The last day of the Salem Horror Fest's first weekend had two movies. The second one is one that I really want to talk about... but I can't, because not only was it a secret screening, they also told us not to tell anyone that it was shown at the festival because they didn't want to put a potential distribution deal into jeopardy. This unfortunately leaves me with the first movie I saw that day...
Welcome Week: A College Horror Anthology (2024)
Not rated
The third night of the Salem Horror Fest had another theme to it, especially once I got past the retro films they showed earlier in the day. If the second night was Found Footage Night, then this was Hollywood Night, with both of the evening's films revolving around fame, especially that of actresses.
First up, though, comes the older films...
Cat People (1942)
Approved by the Production Code Administration of the Motion Picture Producers & Distributors of America
The second night of the Salem Horror Fest was where the real horror movies came out, and they had a theme: found footage. The similarities ended there, though. The first film of the night was a lo-fi, no-budget film that felt evocative of The Blair Witch Project with its distinctly freeform style, while the second one was a hyper-modern one set in a Twitch stream gone horribly wrong. How were they? Read on...
It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This (2023)
Not rated
Just because I left Fort Lauderdale, and with it Popcorn Frights, behind when I moved to Boston last year doesn't mean I have to give up on horror festivals. And just as I managed to sneak in a trip to the Telluride Horror Show amidst my adventures in Utah back in 2022, so too did I find that -- where else? -- Salem, Massachusetts hosted the annual Salem Horror Show in April and May. Tonight was the first night, and they screened one of the festival's token non-horror films in The People's Joker, a queer Batman spoof made without any official approval from DC Comics or Warner Bros. (They originally had a screening of Hocus Pocus planned with Kathy Najimy as a special guest, but Najimy had to cancel at the last minute.) How was it?
The People's Joker (2022)
Not rated
Abigail (2024)
Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore throughout, pervasive language and brief drug use
Dune (2021) and Dune: Part Two (2024)
Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, some disturbing images and suggestive material (Part One)
Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, some suggestive material and brief strong language (Part Two)
