Second Annual Bruce Campbell Horror Film Festival Scares Up Surprises at Wizard World Chicago
Scott Hallam
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The Bruce Campbell Horror Film Festival returns to Chicago this summer, and it’s absolutely loaded with outstanding films and special guests. Presented by Wizard World, the Bruce Campbell Horror Film Festival runs from August 20-23 in Chicago and is a must-attend event for Windy City horror fans.
“You can have your rom-coms, your indie darlings, and your blockbusters,” said Bruce Campbell. “I’ll take a good old-fashioned horror movie any day or night of the week!” Agreed!
Featuring guests like Eli Roth, Tom Holland, and of course Campbell himself, this fest is sure to be an epic horror occurrence. The lineup of films is amazing and will, without a doubt, feature something to tickle every horror fan’s fancy. Click this link for tickets to the Bruce Campbell Horror Film Festival.
From the Press Release:
The second annual Bruce Campbell Horror Film Festival presented by Wizard World, running August 20-23, 2015, at the Muvico Theater in Rosemont, Illinois (9701 Bryn Mawr Ave., Rosemont), promises thrills, chills, guests, and surprises to Chicago’s legions of horror fans. The four-day event, programmed by The Awesome Fest, will coincide with Wizard World Chicago and offers convention-goers and ticket holders a chance to sit back, relax, and lose their minds.
“With this program we covered just about all of our favorite scary things,” says festival director Josh Goldbloom. “Vampires, psychotic breakdowns, cannibals, killer dogs, contagious diseases, mummies, bad decisions, and easily the most evil half-man/half-bunny rabbit of all time. I can’t wait to present it to our fellow film nerds in Chicago!”
Opening night gives audiences the chance to see the highly anticipated horror anthology film Tales of Halloween, which features shorts from some of the best filmmakers in independent horror including Neil Marshall (“Game of Thrones,” The Descent), Darren Lynn Bousman (the Saw franchise), and Lucky McKee (May, The Woman) and starring Lin Shaye, Adrienne Barbeau, Greg Grunburg, Lisa Marie, and more.
U.S. premieres include the gruesome Contracted: Phase 2, the ferocious Australian import The Pack, and the certifiably insane Bunny the Killer Thing. Special film events include a 30th anniversary screening of Fright Night (1985) with writer/director Tom Holland in attendance and a “Cannibal Brunch” featuring mountains of breakfast meats followed by a 35mm screening of the infamous Cannibal Holocaust (1980) introduced by Green Inferno director Eli Roth. (Editor’s Note: Much respect is given to anyone who can wolf down a heaping plateful of pork and keep it down while watching Cannibal Holocaust immediately after. Kudos!) There will also be a special screening of Don Coscarelli’s cult classic Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) followed by a discussion with Bruce Campbell himself! Plenty of other surprises are in store for audiences throughout the four-day event.
Jason Krawczyk’s He Never Died closes the festival. The film stars Henry Rollins as Jack, a social outcast thrust out of his comfort zone when the outside world bangs on his door and he finds he can’t contain his violent past. The movie is a masterful combination of film noir, crime thriller, character study, and horror story.
Films will screen at the Muvico Rosemont 18, 9701 Bryn Mawr Ave., mere blocks from the Wizard World convention hall. Screenings are free for Wizard World badge-holders (space permitting), and a limited number of festival badges and single tickets are available for fans who are not registered for Wizard World. Festival badges are on sale for $100, and single screening tickets are available for $12.
Bruce Campbell Horror Film Festival Films:
Body — Chicago Premiere
Three bored young women break into a house for cheap laughs, stumble across someone who shouldn’t be there, and commit a terrible deed.
Cast: Helen Rogers, Lauren Molina, Alexandra Turshen, Larry Fessenden
Dir: Dan Berk & Robert Olsen
Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) — Followed by a Q&A with lead actor Bruce Campbell!
Elvis and JFK, both alive and in nursing homes, fight for the souls of their fellow residents as they battle an ancient Egyptian Mummy.
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis, Heidi Marnhout, Bob Ivy
Dir: Don Coscarelli
Bunny the Killer Thing — U.S Premiere
A group of Finnish and British people get stuck in a cabin when a creature, which is half-human and half-rabbit, attacks them. The creature is Bunny the Killer Thing, and it is after anything that resembles female genitalia. Yes, really. Based on the 2011 short film of the same name.
Cast: Gareth Lawrence, Veera W. Vilo, Roope Olenius, Enni Ojutkangas
Dir: Joonas Makkonen
Cannibal Holocaust (1980) — 35mm screening introduced by Eli Roth!
A New York professor returns from a rescue mission to the Amazon with footage shot by a lost team of filmmakers. And it’s pretty damn gruesome.
Cast: Robert Kerman, Perry Pirkanen, Francesca Ciardi, Luca Barbareschi
Dir: Ruggero Deodato
Contracted: Phase 2 — North American Premiere — Cast and crew in attendance!
Picking up directly where the creepy indie hit Contracted left off, Phase 2 follows Riley, one of the last people to come in contact with the ill-fated Samantha, as he scrambles to track down those responsible for the outbreak before the highly contagious disease not only consumes his body, but possibly the world as we know it.
Cast: Matt Mercer, Alice Macdonald, Stacy Burcham, Laurel Vail, Anne Lore, Morgan Peter Brown
Dir: Josh Forbes
Dude Bro Party Massacre III — Special screening with filmmakers and Greg Sestero in attendance!
In the wake of two back-to-back mass murders on Chico’s frat row, loner Brent Chirino must infiltrate the ranks of a popular fraternity to investigate his twin brother’s murder at the hands of the serial killer known as Motherface.
Cast: Alec Owen, Michael Rousselet, Jon Salmon, Paul Prado, Brian Firenzi, Tomm Jacobsen, Greg Sestero, Andrew W.K., Nina Hartley, Larry King, Patton Oswalt
Dir: Tomm Jacobsen, Michael Rousselet, Jon Salmon
Fright Night (1985) — Followed by a Q&A with writer/director Tom Holland!
A teenage boy is convinced that his new neighbor is a bloodthirsty vampire, but nobody will believe him–until he enlists the assistance of a fussy old actor who used to kill the creatures all the time. In movies, that is.
Cast: William Ragsdale, Chris Sarandon, Amanda Bearse, Stephen Geoffreys, Roddy McDowall
Dir: Tom Holland
He Never Died — Chicago Premiere — Filmmakers in attendance!
Jack, a social outcast, is thrust out of his comfort zone when the outside world bangs on his door and he can’t contain his violent past. A masterful combination of film noir, crime thriller, character study, and horror story.
Cast: Henry Rollins, Booboo Stewart, Jordan Todosey, Steven Ogg
Dir: Jason Krawczyk
Hellions — Chicago Premiere
A troubled teenager must survive a Halloween night from Hell when malevolent trick-or-treaters come knocking at her door… and refuse to go away. From the director of festival favorite Pontypool.
Cast: Chloe Rose, Rossif Sutherland, Rachel Wilson, Robert Patrick
Dir: Bruce McDonald
Nina Forever — Chicago Premiere
After his girlfriend Nina dies in a car crash, Rob unsuccessfully attempts suicide. As he begins to overcome his grief, he falls in love with a coworker, Holly. Their relationship is complicated when Nina, unable to find rest in the afterlife, comes back to life to sarcastically torment them whenever they have sex.
Cast: Abigail Hardingham, Cian Barry, David Troughton, Fiona O’Shaughnessey
Dir: Ben Blaine & Chris Blaine
The Pack — North American Premiere
A farmer and his family must fight for survival after a ferocious pack of wild dogs infiltrates their isolated farmhouse. Through a series of frightening and bloody encounters, they are forced into survival mode to make it through the night. An exercise in suspense, in the same vein as Open Water and Backcountry, this grisly Australian horror/thriller packs a ton of bite.
Cast: Anna Lise Phillips, Jack Campbell, Hamish Phillips, Katie Moore
Dir: Nick Robertson
Some Kind of Hate — Chicago Premiere
A bullied teenager is sent to a reform school where he accidentally summons the spirit of a girl, herself a victim of bullying, who takes vengeance on his tormentors.
Cast: Grace Phipps, Lexi Atkins, Ronen Rubenstein, Spencer Breslin, Noah Segan
Dir: Adam Egypt Mortimer
Sun Choke — Chicago Premiere
Recovering from a violent psychotic break, Janie is just trying to get well under the care of her lifelong nanny and caretaker. She begins to veer off the road to recovery when she develops an obsession with a young woman to whom she feels an inexplicable yet profound connection.
Cast: Sara Malakul Lane, Sarah Hogan, Evan Jones, Barbara Crampton
Dir: Ben Cresciman
Synapse — Wizard World Presents a World Premiere!
Voyeuristic technology has surpassed our wildest nightmares and our most explicit fantasies. Running from SYNAPSE, an agency tasked with memory drug enforcement, a rogue agent fights against the organization that once employed him.
Cast: Henry Simmons, Joshua Alba, Sophina Brown, Adam Simon, Charley Boon, Will Rubio
Dir: Adam Simon
Tales of Halloween — Chicago Premiere — Filmmakers in attendance!
Ten stories are woven together by their shared theme of Halloween night in an American suburb, where ghouls, imps, aliens, and axe murderers appear for one night only to terrorize unsuspecting residents.
Cast: James Duval, Greg Grunberg, Pollyanna McIntosh, Keir Gilchrist, Grace Phipps, Barry Bostwick, Lin Shaye, Adrienne Barbeau, Booboo Stewart, Barbara Crampton, Lisa Marie, Sam Witwer, Clare Kramer, John Savage, Ben Woolf, Alex Essoe, Elissa Dowling, Noah Segan, Kristina Klebe, Caroline Williams, Graham Skipper, Robert Rusler, Dana Gould, Marc Senter, Ben Stillwell, Adam Green, Pat Healy, and many more!
Dir: Axelle Carolyn, Darren Lynn Bousman, Adam Gierasch, Andrew Kasch, Neil Marshall, Lucky McKee, Mike Mendez, Dave Parker , Ryan Schifrin, John Skipp, Paul Solet
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