FrightFest lets diehards decide what they’ll see

For far too long, horror movie fans have been at the mercy of studio heads who refuse to put scary movies into theaters unless they know it will make money, which usually means it’s a reboot of an old franchise or its been drained of all its potential gore so it can get a PG-13 rating and be suitable for teen audiences.

Now it’s time for horror movie fans to take back the power and decide for themselves what they want to see on the big screen thanks to Fangoria magazine and Lightning Media who have partnered to launch a unique, multi-tiered distribution program for eight new feature-length horror/thrillers.

As part of the multi-faceted program, fans will be the voting jury in a mini film festival

“Demand It” through July 19, to select one of the eight films for limited theatrical release in late July (www.FangoriaFrightFest.com). Fans will be able to view and vote for their favorite trailer and will then be automatically entered into a summer consumer sweepstakes to win a trip to Las Vegas and other prizes.

“This is a great promotional idea because it gives fans a chance to send a message to the people who put movies in theaters that there really is an audience for good horror movies,” said Darin Scott, director of Dark House, one of the features in the running to be released. “Not all horror movies should be just dumped in the direct-to-video bins because they’re too intense for teenagers. I hope the festival helps educate studio heads about what fans want and what they will support at the box office.”

The Fangoria FrightFest line-up represents a diversified array of quality genre entertainment, embracing a range of horror film styles from supernatural chillers to psychological horror and slasher flicks. These eight new feature-length horror/thrillers feature such stars as the Twilight saga’s Xavier Samuel, Calista Flockhart, Keri Russell, Michael Madsen, Eric Roberts and more.

Films included in the Fangoria FrightFest promotion are:

Fragile —Amy Nicholls (Calista Flockhart), the new night nurse at a soon-to-be-abandoned children’s hospital, readies the last group of orphans to leave. But it becomes increasingly clear that these are not normal children.

The Tomb (aka Ligeia) —Successful writer and scholar Jonathan Merrick (Wes Bentley) falls under the spell of the bewitching beauty Ligeia, who is fighting a fatal illness. Willing to stop at nothing in a quest for immortality, Ligeia plots to steal souls … beginning with Jonathan’s. Co-starring Michael Madsen (Kill Bill).

Grimm Love (aka Rohtenburg and Butterfly: A Grimm Story) — In this fact-based thriller, German graduate student Katie Armstrong (Keri Russell) is researching cannibalistic killer Oliver Hartwin (Thomas Kretschmann) for her thesis. Obsessed with her subject, she plunges into “the lifestyle.”

Road Kill (aka Road Train) — An Australian surprise starring emerging heartthrob Xavier Samuel (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and festival favorite The Loved Ones). In this supernatural thriller, a group of teenagers (including Samuel) embark on a road trip and find themselves menaced by a driver-less truck in the Australian outback.

Dark House — Directed by writer/producer Darin Scott (Tales From the Hood), this thriller is a high-tech take on the traditional “haunted house,” featuring a charismatically maniacal performance by horror legend Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator).

Hunger — Steven Hentges’ shocker stars Lori Heuring (Wicked Little Things) in a physically and psychologically demanding role. Five strangers (including Heuring) find themselves trapped in an underground dungeon. Realizing they are the subjects of a sadistic experiment to test the depths of a human being’s will to survive, their hunger increases as their humanity fades.

Pig Hunt — A young man and his pals embark on a guys’ weekend to hunt wild boars on his late uncle’s remote ranch. But as the group treks deeper into the forest, the awful truth is revealed about his uncle’s demise and the hunters become the hunted.

The Haunting (aka No-Do: The Beckoning) — This Spanish chiller from director Elio Quiroga (La Hora Fria) was inspired by the Catholic Church’s documentation of actual, unexplained supernatural phenomena in the ’40s and stars Ana Torrent (Tesis) as a new mother driven to the brink of madness.