Screamfest 2021 is Back With In-Person Scares!
Created by Rachel Belofsky, the Screamfest Horror Film Festival is the largest and longest-running horror film festival in the United States. Horror hits like Paranormal and Initiation both were featured at Screamfest and this year’s offerings have just as much potential.
Due to the pandemic, last year’s festival was virtual with some select drive-in experiences. This year, the festival will be held at TCL Chinese Theaters in sunny Los Angeles, CA. There will be in-person screenings, outdoor events as well as galas and parties. Screamfest always has an eclectic collection of quirky shorts to thrilling, suspenseful features.
We at The Geekiary love Screamfest and I’ll be taking time to highlight some hopeful up-and-comers. Be sure to keep an eye out for our coverage. Here are a few features to look out for!
The Retaliators
This festival opener is all the rage and the trailer doesn’t disappoint.
In The Retaliators, an upstanding pastor uncovers a dark and twisted underworld as he searches for answers surrounding his daughter’s brutal murder. A high-octane original soundtrack and cameos from some of the biggest names in rock music set the tone as this horror-thriller reveals a game of revenge played using a new set of rules. Marc Menchaca (Ozark), Michael Lombardi (Rescue Me), and Joseph Gatt (Game of Thrones) star. Five Finger Death Punch, Tommy Lee, Papa Roach, The Hu, Ice Nine Kills, Escape The Fate, and more appear onscreen and on The Retaliators Original Soundtrack, coming soon via Better Noise Music.
#Blue_Whale
An entry that exploits the horrors of social media, but in a new innovative way.
After her younger sister Julia commits suicide, troubled adolescent Dana decides to find out what led to her death. Examining her sister’s computer, Dana finds a secret chat group where adolescents are encouraged to kill themselves through a challenge called “Blue Whale”. Dana’s investigation leads her ever closer to the truth, but to really discover what happened, she herself must play the deadly game. #blue_whale // #I_want_to_play_the_game is inspired by real events that happened in Russia in 2015 and 2017.
Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeyman
Another in the biohorror anthology American Boogeyman, this film takes on the life of Aileen Wuornos.
Based on a little-known chapter in the life of America’s most notorious female serial killer, Aileen Wuornos: American Boogeyman takes place in 1976 when 21-year-old Aileen (Peyton List) arrives in Florida attempting to escape her tragic past.
Soon she marries wealthy yacht club president Lewis Fell (Tobin Bell) who offers her the chance to become part of Florida’s high society. Ultimately, the victimized Aileen surrenders to her murderous impulses and wreaks havoc on the peaceful seaside community of Deland, Florida.
Father of Flies
The photo and title alone give me the creeps in the best way!
A haunting tale of family life. A vulnerable young boy finds his mother pushed out of the family home by a strange new woman, and he must confront the terrifying supernatural forces that seem to move in with her.
Alone With You
Another entry with queer characters, this thriller presents a new perspective.
Charlie (Emily Bennett) is setting the atmosphere in her sleek, two-story apartment in Brooklyn for a romantic homecoming for her distant girlfriend Simone (Emma Myles) who’s been away for work.
There are past glimpses of visual tension between the two, so we’re led to feel that this meticulous setting of mood may be a peacemaking gesture. Enamored beyond all good sense, Charlie begins to experience a myriad of unsettling incidents, and the horrors of what has transpired are slowly revealed in the shards of Charlie’s resistant memory.
–
Screamfest will run the rest of the month and I’ll be reporting on it so stay tuned!
Check out the trailer below:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liwdLkn5e3w]
Author: StickyKeys
Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.
Copyright © The Geekiary
Do not copy our content in whole to other websites. If you are reading this anywhere besides TheGeekiary.com, it has been stolen.Read our
