Summer’s in full swing, and the folks at Popcorn Frights Film Festival are ready to kick things up a notch. In addition to their stellar first wave of programming, which includes plenty of premieres alongside horror classics, they’ve just revealed the second wave of titles for this year’s festival, which takes place next month in Florida, and they’ve got plenty of surprises in store for even the most discerning of horror fans.
The big film headlining the second wave is Queens of the Dead, the queer zombie film from Tina Romero, daughter of George A. Romero, who will appear at the festival to premiere both her film and a 40th anniversary 4K restoration of her father’s classic film Day of the Dead. Also premiering as part of the second wave is the Sydney Sweeney-led thriller Americana, alongside Dog of God, Fucktoys, Good Boy, Influencers, The Mannequin, Slanted, Test Screening, and more.
And while their slate of premieres is already full to bursting, Popcorn Frights is also bringing in even more horror icons for ten days of fun in the sun. Dee Wallace will appear to host a triple bill of her cult hits, including Stephen King’s Cujo, The Hills Have Eyes, and a 4K screening of The Howling. Previously announced guests Barbara Crampton, Lloyd Kaufman, Scott Beck, and Bryan Woods will also be joining Stephen Susco for a Masters of Horror panel, hosted by FANGORIA’s own socials maven Kimberly Leszak!
Also on the docket is a very special screening of an oft-underrated John Carpenter movie. Popcorn Frights will be summoning a “thick layer of terror” with an immersive screening of Carpenter's The Fog, featuring full-blown Fog-O-Vision, featuring a veil of real fog rolling in as audiences experience a restored 4K print of the 1980 film.
But if you can’t make it to Florida to experience the frights in person, the festival has also added an extensive list of titles to their virtual program this year. The second wave slate includes Astral Plane Drifter, Carry the Darkness, Crossword, Custom, Don’t Hang Up, King Baby, The Only Ones, Tie Die, Universe 25, and more, as well as The Dark Fantastic, featured as part of their Hot Docs spotlight, as well as the documentaries Predators, Shadowland, Making Megaforce, and more.
Popcorn Frights Film Festival takes place from August 7-17 in Miami, and you can check out the full first and second wave lineups and purchase passes and individual tickets on their website.
