Film fans may not think of South Florida when they hear genre film festival, but Popcorn Frights has been hustling to change that perception for the past 11 years—and it’s working. The festival, cofounded by Igor Shteyrenberg and Marc Ferman, is housed between two single screen independent cinemas about 30 minutes apart in Broward County, where the roster and the crowd size are expanding proportionately to the talent they attract. This year’s notable attendees included Barbara Crampton, Beck and Woods, Brandon Christensen, Kurtis David Harder, Lloyd Kaufman, Josh Malerman, and Stephen Susco, all there to present new film projects, sometimes multiple, and this was just the kickoff weekend agenda.
Opening night delivered a double feature from festival staple, director Brandon Christensen, who holds the Popcorn Frights’ record as a recurrent festival award winner. Christensen debuted two new feature-length horrors in two wildly different subgenres, introducing audiences to his hellish found-footage cop drama gone awry Bodycam followed by a very fresh take on the babysitter slasher with Night of the Reaper. Both films delivered enough scares to shake the theater. Night of the Reaper is already en route to a Shudder streaming release in September with Bodycam to follow in early 2026.
Night two of the festival began with Troma Trivia hosted by everyone’s favorite eccentric uncle, Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman, his assistant Andrew Miller, and your humble narrator doling out 30 questions for prizes. Kaufman was onsite to present the latest Troma project—an ambitious reimagining of what the original sequel to The Toxic Avenger would have looked like were it not split into the two films Troma fans know as The Toxic Avenger Part II and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie. As they stood for over three decades, neither film boasted a particularly memorable or even sensical storyline—but leaving this screening of the amalgamation now known as Mr. Melvin, more than a few festival goers quipped something to the effect of “The first Troma film to make sense,” and if you let that thought digest long enough, it’s pretty exciting.
The night wrapped with a most notably Floridian experience, screening John Carpenter’s 1980 sailor spookout The Fog with real and simulated fog rolling inside and outside the balmy theater grounds.
Three Barbara Crampton films crowned festival night three with two of her classic roles in Re-Animator (1985) and From Beyond (1986) sandwiching the soon-to-be-released Teacher’s Pet. The triple feature was ushered in with a Masters of Horror panel featuring six of the festival’s legendary guests (Crampton, Beck and Woods, Kaufman, Malerman, and Susco) discussing the unique experience of filmmaking in the genre and how overcoming personal fears is the only way to succeed in the horror business. Fango columnist and beloved goddess Crampton chatted with fans throughout the evening and left her signature sparkle on her inaugural journey to Popcorn Frights.
Midday Sunday I made an excursion to the southernmost point of the festival, Cinema Paradiso Hollywood, for a screening of Birdbox author Josh Malerman’s documentary To All The Books on novel writing produced by fellow horror screenwriter duo Beck and Woods. The documentary was followed by a once in a lifetime experience of Malerman joining Beck and Woods for an in-person commentary track of the duo’s fan favorite feature A Quiet Place.
Night four screened a very standard (read: mind-blowing) reel of Brian DePalma’s Faustian horror musical Phantom of The Paradise with an introduction by Fango friend and Swan Archives Principal Archivist Ari Kahan. It was a beautiful send off for me, but the festivities continue rolling online and in person through this weekend for a premier screening of Erynn Dalton’s American Cryptids and the Florida debut of Tina Romero’s Queens of the Dead with both directors on-site and wrapping with a late night screening of George A Romero’s Day of the Dead for its 40th anniversary.
The festival’s homage to their home state, Homegrown: 100% Pure Fresh Squeezed Florida Horror, a shorts block presented by filmmakers from their home state, goes off Saturday afternoon at Cinema Paradiso Hollywood. Later Saturday night, a loaded lineup launches back at Savor Fort Lauderdale with five new and classic films on deck starting at 3pm with Shane Brady’s revenge fantasy film HACKED making its South Florida Festival Debut. A cult film quadruple follows with three Dee Wallace films with the icon on site: Cujo (1983), The Hills Have Eyes (1977), The Howling (1981), before closing the night with a tribute to Prince of Darkness Ozzy Osbourne via Trick or Treat (1986).
And if you’re in town Sunday night, the festival culminates with four more screenings that will leave you screaming. Linnea Quigley will join fans for Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), Night of the Demons (1988), and Return of the Living Dead (1985), and closing out with the premier of new Elizabeth Moss and Kate Hudson body horror Shell (2024).
As a former Floridian who failed to find genre fan friends, Popcorn Frights is an oasis and it is growing every year. Should you be visiting the Southeast coast of the Sunshine State at any time of year in the future, I highly recommend a trip to Savor Cinema—once a Methodist church now converted into a place of worship for cinephiles. Planted elsewhere in the country it could feel stifling and even intimidating, but in the casual tropics of the US, moviegoers might even apply the unofficial regional anthem “It’s 5 O’clock Somewhere” to a lowkey matinee here.
