Blood in the Snow Film Festival hits Canada from November 21 to 26 2019. Mother of Movies has a little remote cover press pass and the line-up is looking stellar. Horror, science fiction, action, and thriller movies are on the agenda, and passes are still available if you’re thinking of heading out to The Royal Cinema in Toronto. The festival has been in full swing since 2012 and I’m positive it’s going to be around for many more.

Let’s get into the full program and I’ll be back over the next few weeks with reviews and movie stills. Find out what to expect from this superb collection of underground cinematic events that are sure to whet the appetite and satiate your dark cinema urges.

Puppet Killer 2019 Blood in the Snow Festival

Puppet Killer

The festival opens with Puppet Killer, a premiere for Toronto set at Christmas! Is there really a puppet in this South Korean horror film from Kevin Mosely (writer) and Lisa Ovies (director)? All signs point to an emphatic yes! If a cabin in the woods setting combined with high school students being stalked by a psycho killer sounds like your cup of slasher then grab your tickets and head on over.

Happy Face & She Never Died

Friday night’s alright for horror movies and Happy Face is having its premiere 22nd November. Promising some totally obscure disfigurement of one’s own face, a teenager attempts to reconnect with his mother. Stan wants to join a support group for disfigured people and he thinks this will solve all his problems. Written and directed by Alexander Franchi with co-writer Joelle Bourjolly, this is a drama-filled 100 minutes you should not miss.

Lovers of He Never Died (2015) can sit back and enjoy the companion piece She Never Died. This time Lacey is bored of her life of immortality. Audrey Cummings will give you the violent horror you are looking for. Although most will guess this is just a gender swap film, I can assure you this one tells a different story set in the same world as Jack in the previous film.

She Never Died, movie Still Blood in the Snow Festival

23rd November’s Three Films are:

Funny Frights – Bits Short Program

Dead Dicks (Toronto Premiere)

The Nights Before Christmas (World Premiere)

One Last Heist Short Film part of the Funny Frights Shorts

If you love your short films like you love a rainy night in with horror, then pray for rain and head out for Funny Frights. This set has ten short films to offer you and is all Canadian genre films aiming for the lighter side of horror. All up there are 90 minutes of funny horror goodness. The Video Store Commerical, Now is the Printer of Our Discontent, Video Vengence, Long Pig, Be Good, Docking, Don’t Sneeze, One Last Last Heist and Asking For a Friend are sure to be worth the frizzy hair.

Dead Dicks

Dead Dicks sounds like what happens if you wish you had more than one you. Then after that, you became suicidal and killed yourself a bunch of times. Richie is that suicidal person and his sister, Becca gets more than she bargained for when he calls her for help.

The Nights Before Christmas

The Nights Before Christmas gives you a second dose of holiday horror with Paul Tanter’s follow up from Once Upon a Time at Christmas (2017.) A new killing spree is in store for Mrs. Clause and Santa in Woodbridge and this time they’re going back to their roots at the asylum where they first met.

More Short Films— Emerging Screams

Sunday 24th gives the Royal Cinema more short films, this time comprising 9 movies and showcasing first-time directors and up-and-comer student filmmakers.

Specter (Dirs. Gabriela Diacon and Mariana Diacon

Solitude (Dir. Andrew Fleming)

The Acrylic (Dir. Daniel Pike)

Snack Time (Dirs. Kaw Tay Whee School students)

Experience Machine (Dir. Ivana Bittnerova)

Death’s Toll (Dir. Spencer Hetherington)

Oscar (Dir. Matthew Takatsch)

New Woman (Dir. Benjamin Noah)

Trash (Dir. Suzanne Etheridge)

What’s Within (Dir. Haad Bakshi)

Willa (Dir. Corey Mayne)

A Series of Web Bites – Web Series & Deep Six Theatrical Premiere

Some of the best web series have been made into a feature-length film which includes music videos and other streaming content. There are ten web series to watch of varying lengths.

Mystery Trackers (Dir. Robin Hunter)

To No Man’s Land (Dir. Khizer Khani)

Resolve (Dir. Robert Bellamy)

Dark Before Dawn: Caravan (Dirs. Brodie Spaull & Paul Krysinski)

Raveage (Dir. Courtney James)

Demon X (Dir. Matthew Campbell & Jason Fischer)

Space Riders: Division Earth II (Dir. Jordan Canning)

Utukko (Dir. Mathieu Laprise)

Black Out (Dir. Tanya Hoshi)

Deep Six

Deep Six is a 70-minute web series of the science-fiction variety. It features some astronauts in space who discover there is something out there with them.

READ NEXT: Also from Colin Minihan and on Netflix is What Keeps You Alive.

RELATED: Short film anthology film A NIGHT OF HORROR: NIGHTMARE RADIO

A family is terrorized by their eight-year-old son’s imaginary friend.

Z

To close out the festival, the final film will be ‘Z’ a hotly anticipated film I will be watching. I’ll be back as soon as possible with a review. Alongside Brandon Christensen who is writer and director is Colin Minihan. Minihan is one of my favorite filmmakers. The story follows Joshua who is 8. He and his family find there is something not quite right about Joshuas’ imaginary best friend. Creepy kid movies combined with great direction and writing, this one is sure to be a fantastic way to finish off a great 6-day film festival.