The time has come! The hour is near! The date is set for fright and fear!
The Overlook Film Festival 2024 is upon us! With the opening night festivities taking place last night at the Prytania Theater Uptown and Generations Hall, this weekend is primed for dark delights and spooky cinema.
With over 28 feature films, 24 short films, four live presentations, six immersive experiences, and six special events over a four-day weekend; there’s frightful fun for everyone!
Here is just a small sampling of all the festivities awaiting horror fans this weekend.
“Cuckoo”
The Opening Night film of the Festival was Tilman Singer’s “Cuckoo”. A delightful throwback to the heyday of wacky Italian blood fests, this modern-day giallo features all the kooky conceits with a much stronger story than many of its Italian brethren. Featuring a fantastic lead performance from Hunter Schafer (“Euphoria”) and a scenery gnawing villainous turn from B-Movie Gosling Dan Stevens (“The Guest”, “Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire”) this heartstring tugging monster fest is a bold and brutal harbinger for this year’s festival offerings.
“Cuckoo” will be going wide in theaters May 3.
“All You Need Is Death”
A quiet folk horror that smothers audiences in an unseen world of song and sorrow, “All You Need Is Death” is a unique alchemy of history and body horror. Set among the yawning moors and fog strewn villages of Ireland, this inventive film from Paul Duane follows a pair of collectors of rare Irish folk ballads. When their search brings them to a song older than known language that has never been recorded, our couple is flung headfirst into a simmering nightmare of generational horror, ancient curses, and the unyielding pain of passion unrequited. A haunting picture that lingers like the last note of a love song in an empty room, “All You Need Is Death” is a unique experience you don’t want to miss.
“All You Need Is Death” is screening at Prytania Theater Canal Place Friday at 2:45 p.m. and Saturday at 5:45 p.m.
“Azrael”
The modern silent horror film is rapidly becoming its subgenre, from “A Quiet Place” to last year’s fantastic ‘No One Will Save You’. “Azrael”, takes this conceit in an innovative direction, presenting a biblically post-apocalyptic world where the devout have muted themselves and live in terror of horrors lurking in the woods. From director E.L. Katz (“Cheap Thrills”), writer Simon Barrett (“You’re Next”, “The Guest”), and starring modern horror icon Samara Weaving (“Ready or Not”, “The Babysitter”), the film offers a naturalist approach to the post-rapture end of days, as Weaving wages a silent holy war on a religious cult hellbent on birthing a new messiah. Rippling with a rising tension that crests with an unforgettable final image, “Azrael” more than earns its placement in this quiet, yet horrifically effective, subgenre.
“Azrael” is screening at Prytania Theater Canal Place Friday at 10:45 p.m., Sunday at 12:15 p.m., and Monday at 9:15 p.m.
“Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person”
A chilly, funny bite of life from our friends in Quebec, “Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person” is the best kind of genre bending exercise; a morbid coming of age story featuring a sweet misanthropic coupling of misfits whom audiences can’t help but fall in love with. When a teenage vampire with too much empathy to kill is cut off from her family’s blood supply, she is forced to befriend a suicidal boy to form a mutually beneficial arrangement. Directed by Ariane Louis-Seize with charm for days and enough gore to earn its vampire fangs, this compassionate crowd-pleaser never strays from its central humanity and proves that the strongest hearts aren’t always the beating ones.
“Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person” is screening at Prytania Theater Canal Place Friday at 1:00 p.m and Sunday at 3:00 p.m.
Beyond the films and screenings, here are just a few more events from across our fine city!
On Friday, enjoy the Night of the Living Art Market: A Spooky Swamp Meet and The Grand Hall Escape Room Experience, both at Courtyard Brewery.
On Saturday, celebrate Halfway to Halloween in style at the Closing Night Halloween Party at Generations Hall.
On Sunday, join NOLA artists Think Less, Hear More as they score a 100 year anniversary screening of “Hands of Orlac”, a macabre tale of music and murder from the director of “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”. And finally, to wrap out the weekend, join NOVAC at REEL Reset: Overlook Edition, an after-hours haunt and chill house party in the heart of NOLA.
Get your tickets now because they are going frightfully fast.
You’ll be glad you did!
