From Silicon Valley to Martha’s Vineyard to the Midwest: Sci-Fi Drama Heartworm Kicks Off 2026 Film Fest Run w/ Screenings at Cinequest, Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival, and the Julien Dubuque International Film Festival
The evocative science fiction drama Heartworm, written and directed by Miriam Louise Arens and Mitchell Arens, kicks off its 2026 festival run with screenings at three acclaimed festivals across the United States: the Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival in Silicon Valley, the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival, and the 15th Julien Dubuque International Film Festival.
Set in a near future shaped by immersive artificial intelligence, Heartworm follows Avena and Mark, parents navigating unimaginable loss who turn to NeuraLife, an advanced digital ecosystem capable of recreating memory, voice, and personality. As the line between memory and simulation begins to blur, the couple is forced to confront the profound emotional and ethical consequences of using technology to reconnect with what has been lost.
The film features a striking breakout performance by Tony Award nominee Amber Gray (Hadestown), whose portrayal captures the emotional intensity of a mother confronting the limits of both love and technology. She stars opposite Juan Riedinger (Narcos, Riverdale), with Tony Award winner Lillias White bringing commanding presence to the ensemble.
Shot entirely on Martha’s Vineyard, Heartworm was made in collaboration with the island community, with more than 300 Islanders participating in the production. Filming took place across numerous locations on the island, including the Vineyard Playhouse, Menemsha, and the iconic overlook on Middle Road.
The film’s cinematography by Mitchell Arens moves fluidly between the tactile intimacy of the natural world and the luminous seduction of artificial environments, creating a visual language that mirrors the story’s emotional and technological tensions.
Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Mountain View, California • Saturday, March 14, 2026 – 2:30 PM • Tuesday, March 17, 2026 – 2:35 PM
Grand Opera House, Dubuque, Iowa • Thursday, April 23, 2026 – 2:15 PM
As Heartworm travels from the global center of technological innovation in Silicon Valley to the artistic community of Martha’s Vineyard and onward to the Midwest’s celebrated Julien Dubuque International Film Festival, the film continues to spark conversations about memory, grief, and the increasingly complex relationship between humanity and artificial intelligence.
Plot: While serving as a juror in a high-profile murder trial, a family man finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma, one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict or free the wrong killer.
Runtime: 1 Hour 54 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Juror #2 starts when Justin Kemp (Hoult) is summoned for jury duty on the verge of his partner Allison’s (Deutch) pregnancy. They have a murder case with Faith Killebrew (Collette) trying to get the suspect locked up, while Eric Resnick (Messina) defending him.
As the case unfolds Justin finds himself in a serious moral dilemma and believes the case has a different truth. He decides to use his position on the jury to try and decide the case to clear his conscience
The movie follows a man assigned to jury duty for a case which hits closer to home than he expected. However, his conscience begins to take over leading him to guide the jury in a different direction. Although, it takes over his life, with his partner expecting his time in running out.
Best Parts
The courtroom style thriller is always interesting to watch, and this presents something different with the truth only seen through one person. We get wonderful performances who engage us with the bigger story. It reflects the jury discussion and how people need to come to an answer dependant on different backgrounds.
Worst Parts
This doesn’t have the intensity of others, because too much is happening outside of the discussion. Which also includes amateur detectives trying to solve a case.
Final Thoughts – Juror #2 is an intense courtroom drama, which changes the outcome of a bigger trial.
Here you will find the different subjects covered on Movie Reviews 101. This will include New Reviews, New Releases and Discussion Pieces. It will give you a chance to see what is due for release and hopefully planning a few dates.
New Releases
All the new releases are covered on the site.
Cinema
Predator Badlands
Wicked For Good
Netflix
Frankenstein
Digital Release
Director’s Cut
The Naughty List of Mr Scrooge
Long Shadows
A Mother’s Embrace
All I wAnt for Christmas is You
Mirror Life
TV Shows
Show
Catch Up Review
I do like to have daily reviews, which means sometimes I am just having some reviews catching up.
Queen of the Ring will be in select UK cinemas from 19th September, and on demand from 13th October.
Vertigo Releasing is excited to announce that their upcoming wrestling drama Queen of the Ring will be available in select UK cinemas from 19th September.
Queen of the Ring has an all-star line-up including Emily Bett Rickards(Arrow),Josh Lucas(Ford V Ferrari), Tyler Posey(Teen Wolf), Francesca Eastwood(Juror #2), Cara Buono(Stranger Things), Deborah Ann Woll(True Blood), Damaris Lewis(BlackKkKlansman), with Gavin Casalegno(Noah) and Walton Goggins(The White Lotus) completing the card.
Queen of the Ring is a Sumerian Pictures Production, written and directed by Ash Avildsen(Paradise City).The film tells the remarkable true story of Mildred Burke, the first million-dollar female athlete in world history and the longest reigning champion of female wrestling. Based on the book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jeff Leen, the film follows ‘Millie,’ a young single mother from a small town who defies societal norms by becoming a female pro-wrestler at a time when the sport was illegal across most of the United States.
Despite her success throughout the 40s and 50s, Millie’s journey is marked by personal struggles, including raising her son on the road, the tragic death of her wrestling protégé in the ring and a tumultuous relationship with her manager and ex-husband, Billy Wolfe.
Her story highlights triumphs such as being the first woman to headline over men, bringing women of colour into the sport, and participating in the first female “shoot match” i.e. real combat without a script for a title fight. Millie’s remarkable tale shattered the limitations of what a girl could become in entertainment and sports and is an unforgettable slice of post-war Americana.
Queen of the Ring captures the golden age of female pro-wrestling when one gritty, glamorous woman risked everything in her life to change culture forever.
Zero is in UK cinemas 25 July and on digital platforms 11 August 2025.
★★★★
‘Like Crank and Phone Booth birthed a baby in Vice City’
The Hollywood News
★★★★
‘A clever mix of action, thriller, and horror, all while weaving in social and political commentary’’
Nighttide Magazine
‘Ingenious… a Tarantino-esque ensemble piece’
Projected Figures
The clock is ticking when two Americans wake up with bombs strapped to them and face a twisted treasure hunt to stop them detonating 10 hours later, in this break-neck thriller from Saloum director Jean Luc Herbulot.
Two American strangers are about to join up for a life-or-death mission – but not through choice. #1 (Hus Miller) and #2 (Cam McHarg) have both just woken up in Senegal with bombs strapped to their chests and a timer set to blow up 10 hours later. Their only hope is to follow directions given to them over the phone by a mysterious voice (Willem Dafoe) that sends them on a twisted and dangerous clue-solving hunt across Dakar.
Jean Luc Herbulot (Saloum) mixes sharp scrutiny of geopolitics with white-knuckle thrills to exhilarating effect as the pair face a race against time. Zero premiered at Sitges Film Festival where it won the Orbita Award and was an official selection at Beyond Fest and Glasgow Film Festival.
The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Announces Full 2024 Program
Festival opens with Joe DeBoer, Kyle McConaghy’s TIFF hit DEAD MAIL and Honors Larry Fessenden with this year’s Leviathan Award, reveals new poster art
Highlights also include FEAR IN FOCUS: SPAIN sidebar, World Premiere of Izzy Lee’s HOUSE OF ASHES, director Joe Begos’ JIMMY & STIGGS, Jayro Bustamante’s RITA and closing night film THE RULE OF JENNY PEN
Brooklyn, NY– The Brooklyn Horror Film Festival (BHFF) announces today the full program for its 2024 incarnation, running October 17-24 with all screenings held at Nitehawk Cinema’s Williamsburg and Prospect Park locations. Audiences are in for an unworldly lineup of films and events, including a special screening of Larry Fessenden’s HABIT with the Leviathan Award Ceremony, honoring his film career.
The Opening Night film is the NY premiere of DEAD MAIL from directors Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy. The 2024 festival boasts the North American Premieres of exciting new films: Tiago Teixeira’s unsettling body horror film CUSTOM; a new documentary on horror at the turn of the millennium from Phillip Escott and Sarah Appleton, GENERATION TERROR; and New Zealand director Sasha Rainbow’s film GRAFTED.
The festival will feature the world premieres of Izzy Lee’s first feature, HOUSE OF ASHES; the atmospheric ghost story, LILLY LIVES ALONE, and the queer sci-fi adventure PSYCHONAUT. The festival’s other spotlight titles include ANIMALE, the beautiful revenge-fantasy from French director Emma Benestan as the festival’s Centerpiece Film; and THE RULE OF JENNY PEN starring Geoffrey Rush and John Lithgow as the Closing Night Film.
Additional highlights include the action fueled revenge film SAYARA from Turkey; Joe Begos’s latest neon drenched bloodbath JIMMY & STIGGS; a screening of several episodes of the new horror anthology TALES FROM THE VOID which includes an episode directed by John Adams and Toby Poser; a fantastical time traveling romance from director Alice Lowe, TIMESTALKER; GAZER, the dreamy noir film from Ryan J. Sloan; Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s gory erotic thriller BONE LAKE; and the nightmarish mystery SOMNIUM which premiered at the Chattanooga Film Festival earlier this year.
The festival’s signature sidebar programs return, starting with FEAR IN FOCUS: SPAIN, which includes the North American premiere of EXORCISMO, a documentary that focuses on the violent and smutty film history of the post-Franco era of Spanish cinema; as well as retro screenings of VAMPYRES and THE BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE on 35mm; which ties into the Vampire sidebar that features Abel Ferrara’s THE ADDICTION and a screening of the Spanish version of DRACULA with a live score from The Flushing Remonstrance. MISKATONIC INSTITUTE OF HORROR STUDIES will also return to host a special lecture by Dr. Leah Richards “Queer Vampires, Queer Liberation, Queer Futurity.
Festival badges are on sale now here and a limited amount of individual tickets go on sale this Friday at 12PM EST. Full program info is detailed below:
DEAD MAIL
OPENING NIGHT FILM
New York Premiere
US | 2024 | 106 Min. | Dir. Joe DeBoer, Kyle McConaghy
A blood-stained note arrives at a county post office, leading its experienced “dead letter” mailroom clerk and his associates down a perilous path to discover its origins. Meanwhile, an entrepreneurial synthesizer engineer enters a precarious partnership with an overbearing investor. Perfectly capturing an authentic retro aesthetic, Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy’s indie horror-synth thriller is a total gem and should launch this directing team into the stratosphere.
ANIMALE
CENTERPIECE FILM
East Coast Premiere
France | 2024 | 98 Min. | Dir. Emma Benestan
As a French town’s annual bull racing competition approaches, a string of grisly murders committed by a wild bull ignites the community into a frenzy.
THE RULE OF JENNY PEN
CLOSING NIGHT FILM
East Coast Premiere
New Zealand | 2024 | 103 Min. | Dir. James Ashcroft
John Lithgow vies for “Best Villain of the Year” honors playing a deranged nursing home resident terrorizing a new fellow resident (played by Geoffrey Rush) in this twisted and mean-spirited gem.
HABIT
LEVIATHAN AWARD
Presented by Arrow Video
United States | 1995 | 112 Min. | Dir. Larry Fessenden
On a drunken downward spiral following a breakup and the recent death of his father, Sam’s troubles only multiply when he meets the enigmatic Anna who just might be a vampire. This special screening of HABIT will be followed by the Leviathan Award presentation and Q&A w/ Larry Fessenden, moderated by BHFF alum Jenn Wexler.[1]
BIRDEATER
East Coast Premiere
New Zealand | 2023 | 113 Min. | Dir. Jack Clark, Jim Weir
Louie invites his fiance Irene to join him at his bachelor party, but as alarming details of their relationship emerge, the night free falls into full-on madness.
BLACK EYED SUSAN
NYC Premiere
United States | 2024 | 85 Min. | Dir. Scooter McRae
In a world increasingly relying on AI technology, one company experiments with BDSM sex dolls to offer to their most violent clients.
BONE LAKE
New York Premiere
United States | 2024 | 94 Min. | Dir. Mercedes Bryce Morgan
Hoping to get out of their romantic rut, a couple rents out a scenic cabin, but their plans are disrupted when they find another couple has also rented the same cabin.
CUSTOM
North American Premiere
United Kingdom | 2024 | 76 Min. | Dir. Tiago Teixeira
A couple produce their own erotic films for money but when they take on a new client they become embroiled in something dark and sinister.
DEAD TALENTS SOCIETY
New York Premiere
Taiwan R.O.C. | 2024 | 106 Min. | Dir. John Hsu
To avoid getting kicked out of the underworld, a ghost joins a small haunting talent agency and sets out to become the scariest urban legend of them all.
THE DEAD THING
East Coast Premiere
United States | 2024 | 95 Min. | Dir. Elric Kane
Disillusioned by empty hookups, Alex finally connects with a charismatic guy who seems worth her time, only to learn that he’s harboring a nightmarish secret.
GAZER
NYC Premiere
United States | 2024 | 114 Min. | Dir. Ryan J. Sloan
An ingenious and challenging marriage of noir and horror, this singular feature debut finds a young mother with a time-distorting mental condition forced to pull off a heist to provide for her daughter.
GENERATION TERROR
North American Premiere
United Kingdom | 2024 | 100 Min. | Dir. Phillip Escott, Sarah Appleton
Generation Terror looks at the global effects of the turn of the millennium had on horror and the slew of films it ushered in.
GRAFTED
North American Premiere
New Zealand | 2024 | 96 Min. | Dir. Sasha Rainbow
Body horror gets an extreme, bubblegum-poppy makeover in this funny and gruesome feature debut, in which a college student’s research into skin diseases helps her achieve popularity in the most perverse way imaginable.
House of Ashes dir. Izzy Lee
HOUSE OF ASHES
World Premiere
United States | 2024 | 95 Min. | Dir. Izzy Lee
While under house arrest, a grieving widow questions whether she’s losing her mind or if she’s the victim of something supernatural after an old friend moves in to help curb her loneliness.
JIMMY & STIGGS
East Coast Premiere
United States | 2024 | 80 Min. | Dir. Joe Begos
Trapped in a Los Angeles apartment, two best friends guzzle booze and lay waste to a small army of relentless extraterrestrials in Joe Begos’s latest dose of unadulterated, modern-day grindhouse carnage.
THE LAST SACRIFICE
East Coast Premiere
United Kingdom | 2024 | 92 Min. | Dir. Rupert Russell
Part film history and part true crime documentary, this riveting and unsettling doc examines an infamous 1945 murder in England that inspired your favorite British folk horror films and remains draped in mystery.
LILLY LIVES ALONE
World Premiere
United States | 2024 | 93 Min. | Dir. Martin Melnick
The 10-year anniversary of a tragic accident sends a guilt-ridden woman over the edge, plunging her into a drug and booze fueled fever dream of conspiring townsfolk and supernatural terrors.
PSYCHONAUT
World Premiere
Netherlands | 2024 | 87 Min. | Dir. Thijs Meuwese
With the help of a futuristic healing machine, Maxime must traverse into the dark recesses of her dying girlfriend’s mind in order to locate the “essential memory” that could save her life.
RITA
United States Premiere
Guatemala | 2024 | 107 Min. | Dir. Jayro Bustamante
A young girl runs away from her abusive father only to end up in a safe house, where she finds the fantasy and horrors that await her.
SAYARA
East Coast Premiere
Turkey| 2024 | 98 Min. | Dir. Can Evrenol
Brooklyn Horror alum Can Evrenol (Housewife, 2017) combines his personal brand of extreme horror with brutal martial arts action in this tale of blood-soaked revenge, following a woman’s mission to avenge her sister’s murder.
SOMNIUM
New York Premiere
United States| 2024 | 92 Min. | Dir. Racheal Cain
Gemma moves to LA in the hopes of making it as an actress but when she takes a job at a mysterious sleep clinic it has strange effects on her.
THE SOUL EATER
East Coast Premiere
France, Belgium | 2024 | 108 Min. | Dir. Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury
Jump-started by a perplexing murder scene of absolute carnage and a group of missing children, two investigators from different departments are sent down the same dark and unforgiving trail.
TALES FROM THE VOID (Season 1 Episodes 4-6)
World & New York Premieres
United States | 2024 | 79 Min. | Dir. Maritte Lee Go, Francesco Loschiavo, John Adams and Toby Poser
Fans of short-form horror are in for a treat with this trio of episodes from Screambox’s new Reddit-derived anthology series, two of which are BHFF World Premieres and the third directed by indie horror stalwarts John Adams and Toby Poser.
TIMESTALKER
Presented by The Future of Film is Female
New York Premiere
United Kingdom | 2024 | 96 Min. | Dir. Alice Lowe
A karmic journey that sees the hapless heroine Agnes reincarnated every time she makes the same mistake: falling in love with the wrong man.
WHO’S WATCHING
East Coast Premiere
United States | 2024 | 86 Min. | Dir. Tim Kasher
Cursive frontman Tim Kasher delivers an impressively nihilistic directorial debut with this seedy look at a mentally disturbed social misfit who takes his infatuation with a female co-worker to disturbing heights.
Wake in Fright 4k Restoration dir. Ted Kotcheff
WAKE IN FRIGHT (4K Restoration)
East Coast Premiere
Australia | 1971 | 109 Min. | Dir. Ted Kotcheff
A masterwork of pure cinematic madness, Ted Kotcheff’s wild and disturbing Wake in Fright, which follows a schoolteacher as he loses his mind amidst drunken Aussie locals, receives a glorious 4K restoration.
THE ADDICTION
United States | 1995 | 82 Min. | Dir. Abel Ferrara
In this ’90s cult classic from New York director Abel Ferrara, a doctoral student becomes a vampire and attempts to adapt to her new lifestyle and thirst for blood.
FEAR IN FOCUS: SPAIN
Exorcismo dir. Alberto Sedano
Fear in Focus is back with a special Spain edition! The festival’s perennial sidebar, once again presented by Arrow Video, which celebrates a specific region’s exceptional work within horror, turns its eyes to one of the original and most enduring purveyors of the genre.
Program highlights include the North American premiere of EXORCISMO, a documentary exploring the post-dictatorship period of Spanish cinema when genre filmmakers were producing the most wildly taboo challenging work the country had ever seen, and repertory screenings of queer vampire essentials THE BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE, screening on 35mm, and VAMPYRES, celebrating its 50th anniversary. The lesser known–and superior to some–Spanish production of DRACULA, made the same year as the Bela Lugosi classic, will also be screened with a brand new live score from The Flushing Remonstrance.
Rounding out the offerings will be a special FEAR IN FOCUS: SPAIN shorts block, spotlighting an exciting new wave of Spanish horror.
Exorcismo
North American Premiere
Spain | 2024 | 122 Min. | Dir. Alberto Sedano
EXORCISMO dives into the post-Franco era of Spanish cinema that saw directors freed from censorship and creating some of the most erotically explicit horror and genre films of all-time.
Vampyres – 50th Anniversary
Spain | 1974 | 87 Min. | Dir. José Ramón Larraz
A pair of ravenous femme vampires creep around the British countryside searching for men to bring back to their creepy mansion where they fuck and feed on them.
The Blood Spattered Bride (35mm)
Spain | 1972 | 100 Min. | Dir. Vicente Aranda
Sexually charged horror doesn’t get much better, or kinkier, than this cult classic about a newly married woman who can’t stand her husband and falls for a beautiful, long-dead lady vampire.
Dracula (Spanish Version w/ Live Score)
United States| 1931| 104 Min. | Dir. George Melford
An unsung gem, Universal’s other 1931 Dracula production receives a long-overdue spotlight at this special screening with a live score from The Flushing Remonstrance.
Fear in Focus: Spain Shorts Program
Brooklyn Horror is proud to dedicate this year’s Fear in Focus sidebar to the amazing genre films of Spain. This special shorts program of new Spanish frights includes tales of merciless revenge, spine-chilling supernatural terrors and gut-wrenching body horror.
Be Right Back, dir. Lucas Paulino, Gabe Ibáñez; Apotemnofilia, dir. Jano Pita; Nap, dir. Javier Chavanel; The Visitor, dir. Tony Morales; Don’t Talk to Strangers, dir. Imanol Ortiz López; Voyager, dir. Pablo Pagán; Berta, dir. Lucía Forner Segarra
SHORT FILMS
Roger is a Serial Killer dir. Don Swaynos
NIGHTMARE FUEL
Sleep no more after witnessing the terror on display in this chilling block of purely scary horror, complete with Ouija board mishaps, techie ghouls, and cult rituals gone awry.
Dream Creep, dir. Carlos A.F. Lopez (USA); Pop, dir. Josh Jones (USA); Agonist, dir. Annie Marie Elliot (USA); Cease to Exist, dir. Taylor Nodrick (Canada); The Awakening, dir. Al Campbell (UK); Taboo, dir. Almog Avidan Antonir (USA); Inked, dir. Kelsey Bollig (USA); Mr. Static, dir. Mike Williamson (USA); Transylvanie, dir. Rodrigue Huart (France)
HEAD TRIP
Brooklyn Horror’s signature celebration of genre-bending horror returns with a fresh crop of short-form innovation, including sexual darkness, animalistic transformations, and coming-of-age supernaturalism.
Evil, I, dir. Vanessa Beletic (USA); Izzy, dir. Yfke van Berckelaer (Netherlands); Poppy’s Saturn, dir. Nicole Tegelaar (Belgium); Calf, dir. Jamie O’Rourke (Ireland); Faces, dir. Blake Simon (USA); Kneading, dir. Lulu Syracuse, Augie Syracuse (USA); Tight, dir. Jessica Barr (USA); Femme, dir. Nina Noël Raaijmakers (Netherlands)
SLAYED: LGBTQ Horror Shorts
Presented by Horror Press
Once again, Brooklyn Horror Fest is back with its Slayed shorts block which focuses on LGBTQIA+ filmmakers and themes. And as always, the selection lives up to the name.
Beach Logs Kill, dir. Haley Z. Boston (USA); Lady Parts, dir. Ariel McCleese (USA); Unsettled, dir. Bella Thorne (USA); Dream Factory, dir. Alex Matraxia (UK); Rat!, dir. Neal Suresh Mulani (USA); Stink, dir. Matias Breuer (USA); Girls, dir. Julien Hosmalin
LAUGH NOW DIE LATER
Presented by Teeth: The Musical
What’s better than being scared? Laughing your ass off at the same time, which you’ll do thanks to this batch of raucous horror-comedies featuring personal trainers, home invasions, and sexual dysfunction.
Cheat Meal, dir. Drew Bierut (USA); The Last Thing She Saw, dir. Anthony Cousins (USA); Mean Ends, dir. Émile Lavoie (Canada); Erection and Destruction, dir. Eddie Mullins (USA); Make Me a Pizza, dir. Talia Shea Levin (USA); Roger is a Serial Killer, dir. Don Swaynos (USA); Hold Up, dir. Ori Guendelman (USA)
Back like we never left, our annual showcase of NYC local shorts returns with a buffet of genre film goodness.
Red Flag, dir. Malin Barr, Cleo Handler; Be Bad, dir. Lauren Hart; By The Window, dir. Case Avron; Wild Animals, dir. David B Jacobs; I Prefer Monsters, dir. Dylan Brown; Tinkerhell, dir. Noah Sterling; Hammer, dir. Alejandra Parody, Ben Sottak; Stigmata, dir. Ben Gordon; Jump Cut, dir. James Martin Morrison
Round two of our annual local shorts program, just in case you needed a reminder that NYC genre films are built different.
The Sacrifice, dir. Christopher Werener; VHX, dir. Alisa Stern, Scott Ampleford; Accidental Stars, dir. Emily Bennett; The Retreat, dir. Emmett Kerr-Perkinson; The Shadow Wrangler, dir. Grace Rex; Implied Monsters, dir. Christine Nyland; Strange Creatures, dir. Nicholas Payne Santos; Girl With the Grey Eyes, dir. Kara Grace Miller; Don’t F*ck With Ba, dir. Sally Tran
SPECIAL EVENTS
Final Exam Horror Trivia
Presented by Dark Sky Films
Do you think you know more about horror films than the rest of Gotham? Then it’s time to prove it via five blistering rounds of expert level creepy trivia with hosts Ted Geoghegan (director of WE ARE STILL HERE and Shudder’s BROOKLYN 45) and journalist Michael Gingold (of Fangoria and Rue Morgue fame)! Meet new friends, win amazing prizes, and learn more about horror cinema exclusively at Final Exam!
Certified Forgotten Podcast
Certified Forgotten is a 60-minute bi-weekly horror movie podcast with a focus on underseen films. Hosts Matt Donato and Matt Monagle speak with creators, filmmakers, and critics about their lifelong relationships to the horror genre. Each episode also highlights another unique genre title with ten-or-fewer reviews on aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes that’s picked by the guest, letting them champion each episode’s title to their heart’s content.
Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies Lecture: Queer Vampires, Queer Liberation, Queer Futurity with Dr. Leah Richards
As any vampire scholar, and most vampire fans, will tell you, the figure of the vampire is inherently queer. John Polidori based Lord Ruthven (“The Vampyre,” 1818) on the indiscriminately licentious Lord Byron; J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla (“Carmilla,” 1872) still dominates the lesbian vampire genre; and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Dracula, 1897) tells his three brides that Jonathan Harker “is mine”. Their non-normative reproduction, the pleasure that they take in penetration and feasting, their seduction of victims into voluntary acquiescence, and their capes and ruffles and air of languid dissipation…vampires are queer. But so what?
This lecture will first establish cinematic vampires as almost universally queer-coded and explore the significance of this specific intersection of monstrosity and sexuality. The talk will then explore the alignment of vampire cinema with the queer liberation movement of the 1960s-70s, covering films such as Hammer’s Karnstein trilogy (The Vampire Lovers [1970], Lust for a Vampire [1971], and Twins of Evil [1971]) and its much gayer spiritual relatives including Daughters of Darkness (1971), The Blood Spattered Bride (1972), and Vampyres (1974), as well as recent titles like Bit (2019), Thirst (2020), and So Vam (2021).
Through the work of queer theorists including Lee Edelman, Jack Halberstam, and José Esteban Muñoz the lecture will explore the ways that vampires can contribute to discourses around queer identity, modes of being, and futurity.
LEVIATHAN AWARD
Presented by Arrow Video
The Leviathan Award, Brooklyn Horror’s first and only tribute award, was created in 2023 to honor the luminaries of horror and acknowledge their monstrous contributions to the genre.
2024 honors go to the irreplaceable Larry Fessenden whose inspired filmmaking, cherished turns in front of the camera and impactful producorial work as the founder of Glass Eye Pix has helped shepherd and sustain indie horror in New York for three decades and counting. Larry Fessenden is exactly the kind of trailblazing and enduring artist we want to celebrate, one whose distinct mark on the industry and on countless filmmakers is undeniable.
2024 Brooklyn Horror Jury
Features, Dark Matter
Edoardo Vitaletti (Filmmaker, THE LAST THING MARY SAW)
Justin DiPietro (MPI, Executive Vice President)
Toby Poser (Filmmaker, WHERE THE DEVIL ROAMS)
Features, Head Trip
Jenika McCrayer (Horror Press, writer)
Jim Brunzell (Dark Star Pictures, Director of Festivals)
Jacqueline Castel (Filmmaker, MY ANIMAL)
Shorts
Avery Coffey (Unbound and Rewound Horror Podcast, Host & Producer)
Nathan Ginter (Filmmaker, THE THIRD EAR)
Sophie Carroll (Director of Creative, ALTER & DUST at Gunpowder & Sky)
