Horror movies may be big bucks at the box office these days, but those dollars are largely being handed to films aimed at the masses, by filmgoers who wouldn’t necessarily refer to themselves as “horror fans.” While the more unique, interesting, and genre-expanding films often languish on the sidelines, until getting unceremoniously dumped onto DVD or cable years after completion. No recent example chapped the asses of horror fans more aggravatingly than the fate of Trick r Treat. Even if you live in New York or Los Angeles, your chances of seeing original, non-Platinum Dunes horror on the big screen outside of a festival is nearly impossible.
This was a major factor behind Friday Night Frights, the horror series I created with Sebastian O’Brien and The Cinefamily theater. And why we selected Tucker & Dale Vs Evil – a great, fun film that has been struggling to find theatrical distribution despite rave responses from festivals around the globe – for our debut show this past January. Sadly, FNF is only available to the horror fans of Los Angeles (like us on Facebook LA fright fans). But I have some good news for horror fans of greater America…
AMC Theaters, an entertainment management company called The Collective, and horror website Bloody Disgusting, are teaming up to bring fringe horror films to your local muti-plex! Well, if you happen to live in one of the 32 largest markets (hey, that’s better than nothing). BD’s Brad Miska says:
“We see a lot of horror films that never make it to the consumer here in the States. We hope to change that by releasing only films we personally love and think the horror community will embrace. Horror movies are a social experience. The success of Bloody Disgusting and other horror communities proves that concept. Bloody Disgusting represents a society of hardcore fans and we plan to activate them through these screenings, bringing the conversation off of the blogs and into the theater itself, while creating a unique experience for each filmgoer that motivates them to come back every month for the experience itself, not just the films.”
There are no exact dates yet for the series, though it seems to be starting sometime late spring/early summer, with the plan for special screenings several times a week each month. The first three films to be getting the special AMC treatment will be, Cold Fish, Rammbock, and Yellowbrickroad (my review). Any way you slice it, this is pretty nice news for horror and horror fans.