Halloween may be a ways away, but that doesn't stop the early preparation for the horror! As stores slowly but surely begin to prepare for an event that's months away, Miami's film community is doing the same. And the fun this October launches the very first day of the month, with South Florida's first and only horror film festival making its debut.

The Popcorn Frights Film Festival launches October 1st at O Cinema Wynwood and lasts four days, premiering four international films that are accompanied by six shorts. The program is a weird little bag that will hopefully offer up some thrills and chills for Miami horror fans.

Opening night will see the Florida Premiere of anthology film Tales of Halloween, featuring short films by filmmakers like Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, Repo! The Genetic Opera), Lucky McKee (May, All Cheerleaders Die), and Neil Marshall (The Descent, Doomsday) - the last of which is particularly exciting after his recent directing stint on Hannibal to introduce the Red Dragon arc.

As for closing night, a stellar cast is what sounds most exciting about the Western-Horror hybrid Bone Tomahawk. The film features Kurt Russell, Matthew Fox, Patrick Wilson, David Arquette, and Sid Haig - all in a movie about cannibalism. What's not to dig? As for the other two features, there's the Florida premiere for Ali Larter vehicle, the supernatural thriller The Diabolical and the creature feature Howl. We won't dive into the shorts, but information on those can be found at the festival's website: popcornfrights.com.

“We’re thrilled to present such an array of cool, twisted, beautiful, mind-bending, horrifying, and hilarious films for our inaugural genre festival,” said co-founders Igor Shteyrenberg and Marc Ferman. “We scoured the globe for the freshest and craziest films to present for our community of film lovers, and this first incredible selection of films just gives a small taste of the fun that will be in store as our Festival grows in future editions.”

Very in tune with the horror festival vibe, all of the films screening at O Cinema Wynwood will be shown at 11 p.m., in (near) midnight movie tradition. Adding to that is the fact that opening night will feature an under the stars courtyard reception courtesy of Pollo Tropical, exclusive to the festival badge holders — which are available at $45 for a limited time, alongside $12 single screening tickets. So horror fans, get your costumes ready and prepare for some treats with the first ever Popcorn Frights Film Festival!

Follow Juan Barquin on Twitter @woahitsjuanito

