The DC area’s annual Spooky Movie International Horror Film Festival is taking place virtually this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Celebrating its 15th year, the weeklong event is hoping to gather horror film fans around the country behind their screens from October 8-15.
“The 2020 lineup features many innovative and frightening new films that are sure to be among the year’s most buzzed-about indie genre flicks, and even some new cult classics,” say the organizers, who describe the event as “the Mid-Atlantic region’s premier dedicated genre film festival.”
The AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, will be hosting the online festival.
🦇Calling all #horror fans! The @spookymovie International Horror Film Festival opens today & runs thru Oct 15. This year's lineup: 15 😱frightful features, 17 👻scary shorts & 2 💀spooky special presentations. See 'em all & save with an all-access pass!https://t.co/9NJ2IGPWIE pic.twitter.com/EM6RJGyTkD
— AFI Silver (@AFISilver) October 8, 2020
The Spooky Movie Fest opens with Get The Hell Out, a horror comedy by Taiwanese director I-Fan Wang. It will be shown in Mandarin with English subtitles.
“Taiwan’s parliament has an infamous reputation for sessions that get so spirited its members have been known to get into physical brawls on the legislature floor. Enter the imagination of I-Fan Wang, who, in his uproariously entertaining feature debut, cheekily satirizes this escalation from filibusters to fisticuffs with a premise that sees passionate politicians mutate into ravenous flesh-eating zombies,” says the event’s website about the film.
There will also be three Spooky Shorts sections, which will be displayed on Friday, October 9; Saturday, October 10; and Sunday, October 11. A total of 17 short films will be featured in these sessions.
The organizers note that the movies will be available to view online to customers located anywhere in the US and US Territories, however, some of them are restricted by geographic location.
Spooky Movie Festival Pass costs $125 for general admission and $100 for AFI members.
Viewers are prohibited from recording the movies via cameras or other devices as it constitutes a breach of copyright. Any person caught doing that will be subject to legal action and the pirated material will be seized.