Beyond Fest Announces Full Slate; ‘Climax’, ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’, ‘Akira’, ‘Halloween’ and More
[Press Release] Beyond Fest has announced its complete slate of 2018 programming featuring 46 features and 24 West Coast premieres of cinematic excess. Beyond Fest returns to Hollywood’s famed Egyptian Theatre for 14 days of cinematic splendor spanning Wednesday, September 26th – Tuesday, October 9th to generate funds for the nonprofit 501c3 American Cinematheque.
With a diverse slate celebrating cinema from all corners of the globe Beyond Fest is proud to open with Gaspar Noe’s dizzying acid-nightmare CLIMAX, with star Sofia Boutella in person, while closing night honors are bestowed upon S. Craig Zahler and his rugged crime-opus DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE. Other hotly-anticipated titles making their West Coast debuts in the Hulu Theatre include BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE with writer/director Drew Goddard in person, LORDS OF CHAOS presented unrated and uncut by director Jonas Åckerlund, AN EVENING WITH BEVERLY LUFF LINN with stars Aubrey Plaza and Craig Robinson joining director Jim Hosking in person, Steve McQueen’s electrifying, female-led thriller, WIDOWS, master director Zhang Yimou’s jaw-dropping return to martial arts/wuxia, SHADOW and the triumphant return of Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero for the world premiere of BEST F(R)IENDS: VOLUME 2. The Hulu Theatre will also debut a series of festive shorts created specifically by Hulu for their annual Huluween celebration.
Two of fall’s biggest genre heavyweights, HALLOWEEN and SUSPIRIA, receive very special screenings both in and out of this year’s festival. David Gordon Green’s electrifying HALLOWEEN headlines ‘Halloween Day:’ a triple-bill celebration of The Shape that also features John Carpenter’s mythic original and BLACK CHRISTMAS – personally selected by David Gordon Green and Danny McBride as a key inspiration behind their new nightmare. Halloween Day festivities also include a HALLOWEEN flash tattoo parlor, Mondo/Death Waltz pop-up featuring exclusive products, and a live, in-theater recording of the Shock Waves podcast featuring the original Shape, Nick Castle. Luca Guadagnino’s brilliantly provocative take on Dario Argento’s seminal SUSPIRIA conjures witches out of festival via two sneak screenings on October 22nd. Courtesy of Amazon Studios, SUSPIRIA will screen twice for free at the world-famous Cinerama Dome in Hollywood.
The most beloved cult classics are celebrated with abundance via a series of special event screenings throughout the festival. Director Slava Tsukerman brings the all-new 4K restoration of his timeless Nu-York odyssey, LIQUID SKY, hometown superhero Don Coscarelli launches his new book, True Indie, with a free screening of his mummified masterpiece, BUBBA HO-TEP, and martial arts legend Sonny Chiba joins in person with the immortal DOBERMAN COP. Horror icon/aficionado/director/writer Eli Roth presents part 1 of the “Slashers” episode from his upcoming AMC series, “AMC Visionaries: Eli Roth’s History of Horror,” along with the West Coast premiere of the painstakingly restored MANIAC in dazzlingly grimy 4K. Joining Roth for a discussion of all things horror will be MANIAC director William Lustig. Two genre classics are revisited via double bills featuring all-new documentaries as Andre Gower rallies THE MONSTER SQUAD cast and crew to suit up for a special screening paired with WOLFMAN’S GOT NARDS doc, and Sam Jones and Melody Anderson reunite once more for a 35mm screening of FLASH GORDON and LIFE AFTER FLASH. Anime masterpiece AKIRA and Robin Hardy’s pagan pleasurefest, THE WICKER MAN, are both given mega-rare 35mm screenings.
Beyond Fest welcomes the return of genre streaming platform Shudder as its co-presenting sponsor, a partnership that provides 14 screenings (11 West Coast premieres) absolutely free to film fans. Every night, the 90-seat ‘Shudder Theatre’ will feature a brand new film selected from across the world including the world premiere of Chris von Hoffmann’s instant splatter classic, MONSTER PARTY, Emma Tammi’s haunting THE WIND, BORDER, the latest fairytale from the mind of John Ajvide Lindqvist the creator of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, the feel-good festivities of zombie-musical ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE, Henry Dunham no-nonsense-tough-as-nails THE STANDOFF AT SPARROW CREEK, Gustav Möller’s breathtaking thriller THE GUILTY. Shudder also flexes its global reach with four specially-selected thrill rides: Demián Rugna’s TERRIFIED, Orson Oblowitz’s THE QUEEN OF HOLLYWOOD BLVD. and Jérémie Guez’s A BLUEBIRD IN MY HEART.
See below for the full lineup of newly announced film titles for Beyond Fest 2018. Tickets will be on sale via Brown Paper Tickets on Friday, September 14th at 12PM PST.
BEYOND FEST 2018 PROGRAM
HULU THEATRE
AKIRA in 35mm
Director: Katsuhiro Ôtomo
Country: Japan
Runtime: 124 min.
Year: 1988
AN EVENING WITH BEVERLY LUFF LINN
West Coast Premiere
Director: Jim Hoskin
Country: USA
Runtime: 108 min.
Year: 2018
GUESTS: Aubrey Plaza, Craig Robinson, Jim Hosking in Person
BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE
West Coast Premiere
Director: Drew Goddard
Country: USA
Year: 2018
GUESTS: Drew Goddard and Jeremy Latchman in Person
BEST F(R)IENDS: VOLUME TWO
World Premiere
Director: Justin MacGregor
Country: USA
Runtime: 120 min.
Year: 2018
GUESTS: Tommy Wiseau, Greg Sestero and Justin MacGregor in Person
BLACK CHRISTMAS
Director: Bob Clark
Country: Canada
Runtime: 98 min.
Year: 1974
BUBBA HO-TEP in 35mm (Free Screening)
Director: Don Coscarelli
Country: USA
Runtime: 92 min.
Year: 2002
GUESTS: Don Coscarelli and Reggie Bannister in Person
CLIMAX
West Coast Premiere
Director: Gaspar Noé
Country: France
Runtime: 96 min
Year: 2018
GUESTS: Sofia Boutella in Person
DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE
West Coast Premiere
Director: S. Craig Zahler
Country: USA
Runtime: 159 min.
Year: 2018
GUESTS: S. Craig Zahler, Tory Kittles, Michael Jai White, Dallas Sonnier in person
DOBERMAN COP
Director: Kinji FukasakuIT
Country: Japan
Runtime: 90 min.
Year: 1977
Guests: Sonny Chiba in person
THE WICKER MAN in 35mm
Director: Robin Hardy
Country: UK
Runtime: 88 min.
Year: 1973
ELI ROTH’S HISTORY OF HORROR
Co-presented with Cinematic Void + Friday Night Frights
World Premiere
Country: USA
Runtime: 42 min.
Year: 2018
GUESTS: William Lustig and Eli Roth in Person
FLASH GORDON in 35mm
Director: Mike Hodges
Country: USA
Runtime: 111 min.
Year: 1980
GUESTS: Lisa Downs, Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson in person
HALLOWEEN
West Coast Premiere
Director: David Gordon Green
Country: USA
Runtime: 109 min.
Year: 2018
GUESTS: Malek Akkad in person
HALLOWEEN
Director: John Carpenter
Country: USA
Runtime: 91 min.
Year: 1978
GUESTS: Malek Akkad in person
LIFE AFTER FLASH
West Coast Premiere
Director: Lisa Downs
Country: UK
Runtime: 94 min.
Year: 2017
GUESTS: Lisa Downs, Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson in person
LIQUID SKY – 4K Restoration
Director: Slava Tsukerman
Country: USA
Runtime: 112 min.
Year: 1982
GUESTS: Slava Tsukerman in Person
LORDS OF CHAOS
West Coast Premiere
Director: Jonas Åkerlund
Country: UK, Sweden
Runtime: 112 min.
Year: 2018
GUESTS: Jonas Åkerlund in Person
MANIAC – 4K Digital Restoration
West Coast Premiere
Director: William Lustig
Country: USA
Runtime: 87 min.
Year: 1980
GUESTS: Bill Lustig and Eli Roth in Person
THE MONSTER SQUAD
Director: Fred Dekker
Country: USA
Runtime: 79 min.
Year: 1987
GUESTS: Andre Gower, Ashley Bank, Ryan Lambert, Duncan Regehr, Stephen Macht, Lisa Fuller, Adam Carl, Tom Woodruff Jr., Michael MacKay, Fred Dekker
SHADOW
West Coast Premiere
Director: Zhang Yimou
Country: China
Runtime: 116 min.
Year: 2018
WIDOWS
West Coast Premiere
Director: Steve McQueen
Country: USA, UK
Runtime: 128 min.
Year: 2018
WOLFMAN’S GOT NARDS
Director: Andre Gower
Country: USA
Runtime: 91 min.
Year: 2018
GUESTS: Andre Gower, Ashley Bank, Ryan Lambert, Duncan Regehr, Stephen Macht, Lisa Fuller, Adam Carl, Tom Woodruff Jr., Michael MacKay, Fred Dekker
SHUDDER THEATRE
A BLUEBIRD IN MY HEART (Free Screening)
West Coast Premiere
Director: Jérémie Guez
Country: Belgium, France
Runtime: 85 min.
Year: 2018
ABSURD presented by Rendezvous (Free Screening)
West Coast Premiere – New 4K Scan
Director: Joe D’Amato
Country: Italy
Runtime: 89 min.
Year: 1981
ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK – Restoration (Free Screening)
Presented by CInematic Void
Director: Sergio Martino
Country: Italy, Spain
Runtime: 88 min
Year: 1972
ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE (Free Screening)
West Coast Premiere
Director: John McPhail
Country: USA, UK
Runtime: 92 min.
Year: 2017
THE BOAT (Free Screening)
West Coast Premiere
Director: Winston Azzopardi
Country: UK
Runtime: 100 min.
Year: 2018
BORDER (Free Screening)
West Coast Premiere
Director: Ali Abbasi
Country: Sweden
Runtime: 101 min.
Year: 2018
DJANGO – Restoration (Free Screening)
Presented by CInematic Void
Director: Sergio Corbucci
Country: Italy, Spain
Runtime: 91 min
Year: 1966
THE GUILTY (Free Screening)
West Coast Premiere
Director: Gustav Möller
Country: Denmark
Runtime: 85 min.
Year: 2018
LUZ (Free Screening)
Director: Tilman Singer
Country: Germany
Runtime: 70 min.
Year: 2018
MONSTER PARTY (Free Screening)
World Premiere
Director: Chris von Hoffmann
Country: USA
Runtime: 90 min.
Year: 2018
THE NIGHTSHIFTER (Free Screening)
West Coast Premiere
Director: Dennison Ramalho
Country: Brazil
Runtime: 110 min.
Year: 2018
THE QUEEN OF HOLLYWOOD BLVD. (Free Screening)
West Coast Premiere
Director: Orson Oblowitz
Country: USA
Runtime: 90 min.
Year: 2018
GUESTS: Orson Oblowitz
THE STANDOFF AT SPARROW CREEK (Free Screening)
West Coast Premiere
Director: Henry Dunham
Country: USA
Runtime: 88 min.
Year: 2018
GUESTS: Henry Dunham, Dallas Sonnier and cast and crew in person
TERRIFIED (Free Screening)
West Coast Premiere
Director: Demián Rugna
Country: Argentina
Runtime: 87 min.
Year: 2017
THE WIND (Free Screening)
West Coast Premiere
Director: Emma Tammi
Country: USA
Runtime: 89 min.
Year: 2018
GUESTS: Emma Tammi and cast and crew in person
