From the catalog

Returning to his hometown after years of absence, the unexpected arrival of painter Charley (Alex Hurt, son of William Hurt) upsets the state of things by turning into a werewolf during a full moon. And from then, it’s not long until the bodies begin to pile up.

As recent successful genre offerings such as Werewolves Within (Josh Ruben, 2021) and The Cursed (Sean Ellis, 2021) prove, the werewolf genre is alive and kicking. In this modern-day variation, indie horror icon Larry Fessenden (Hollow Venus, IFFR 1990; Wendigo, IFFR 2002; The Last Winter, IFFR 2007) brings his very own mumblecore sensibility to the subject. Blackout is a clever exploration of small-town politics and family melodrama, offering keen observations on group dynamics without becoming didactic.

In the midst of the recent trend for art films masquerading as genre pieces, countless remakes, reboots and sequels of the meta-meta variety, Blackout comes like a breath of fresh air. While being a leisurely-paced matter-of-fact affair, the film finds time for stylistic flourishes such as Charley’s own transformational encounter with a werewolf which is presented as a charming animated sequence in the style of oil paintings. Most importantly, Fessenden knows, respects and visibly loves his material and its conventions.

– Stefan Borsos

The IFFR runs 25 Jan to 4 Feb, 2024

Wharton Tiers Ensemble releases “23”

A new album featuring the Wharton Tiers Ensemble
(Tiers on drums, Matt Hunter on bass, guitarists Kevin Kim, Perry Masco, Luke Schwartz,
Jim Santo, Rinny Petrillo, and Fessenden on sax.)

Tiers is a long time GEP collaborator, having produced and played in the band Just Desserts, and recorded songs for EXPERIENCED MOVERS before that. He is best known for producing and working with Sonic Youth, Dinosaur JR., Helmut, White Zombie, Laurie Anderson, Swans, Lunachicks, and Glen Branca among others.

See more here.

Fessenden in Portland Oregon at the famed Overlook Hotel seen in Kubrick’s THE SHINING.

2017, the year Glenn McQuaid and Fessenden presented TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE Live at the Overlook Film Festival. On the bill was McQuaid’s Reappraisal and Fessenden’s In The Wind. Both available on the Tales From Beyond the Pale Podcast.

#15 THE LAST WINTER

The Last Winter has a surprisingly great cast for a low-budget indie film — Ron Perlman, Connie Britton, Zach Gilford, Kevin Corrigan, and others star in this quiet, mysterious little genre picture from the great director Larry Fessenden. The movie follows the development of an ice road through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for an oil company, and a combination of environmental scientists and corporate oil workers who investigate the area and discover some strange, disturbing happenings.

Larry Fessenden Is an Indie Horror God

The Last Winter is a more coldly subdued horror film, less of a slow-burn than a slow-freeze. It’s all about atmosphere here until the end, and filmmaker Larry Fessenden is an expert at that. The director behind masterpieces like Habit and Wendigo creates another horror allegory here, a look at environmental doom that is subtle enough to just slightly shade the increasingly intense and hopeless events of the film. It’s a dark, mysterious classic of winter horror.

#3 WE ARE STILL HERE

A grieving couple, Anne and Paul Sacchetti, decide to move to a new home in rural New England to try to deal with the death of their son. However, Anne soon starts to see visions of her son trapped inside the home and visions of mysterious charred figures in the basement. When the residents start to visit and ask them to leave, the two are drawn into an evil truth about the town and the house they moved into.

A True Horror Film on All Fronts

Ted Geoghegan’s 2015 film We Are Still Here will instantly capture the attention of horror fans with its 80s aesthetic and homage to supernatural films of the era. Moreover, the production benefits from the inclusion of indie royalty in the horror genre, including Barbara Crampton, in what is probably one of her best roles to date. Moreover, it stars the aforementioned Larry Fessenden, who has appeared in everything from low-budget shockers like Family Portraits: A Trilogy of America to respected cult classics like Ti West’s House of the Devil. We Are Still Here is a well-rounded horror film that does not lean too heavily on nostalgia to weave its haunting story. The movie also has a wonderfully chaotic and gory climax. Watch for free on Tubi and Peacock and rent or buy on digital platforms.

Read full List by Adam Symchuk

By Brad Miska

Yet another trio of Dark Sky Films titles have made their way onto SCREAMBOX, All of them have a taste for blood…

First, Stake Land, the Jim Mickle-directed vampire classic that set the stage for his cannibal horror We Are What We Are and the Netflix series “Sweet Tooth”.

In the film, “America has fallen. A vampiric scourge sweeps the nation, turning brother on brother and parent on child as the blood-hungry beasts take deeper and deeper hold upon the land. It’s hard for the survivors to know whether to be more afraid of the creatures themselves or the violent religious groups that have sprung up in response, but there is clearly only one choice: fight or die.

“Connor Paolo (Alexander, Mystic River) stars as Martin, a teenager whose family has been slaughtered. His traveling companion is a taciturn, hardened vampire killer known simply as Mister (Nick Damici), and together they trudge across the land in search of the rumored safe haven of New Eden.“

Drawing on the post-apocalyptic frenzy described by Richard Matheson (author of the novel I Am Legend) and George A. Romero, Stake Land is a road movie with fangs. It co-stars new horror movie icon Danielle Harris (Halloween, Hatchet II) as a pregnant young woman and Kelly McGillis (Witness, Top Gun) as a traumatized nun who are picked up by Martin and Mister along their journey. The movie was produced by indie horror director Larry Fessenden(The Last Winter, Wendigo)!

Lastly is Bitter Feast, a culinary classic produced by indie horror director Larry Fessenden(The Last Winter, Wendigo)!

In Joe Maggio’s film a food critic can dish it out, but can he take it? Revenge is on the menu for notorious blogger J.T. Franks (The Blair Witch Project‘s Joshua Leonard) when he publishes a rumor that leads to the demise of TV chef Peter Grey’s culinary empire.

“Grey (James Le Gros) kidnaps the writer, confines him in a remote cabin and presents him with a series of deceptively simple food challenges – from preparing a perfect egg over-easy to grilling a steak precisely medium rare – punishing him for anything less than total perfection.”

“Bitter Feast is an exploration of the creative impulse gone tragically and ferociously awry.”

Revenge is a dish best served to order – raw and bloody on SCREAMBOX!

Read article at Bloody Disgusting which also features Onur Tukel’s Summer of Blood.

Ted Geoghegan’s BROOKLYN 45 (starring Fessenden, Blackout & The Ranger star Jeremy Holm) nominated for Best Independent Film at 2023 Saturn Awards.

GEP pal Kelly Reichardt nabs the Robert Altman Award at
2024 Film Independent Spirit Awards for her newest film SHOWING UP.

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, directed by Martin Scorsese, featuring Larry Fessenden,
named Best Film by The National Board of Review.

Longtime Glass Eye Pix collaborator Joe Maggio (BITTER FEAST, LAST RITES OF JOE MAE, Tales from Beyond the Pale and numerous unproduced works) will premiere his latest feature, BLISS, second in a potential trilogy started with VIRGIL BLISS (2001), at the Slamdance Film Festival 2024.

Bliss (USA) 
Director: Joe Maggio
Producers: Paula Killen; Matthew Myers; Larry Fessenden
An opioid addicted fugitive living off the grid in the desert canyons north of LA plays a twisted game of cat and mouse with a sexually repressed holy-roller in search of her missing sister.
Cast: Clint Jordan; Faryl Amadeus; Juan Fernandez
World Premiere

Read the Story at Screen Daily

This week in NYC, THE SACRIFICE GAME unspools at IFC Center Tue 12/5
and Alamo Drafthouse Lower Manhattan Wed 12/6.

Followed by Q&A with director Jenn Wexler, co-writer Sean Redlitz,
actor Chloë Levine and producer Heather Buckley.
Moderated by Samuel Zimmerman.

Catch it on the big screen or stream it on SHUDDER this Friday.