DayDark – Il Buio del Giorno (Italy, 90 min)
Dir: Fabrizio La Monica
Star: Ferdinando Gattuccio, Marco Balzarotti, Roberto Romano, Corrado Solari
Giorgio Belmonte is a Sicilian lawyer who lost his son under mysterious circumstances many years ago. Now he’s an alcoholic, alone, his life is destroyed. At the dawn of a hot summer day, Giorgio is contacted by a mysterious man who claims to be the kidnapper of his son. A psychological struggle begins between the two, a struggle that will also drag other innocent people towards the blackest abyss of the human soul.
Fabrizio La Monica was born in Palermo (Italy) in 1990. Passionate about horror and fantasy cinema since his childhood, in 2017 he founded the production company “Kàlama Film”. “DIO NON TI ODIA”, a drama-horror movie, was his first feature film, and was a winner of many festival awards around the world. “IL BUIO DEL GIORNO” is his second feature film.
Do Not Disturb (Canada, 86 min)
Dir: John Ainslie
Star: Kimberly Laferriere, Rogan Christopher, Janet Porter, Christian McKenna
Do Not Disturb follows Chloe and Jack’s honeymoon in Miami where a peyote trip to strengthen their marriage becomes a narcotic nightmare. As they confront their troubled relationship, they discover that this strand of peyote awakens a desire to consume human flesh. Their suite becomes an insatiable den of love, lust and carnal desire as Chloe comes to the realization that the only way to escape this toxic marriage is to literally consume Jack.
Director Statement: Ten years ago I wrote the words: “couple develops cannibal sex fetish on honeymoon” down on a piece of paper and have been pitching it ever since as Do Not Disturb. The concept developed into a relationship story using cannibalism as an allegory for emotions. With Do Not Disturb I drop the viewer into the lives of a newly married couple going through relatable, almost mundane issues and slowly pull them into a fantasy world induced by narcotics and play with their minds as an unreliable narrator. The bizarre becomes easy to digest, because it creeps up on you. Both in terms of style and story, Do Not Disturb is a film that can satisfy the visceral demand of a horror audience as well as translate over to a broader audience with its relationship story.
Killing Time (Spain, 81 min)
Dir: Norberto Ramos del Val
Star: Marta Almodóvar, Alba Fontecha, Claudia Molina, Jorge Páez
Sonia wanders around the gloomy mansion where she lives, obsessed with unraveling a dark hidden secret. Her past, her fears, her desire and her terrible nightmares have created a deadly web in which she is trapped, taking her away the little sanity she had left. Sometimes killing time is not such a harmless thing…
Director’s statement: “So, once again, I wanted to go back to making a fantastic horror movie. And, by the way, I wanted to make a giallo, with nice plot twists and morbid beauty everywhere. My worship for Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Sergio Martino and other crazy Italians is clearly shown here. On the script and photography, I worked hand in hand with César del Álamo, another crazy sick fan of vintage horror. Obviously, the film was not going to turn out very normal, and we are delighted with the madness out of time that has come to us. Fuck “elevated horror” – please, let’s make some fun. I made this my 12th movie because I can’t stop making movies, and obviously I’d rather make movies without money than wait for years and put up with outside pressure. It is a worthy choice like any other… I think!”
A Place Among The Dead (US, 77 min)
Dir: Juliet Landau
Star: Juliet Landau, Deverill Weekes, Seven McDonald, Gary Oldman
A Place Among the Dead is a genre-bending art film, which explores the repercussions of growing up under the sway of narcissism and psychological abuse. In this revealing, terrifying, entirely scripted, meld of fact, fiction and the fantastical, actress / filmmaker “Jules,” driven by the demons of her past, embarks on a journey at the potential cost of everything she knows and loves.
Director statement: We chose to make my feature directorial debut searingly personal to invite the viewer to do the same. As they say… the more personal, the more universal. My husband and I crafted this entirely scripted movie, using a meld of fact, fiction and the fantastical. I play an alter-ego version of myself, as do the following actors who have what I like to call “cameos on steroids” because they are much larger than traditional cameos: Gary Oldman, Ron Perlman, Robert Patrick, Lance Henriksen and Anne Rice, appearing for the first time ever in a film. In doing this meld, I shine a light on my life, with the hopes that the spectator opens the floodgates to become the participant. I set out to make a genre-bending, entertaining, art film AND to give voice to what has affected many, to open up a dialogue.
Slasher (Spain, 101 min)
Dir: Alberto Armas Díaz
Star: Sergio Alguacil, Mario Gallardo, Fabiola Muñoz, Reyes Monaj
Behind a very terse and up-front title, this is certainly a different take on the genre. It takes place in a rural area of Spain, beginning a decade or so ago when the “Red Demon” was terrorizing the area. But it’s a masked, psychotic killer with a moral code, leaving the locals alone, and instead preying solely on tourists and visitors. Turns out to be a family business, with young Julio idolizing his father, down to making a self-sized, cardboard version of the wooden mask his father wears (above). Fast-forward to the present day, and his mom, Carmen (Monaj) decides it’s time for Julio (Alguacil) to take up the mantle, and resurrect the Red Demon. However, the power in the mask comes with a price, and it’s not necessarily one Julio wants to pay…
The Winter Hunger (Spain, 109 min)
Dir: Álvaro García Gutiérrez
Star: Gustavo Fernández, Beatriz Toyos, Mariu RuÍz OrtÍz, Jeison Ossa, Consuelo Carravilla
NO online screening
A mutation of the rabies virus, B249 has been transmitted to humans. The infection initially broke out in the North of Sumatra and only needed 20 days to get the entire continent exposed. Now, three months after the first case, we have given up the fight. Infected people attack every single living creature they find on their way; only a bite is enough to get infected and the effects appear after a few seconds. There’s no electricity, no communications, no army, no government. A group of five survivors flee to the countryside, far away from populated areas. Winter is coming.
Director Statement: The apocalyptic theme, from pandemics to nuclear terror, through everything unknown that threatens us, has been captured in the cinema with a profusion of both digital and material media, which has meant very high budgets for the production of these projects. The Winter Hunger is an apocalyptic-themed project, which was raised from its inception to be self-financed by its director and producer. It has been possible thanks to the selfless collaboration of a team of 25 people between the artistic and technical team.