Lovecraft Walking Tour in collaboration with the RI Historical Society.

 

The life and work of Providence's best-known fantasy and horror author, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, provide the backdrop for this walking tour. Acknowledged genius of occult and horror fiction, Lovecraft's Providence Stories (written between 1924 and 1935) provide the basis for this walk. Lovecraft wrote eloquently, and in great detail, about such landmarks as Prospect Terrace, the First Baptist Church, and Benefit Street houses. See the site of his former home, as well as the sights mentioned in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Haunter of the Dark, The Shunned House, and The Call of Cthulhu. Lovecraft's own words offer a most amazing literary, historical, and architectural walking tour.

 

The tour departs from the John Brown House at 52 Power Street, Providence and lasts 90 minutes.

 

Tickets are $18 per person, can be purchased online, and include a ticket to the final screenings of the 2011 Horror Festival. The Walking Tour can be purchased in advance by calling the RIIFF offices at 401.861.4445 or ordered directly online at http://www.film-festival.org/HPLovecraft11.php

At 2:30 p.m. the Festival final screenings are two films inspired by H.P. Lovecraft screened at the Providence Public Library Theatre, 150 Empire Street, Providence:  The Curse of Yig, directed by Paul von Stoetzel (USA), follows a young academic searching for the legend of the infamous snake god, Yig; and The Whisperer in Darkness, directed by Sean Branney (USA) a tale about folklore professor Albert Wilmarth who investigates legends of strange creatures in the most remote hills of Vermont.

 

The FLICKERS: Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival is an eerie-sistable salute to what is an often-overlooked genre that will include a bevy of World and U.S. Premiers of short, feature-length and documentary films. In all 42 films have been selected from 383 submissions and include works from the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Canada, Germany, Italy and the United States. Many of the filmmakers will be in attendance, so audience members will have a chance to meet, ask questions, and even network with the next generation of horror-auteurs. Expected to attend from the United Kingdom is Oona Chaplin, granddaughter of celebrated actor, Charlie Chaplin.

 

General Admission for screenings is $10.00 per person. Festival 6-packs available at $40 (good year round and at any RIIFF film event) can be purchased online. Group Discounts can be arranged by calling the Festival office at 861-4445.

The full schedule for this year Festival can be found here.