One of the major signals that the coronavirus pandemic was a serious issue was when the South by Southwest Film Festival was cancelled earlier this year, with film festivals and theater chains struggling to reopen even all these months later, but Los Angeles’ genre film festival Beyond Fest won’t let that stop them, as this year’s event will be held exclusively at the Mission Tiki Drive-In, where the festival has been hosting screenings all summer long. The event will feature world premieres of Happy Death Day director’s new film Freaky, the Joe Manganiello-starring Archenemy, and The Wolf of Snow Hollow. You can head to the official Beyond Fest website for full details on the event, which kicks off on October 2nd.
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Per press release, “Beyond Fest, the highest-attended genre film festival in the U.S., is excited to announce its complete slate of 2020 programming comprising of seven nights of double-bill features including three world premieres, one North American Premiere, and two US premieres of unadulterated cinematic excess. Following a sold-out summer residence with the American Cinematheque at the Mission Tiki Drive-In, Beyond Fest returns to the socially-distanced safety of the drive-in Friday, October 2nd – Thursday, October 8th to generate funds for the 501c3 non-profit film institution.
“With a diverse slate celebrating all corners of genre cinema, Beyond Fest is proud to open with a double-barreled-double-bill curated by director Jim Cummings including the World Premiere of his electric werewolf tale, The Wolf of Snow Hollow, paired with Joe Dante’s classic, The Burbs. Closing night honors are bestowed upon Blumhouse and Beyond Fest alumni Christopher Landon for the World Premiere of their gloriously outrageous body-swap-slasher Freaky, billed with a special rep screening of Tucker & Dale vs. Evil selected by the director himself.
“Festival alumni are celebrated as agitator-extraordinaire Adam Egypt Mortimer returns to conquer Beyond Fest with the World Premiere of his newest Spectrevision mindmelt, Archenemy, Steven Kostanski blasts his OTT midnight vibes with the North American Premiere of Psycho Goreman, and Bryan Bertino brings the terror, unleashing The Dark and the Wicked for its U.S. theatrical bow.”
“We covet the theatrical experience above all and following the overwhelming success of our drive-in program we never hesitated in keeping Beyond Fest a physical experience” Beyond Fest Co-Founder, Christian Parkes, shared in a statement. “We specifically wanted to give COVID-19 a resilient middle finger and provide a safe, communal respite for filmmakers and film fans to celebrate the best genre cinema on the biggest screens possible.”
The release added, “Other hotly anticipated titles making their West Coast debuts include Rose Glass’ stunning first feature Saint Maud, alongside her selection of Rob Reiner’s Misery, Moorhead and Benson’s latest genre-melting, time-bending, head trip Synchronic, Justin Simien’s satirical Sundance stunner Bad Hair, and the U.S. Premiere of medieval-gothic-horror, The Reckoning, from longtime agent provocateur, Neil Marshall.”
“A timely dissolution of the American Dream is given center stage as the Maestro David Lynch is saluted with a triple bill consisting of three of his finest features: Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, and Mulholland Drive.”
“In a year that has seen the world turn upside-down, it’s good to see some things never change” Head Programmer Evrim Ersoy added. “Beyond Fest stands tall with an eclectic slate of programming that will challenge audiences and transform the drive-in experience into something never before done.”
The release concludes, “Finally, Beyond Fest celebrates Brandon Cronenberg with a special pre-festival event featuring the West Coast Premiere of his stunning body-horror, Possessor Uncut paired with John Frakenheimer’s sci-fi classic Seconds as picked by Brandon himself. This special warm-up event is scheduled the week before the festival opens on Thursday, September 24th.”
You can head to the official Beyond Fest website for details on tickets and full schedule of events.
Will you be checking out the event? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!
