THEATRICAL WORLD PREMIERE

1 hour 23 min

Dir: Alec Bonk

Cast: George Fearing, Brandon Despain, Isaac McKinnon, Steven Vogel, Ann Sweet

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Blind Cop, the former beacon of justice, is consumed by grief after the mysterious death of his partner in the first movie. (There is no first movie.) His once-illustrious career has been reduced to drunken disorderly conduct, putting him at odds with the police force. In his investigation of a new influx of arms trafficking, Blind Cop discovers a lead that connects the illegal weapons to his partner's death.

However, he is fired from the force for his reckless behavior. Now Blind Cop must venture into the dark underworld of the city to continue his investigation. With the help of a bright-eyed young man who wants to follow in his footsteps, they will uncover a web of deceit and corruption that will challenge Blind Cop's perceptions of justice and morality.

The truth he seeks may not be what he expected, but he will stop at nothing to avenge his fallen partner and bring the criminals responsible to justice.

Screens with music video:

CORNERBOY

Dir: Kai Kurve/DEU/6 min

A bad boy gets possessed by a fly (aka the devil/death) which confronts him with his own personality. This narration is wrapped up in a fresh genre bending experimental dance film.

PLUS SPECIAL GUEST:

Alec Bonk writer/director of BLIND COP 2 to introduce and then partake in a Q&A following the screening.

MIDWEST PREMIERE

1 hour 31 min

Dir: Anna Zaytseva

Cast: Anna Potebnya, Timofey Eletskiy, Diana Shulmina, Olga Pipchenko, Yekaterina Stulova

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A provincial town is ravaged by a wave of inexplicable teen suicides. Rebellious and sharp-witted schoolgirl Dana grieves for her younger sister, a once-happy kid who suddenly withdrew and stepped in front of a train.

Desperate to learn what happened, Dana explores her sister’s online history, discovering a sinister social media game that encourages teenagers to take a series of self-harm challenges. Beginning with actions designed to alienate them from friends and family, the challenge breaks its victims’ lives apart to push them past any point of return.

Hungry for answers and out for revenge, Dana registers for the game, opening a doorway into the cruelest of hidden online worlds. One that will jeopardize the lives of everyone she cares about.

Screens with short films:

SELFIE

Dir: Giulio Manicardi/ITA/13:30 min

A shy and insecure girl becomes a social media idol thanks to the selfies taken by her smartphone that portray her as beautiful. However, all this will soon have a macabre price: like a modern Dorian Gray with a digital portrait, with each new shot the phone's camera will steal a little of her lifeblood.

NOT HIM

Dir: Sarah Young/USA /14:57 min

When her husband turns strange and violent, a wife becomes convinced he is possessed. But will anyone believe her?

With electric performances from Tori Ernst ("Counting", "Consider the Lilies") and Charlie McElveen (JJ Redick in FX's upcoming limited series "The Sterling Affairs", HBO's "The Deuce", HBO Max "Pretty Little Liars") and a nail biting script by director & writer Sarah Young, this physiological thriller is heart pounding suspense in the vein of "Gaslight" meets "The Shining".

1 hour 23 min

Dir: Rachel Kempf & Nick Toti

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IT DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS blends fact and fiction in a found footage horror film featuring nearly 20 years of archival video.

When filmmakers Nick Toti and Rachel Kempf buy an abandoned duplex to shoot their next indie horror film in, they are delighted to find random strangers are drawn to the building, gathering outside to stare at it in a zombie-like trance. What begins as an effort to document the cult quickly escalates into an increasingly ecstatic quest to see just how scary their real-life horror movie can get.

You'll find yourself trying to work out what, in this enthralling film, is real and what is fiction.

PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS:

Directors Rachel Kempf & Nick Totito to introduce and then partake in a Q&A following the screening.

WISCONSIN PREMIERE

1 hour 58 min

Dir: Nicholas Gyeney

Cast: Tony Todd, Jamie Costa, Ivana Rojas, Kane Hodder, Sean Young, Andrew Keegan, Sab Shimono, Vladimir Kulich, Sonia Jackson, Scott Brown

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As Ors Gabriel struggles with the grief and pain from losing his best friend and beloved dog, Louie, to cancer, the shock from the trauma brings on strange visions only Ors can see. While he questions whether his mind has fractured or if it's actually real, a mysterious rise in murder-suicides takes hold of the city, and Ors becomes haunted by images of a shadowy figure known to many as “The Fedora Man”.

Through torments and terror, Ors uncovers dark secrets from his past, forcing him to embrace who he really is, and what he is meant to do. But, with escalating visions of ‘The Fedora Man’, Ors must face his fears as he spirals downwards, testing the very limits of his sanity.

Evoking a mood akin to the best 80s “nightmare” films, THE ACTIVATED MAN thrills and chills with a killer cast including horror icons Tony Todd and Kane Hodder.

1 hour 52 min

Genres: Horror, Sci-Fi, Comedy, Experimental, Under ground, Animation

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MidWest WeirdFest and A Night of Horror International Film Festival are proud to present a collaborative program! Prepare to indulge in a weird and bloody crop of short films - made in the speculative and underground genres - by filmmakers in, or from, the Midwest.

“WHEN YOU’RE HERE, YOU’RE PIZZA!”

Dir: Tim Schwagel/Wisconsin/USA/7 min

River orders the same pizza every day. What could go wrong?

LYLE AND THE DEVIL

World Premiere

Dir: William J. Kampf/Wisconsin/USA/7 min

Lyle meets the Devil at the crossroads and wants his fate.

SENTINEL

World Premiere

Dir: Jake Viaene/Wisconsin/USA/12:30 min

A reporter experiences bumps in the night after the whistleblower of a local corporate conspiracy goes missing.

KOMBUCHA!

Dir: Jake Myers/Illinois/USA/7:03 min

Kombucha! is a story about a musician trapped in an office job he couldn't care less about. Luke dreams of being on stage while doing B2B marketing work that feels completely meaningless. His coworkers all sip a red kombucha beverage and seem to have found purpose in this place.

When his job seems threatened, and his future as a musician seems bleak, Luke decides to give the free kombucha a try. A feeling of commitment, focus, and belonging washes over Luke as he churns through creating a pitch deck for an upcoming client meeting. Unfortunately, the kombucha has a series of nasty side effects that grow and writhe inside of Luke. Kombucha! is a short film that gives new meaning to being consumed by your work.

I WANT YOU

Wisconsin Premiere

Dir: Joe Greening/Minnesota/USA/19:25 min

Jessie can hardly call performing motion capture for “Zombie Predators 5” acting. He longs to climb that ladder and prove to the world that he's legitimate. His chance comes when he crosses paths with Victoria Lamia: a Hollywood icon. She invites him to her rental house to spend the evening with her on Christmas Eve. Jessie can hardly believe his luck, even shrugging off some of Victoria’s stranger tendencies as the night progresses.

THUNDERCRAFT

Dir: Meg Miller/Illinois/USA/1:03 min

A seasoned artificer is going through a creative block, that is until nature gives inspiration.

DRUNK

World Premiere

Dir: Michael Basha/Michigan/California/USA/3:45 min

A man talks about his love for drunk driving through his increasingly intoxicated point of view

THE GATEKEEPER

Dir: Sam Sorenson /CAN/13:03 min

New owners of a small-town building discover an ancient secret in the walls of its basement.

STUXNET - OUR WORLD WAS ALWAYS FALLEN BUT THERE WAS ALWAYS LIGHT

Dir: Nick Rohr/Illinois/USA/3:57 min

Technology, like medicine, arcs from remedy to toxicant in unmoderated dosage. Music video for “Our world was always fallen but there was always light.” by Stuxnet.

ED GEIN’S MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS

Dir: Steve C Chappell/Wisconsin/USA/6:30 min

An irregular interview with Ed Gein about the instruments that were found in the old family farmhouse after his arrest. Prepare for a few unexpected twists and turns in this film. It's an interview unlike any other.

SUBSURFACE

Dir: Daniel John Harris/Illinois/USA/7:39 min

Bound and alone, Jared desperately searches for an escape from the waking nightmare surrounding him. With no guide but himself and safety merely on the other side of a wall, he unsuccessfully tries to break through. Quickly realizing that escape may not be quite so simple, Jared panics as his only chance at freedom vanishes before his very eyes, forcing him to confront himself and the pain he's endured on an otherwise perfectly normal day.

P[]P C()RN

Dir: Jonathan Riles/Ohio/USA/1:00 min

Two comestibles of the American Midwest splice together to create a jargonized monstrosity.

TIN HILL N0. 9

Dir: Nick Early/Wisconsin/USA/9:05 min

After a tunnel collapses, trapped miners are haunted by strange knocks in the darkness. As one miner investigates, the knocks echo miles away to his family above ground.

SMILEY

Wisconsin Premiere

Dir: Ben Manhanke/Missouri/USA/19:04 min

A retired judge crosses paths with a young woman obsessed with only one thing: teeth.

WORLD PREMIERE

1 hour 33 min

Dir: Tyler Eaton

Cast: Alyssa Sabo, Brandon Raman, Miranda Rae Hart, Eddie Pepitone, James Adomian, Ronnie Adrian, Shannon Dee

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After a family tragedy sends them spiraling in opposite directions, Charlie and Denise Dobbins attempt to save their struggling church by re-energizing their youth group with an End of Days-themed Tiktok dance they hope will go viral. Instead, the dance accidentally possesses their pastor's teenaged daughter Bethany with the demonic dancing spirit Ashgaroth who vows to usher in the apocalypse and spread its dancing plague to 666 more people on Halloween night.

Charlie and Denise pursue Bethany across town in a desperate race against the clock, duking it out with the possessed dancers left in her wake, going undercover at a Halloween party thrown by a group of Satanists, and ultimately confronting the secrets and lies that have ripped the siblings apart.

This is one of the best horror comedies A Night of Horror’s programming team has seen in the last decade. Hilarious, irreverent, bloody, and unique.

Do not miss its world premiere at the festival’s 16th edition!

PLUS SPECIAL GUEST:

Writer/director of MYSTERIOUS WAYS, Tyler Eaton to intro and Q&A!

MIDWEST PREMIERE

1 hour 33 min

Dir: Chad Ferrin

Cast: Robert Miano, Kelli Maroney, Cyril O'Reilly, Timothy Muskatell

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In 1930, sea captain Russel Marsh saw the light, and for 93 years his body was not his own. Inhabited by a Great Old One, he committed unspeakable acts in the name of the Esoteric Order of Dagon. Now free, he is in search of a way to go back in time to reverse the horrors wrought upon the world. But the cult has other plans and will stop at nothing to destroy him. The latest gore-drenched nightmare from fest alum, and modern master of the genre, Chad Ferrin (PARASITES, NIGHT CALLER, THE DEEP ONES).

Screens with short films:

WEEKEND DAD - “LOVECRAFT”

Dir: Nick Rohr/USA/6:07 min

Weekend Dad struggles to find stories important to him as a child that are age appropriate for his kid now.

SAPERE AUDE

Dir: Chadai Chamoun/AUS/4:58 min

Hashir and Aisha Osman were once a pair full of vigour, optimism, and an unparalleled thirst for knowledge – their love, once a beacon against a sea of darkness.

Now, the beacon dims – as Aisha’s frail frame languishes in their bed, her condition worsens. Hashir seeks a cure for his wife’s mysterious affliction. In his anguish, he conducts a myriad of experiments, scouring even the darkest, most forbidden texts for answers. In his desperate search, he must come face to face with the abyss and ask the question – is the sacrifice worth it?

With failure closing in, Hashir receives a peculiar letter from the clandestine institution, Miskatonic Sacred Heart. Wrestling with the excruciating confines of his own sanity, Hashir must face the ultimate choice… let her go or accept the medicine-men’s spurious promise of a cure, whatever the cost may be.

As Hashir’s already tenuous grip on reality loosens, his scientific fervour gives way to an embrace of the occult. This leap of faith culminates in a shocking revelation about the true nature of his wife’s condition, for which he could scarcely be less prepared.

AMYGDALA

Midwest Premiere

Dir: Oskar Johansson/USA /14:57 minAmygdala

A mother and her daughter move into an old family house. The daughter struggles to adjust to the house and, to the mother's great horror, begins feeling an increasingly intense attraction to a locked door upstairs and intense dreams of the sea.

MIDWEST PREMIERE

1 hour 39 min

Dir: Vardan Tozija

Cast: Sasko Kocev, Toni Mihajlovski, Kamka Tocinovski, Matej Sivakov

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In a secluded forest, young Marko lives under the watchful eye of his overprotective and mysterious father. Their sheltered existence is all he knows. Marko seeks solace in his cherished picture book, finding comfort and answers within its pages.

One day, an encounter with a kind-hearted boy with Down Syndrome named Miko, brings a glimmer of warmth and connection into Marko's isolated world. As his curiosity grows, Marko yearns to uncover the secrets that lie beyond the confines of the wilderness.

A cruel turn of events grants him his wish sooner than he expects. A grim journey awaits him, filled with unknown dangers, unexpected twists, and a glimpse into a world forever changed.

THE CURSE OF THE VELVET VAMPIRE

Dir: Christoffer Sandau Schuricht/DEN/13:30 min

Two Chinese horror aficionados, meet in a cult video store to watch the mysterious vampire film titled "The Curse of the Velvet Vampire". This film within the film tells the story, of a metal band called 802, and a lot of beautiful vampire women. Slowly, the reality of the film, and the world of the two men begin to merge. Something terrifying has been brought back to life and now, only fear and death await them.

US PREMIERE

1 hour 40 min

Dir: Felipe Eluti

Cast: Pablo Schwarz, Iván Álvarez de Araya, Ana Burgos Casadio, Consuelo Zerene, Vladimir Armijo

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Eros Thanatos is a self-destructive journey narrated in a choral way in which each character is dominated by their emotional shortcomings. Florencia, Gustav, Judith and Martin are incomplete people who bond in a sickly affective and sexual way. The encounter of each of them with Joseph, who carries a supernatural secret, will force them to fight with an entity that will bring out their worst demons.

Screens with short films:

SWEET MEATS

MidWest Premiere

Dir: Rebecca Myshrall/USA/12 min

Let's take a brief walk inside a world of matriarchal rule. Does it feel good to be here?

MIDWEST PREMIERE

1 hour 27 min

Dir: James Bushe, Patrick Ryder, Greig Johnson

Cast: Richard Brake, Andrew Lee Potts, Bill Fellows, Katie Sheridan.

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Four ‘scare’ loving friends book a horror-themed camping excursion. That night around the campfire, Darwin, their strange and creepy guide asks them all to tell a story that they fear and to burn a totem that will help feed the evil that lives there. They’ll come to learn that some stories should not be told.

A devilishly delightful anthology of tales, that brings to mind the best of the golden age of British horror cinema (think Hammer and Amicus), while riffing on modern themes and tropes.

Screens with short films:

KRAMPUSS

International Premiere

Dir: Guðni Líndal Benediktsson/ISL/ 7:49 min

On Christmas Eve, an Icelandic family comes face to face with the Yule Cat, a ravenous creature of folklore hungry for those who didn't get clothes for Christmas.

THE PETTING ZOO

North American Premiere

Dir: Virginie Sélavy/UK/15:00 min

On Christmas Eve, an Icelandic family comes face to face with the Yule Cat, a ravenous creature of folklore hungry for those who didn't get clothes for Christmas.

1 hour 57 min

Genres: Horror, Sci-Fi, Comedy, Underground

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Vampires, werewolves, and zombies, oh my! And they’re just some of the hideous creatures and gruesome delights that await in this terror-ific shorts program. So claw into a buffet of the season’s best in bite-sized and blood-drenched, cinematic gems!

COME BACK HAUNTED

US Premiere

Dir: Logan James Freeman/USA/11:11 min

A reclusive woman's carefully constructed life shatters when a blood covered child runs out of the woods, claiming her mother is trying to kill her. She assumes a long lost motherly roll to protect the girl, but discovers other things lurking in the dark, trying to get in.

NAP

Dir: Javier Chavanel/ESP/14 min

Four people are about to undergo a dangerous experiment. The rules are simple: you will have to sleep if you want to live.

SEMPRE AVANTI

Dir: Matthew Barber & Nathaniel Barber/USA/6:03 min

Two U.S. soldiers plunge into a suspected enemy combatant tunnel system during the Vietnam War only to awaken unparalleled horrors.

THE VAMPIRE THEORY

Dir: Dominic Grose/UK/11:33 min

Jessie can hardly call performing motion capture for “Zombie Predators 5” acting. He longs to climb that ladder and prove to the world that he's legitimate. His chance comes when he crosses paths with Victoria Lamia: a Hollywood icon. She invites him to her rental house to spend the evening with her on Christmas Eve. Jessie can hardly believe his luck, even shrugging off some of Victoria’s stranger tendencies as the night progresses.

RAINY SEASON

Dir: Jason Wan Lim, R. Trevor Griffiths/CAN/13:04 min

A young couple on vacation rent a house in a small town only to receive repeated warnings from locals to leave before rainy season begins. When the couple ignores the vague warnings, they find out the precipitation has nothing to do with the weather.

“Rainy Season” © (October 1993) Stephen King

Used by permission. All rights reserved.

DARK MOMMY

Dir: Courtney Eck/USA/13:00 min

Ben is the only night shift 911 operator in a small town. His bubble of self-isolation is only ever punctured by drunks or prank calling kids, but tonight Dark Mommy has her own intentions for Ben...and the rest of the town.

CRIMSON RESURRECTION

Dir: CJ Hawkins/USA/10:19 min

A VHS tape that was shared one too many times.

THE SPAGHETTI MAN

Dir: Jerry S Gonzalez/USA/14:18 min

A recently divorced mother and her son move into a new apartment and find a spaghetti man already living there.

SCRATCH

Dir: MIchael Trainotti/USA/24 min

A Father/Son weekend adventure becomes a terrifying fight for survival.

MIDWEST PREMIERE

1 hour 41 min

Dir: Doug Roos

Cast: Yurika Natsume, Hinako Sugiyama, Mai Mizusawa, Yukina Takase, Kei Uraji, Mone Watanabe, Takumi Isaji

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A multitude of guests visit the same cheap Tokyo airbnb at different times, unaware of the gruesome monster waiting for them. A terrifying, gore-drenched, and unique creature feature, told with a disjointed and unsettling narrative structure: Think PULP FICTION or MEMENTO as a bloody Japanese monster film.

Loaded with incredible practical FX (and no CGI), the film delivers a visceral and unsettling experience.

Screens with short films:

BEHIND

North American Premiere

Dir: Ivan Rueff, Mauro Romano/CHE/6:25 min

A cursed painting may be the cause of some nightmarish events. Let’s see what’s behind…

TRAP OF THE DEVIL

North American Premiere

Dir: Kevin Garner/USA/9:33 min

After losing her daughter in an accident, a grieving mother puts her faith in a medium who promises to return her daughter from death. Upon seeing the visage of her little girl again, events begin to unfold differently to how the mother ever would have imagined/

1 hour 33 min

Dir: James Morris

Cast: Colin Cunningham, Jessica Staples, Charla Bocchicchio, David McMahon, Sean Hunter, James Morris, Mary Ellen Wolfe

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After hearing strange noises coming from an adjoining motel room, a federal fugitive and his girlfriend inadvertently become targets of the notorious "Pale Face" killer, whose legend has consumed and haunted the local community for decades.

The most impressive, inventive, and refreshing take on the slasher sub-genre that A Night of Horror's programming team have seen in over a decade.

MIDWEST PREMIERE

1 hour 20 min

Dir: Richard Elfman

Cast: Anastasia Elfman, Marcos Mateo Ochoa, Jean Charles, Denise Milfort, Rick Howland, Evan Eckanrode, Alejandro Patiño

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Voodoo deity Baron Samedi transforms a down on her luck burlesque dancer (Anastasia Elfman) into a "Valentine Vampire." But blood only whets her appetite; to satiate her gory desires she must eat her victims' beating hearts!

A bloody - and bloody fun - horror comedy from director Richard Elfman, music by Danny Elfman and Ego Plum. Fans of comedic horror and camp will delight!

So come and celebrate the closing night of the 8th annual MIdWest WeirdFest!

Screens with short film:

VIRGIL’S RINGS

Dir: Troy DeWinne/USA/3 min

A she-devil with a taste for onion rings informs a newly deceased soul of his unfortunate situation.

FOLLOWED BY +21 CLOSING NIGHT AFTER PARTY!

THE FEST’S CLOSING NIGHT SOIRÉE

Included in your ticket price to BLOODY BRIDGET is A Night of Horror and MidWest WeirdFest’s closing night party! Must be 21+ to attend.

Come and enjoy a complimentary beverage, and hang out with the festival team, visiting filmmakers, and other audience members.

Talk horror, cinema, weirdness, and all the good stuff!

And celebrate the festival’s 16th edition!