Co-presented by Hulu and Shudder, Beyond Fest will be taking over the historic Egyptian Theatre for two weeks of chills, thrills, and scary, scary horror. The festival kicks off tonight, Wednesday, September 26th and will continue through Tuesday, October 9th, with a recently announced roster of 46 features and 24 West Coast premieres of “cinematic excess,” often in 35mm.
It truly is cinematic excess, with a 13-film retrospective of the films of David Cronenberg. Thirteen. Including “Scanners,” the best exploding heads movie ever made, “The Fly,” which needs no further explanation, Burrough’s “Naked Lunch,” whose scary naked mugwumps will ruin you forever, “The Brood,” with an already creepy Oliver Reed playing a creepy, secretive psychologist, and “Dead Ringers,” a gynecological horror movie you couldn’t pay me enough to watch. Check the schedule for appearances by David Cronenberg himself!
Other films are drawn from all corners of the earth, opening tonight at 7:30 PM with Gaspar Noe’s 2018 acid-drenched “Climax,” in which innocent dancers are dosed and have to face their inner demons out in the French wilderness. Unfortunately, “Climax” has just sold out. It figures it would be difficult to attain. Another film we are really excited about is 2018’s “Bad Times at the El Royale,” where an all-star-cast, each with a secret to hide, spend the night in a scary motel. Which proves once again that the scariest thing you can do is isolate a bunch of strangers and force them to confront themselves. (With special appearance by writer/director Drew Goddard.)
Tomorrow night, September 26, 2018, at 7:30 PM you can still catch “Lords of Chaos,” a chilling movie about Mayhem, founders of Norwegian black metal, who have probably lived up to the band name better than most. Perhaps you have heard about some of their exploits–suicide, the burning of churches, and even murder. Discussion following with director Jonas Åkerlund.
On Thursday, September 27, 2018 at 10:30 PM, “The Wicker Man” will scare the shit out of you in the sneakiest of ways. As police officer Edward Woodward investigates a disappearance on a remote Scottish island, we are amused and perhaps feeling a little superior watching the silly backwards festivities of the locals. But the goofy costumes begin to look more and more sinister as the denizens of the island prepare for the culmination of their witchy pagan festival.
Mark your calendars for September 30, 2018 at 3 PM for a free screening of cult classic “Bubba Ho-Tep.” Is Elvis really dead? No! He lives on, battling the evil Egyptian mummy that has taken over his retirement home. “Discussion following with director Don Coscarelli and actor Reggie Bannister, actress Ella Joyce and composer Brian Tyler. Join us in the lobby at 2:00 PM, when Coscarelli will sign his new book. This screening is free with RSVP.”
Other exciting events include the 80s outer space coke movie, “Liquid Sky,” “Bladerunner,” with a discussion about the costuming, Tommy Wiseau’s newest flick, Eli Roth and William Lustig appear in person to plus introduce Roth’s new TV show, “AMC Visionaries: Eli Roth’s History of Horror,” followed by the West Coast premiere of a new 4K restoration of Lustig’s 1980 slasher favorite MANIAC. There are too many films and personal appearances to mention here. Check out the link to the schedule below. Some showing are already sold out, so run, don’t walk, and be mindful of cabins, motels, remote girl’s schools, gynecologists, Oliver Reed, Norwegians, mummies, and just to be safe, Jeff Goldblum.
