Press Releases / News
10/11/23
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Ronnie Hein
CEO and Executive Director
201-390-9717
Ronnie@nychorrorfest.com
“LORD OF MISRULE” to make its East Coast Premiere as Opening Film at December’s New York City Horror Film Festival
New York, New York (October 11, 2022)—Director William Brent (The Boy) Bell’s folk horror thriller Lord of Misrule will open the 21st edition of the New York City Horror Film Festival, to be held at Look Dine-In Cinema (657 West 57th Street) December 7 to 10, 2023. In its East Coast premiere, the Magnolia Pictures release will play the evening of Thursday, December 7. Lord of Misrule’s top-shelf cast includes Tuppence Middleton (the Downton Abbey films, Mank), Ralph Ineson (The Witch, Game of Thrones, The Office) and Matt Stokoe (Cursed, Outlaw King).
In Lord of Misrule, Rebecca Holland (Middleton) has recently taken over as vicar of a rural English village. When her young daughter Grace (Evie Templeton) goes missing at the local festival, the villagers and local police join in a desperate search. However, the closer they edge towards finding Grace, the more secrets emerge from the village’s dark past. Jocelyn Abney (Ineson), the village’s pagan master “Lord of Misrule,” tells Rebecca that Grace is beyond God’s help – she has been taken by the spirit Gallowgog, and will not return. Abney’s own son vanished from the same festival years before. Soon, Rebecca must decide just how much she is willing to sacrifice to rescue her daughter from the grip of evil.
Over the last few decades, Lord of Misrule director William Bren Bell has emerged as a new master of horror. His chilling credits include Stay Alive, The Devil Inside, Orphan: First Kill, as well as the blockbuster The Boy and its sequel, Brahms: The Boy II. Lord of Misrule was written by Tom de Ville (The Quiet Ones).
“I was enthralled by Tom’s disturbing pagan mythology with haunting imagery that framed this drama of a missing child,” says Bell. “In my experience, it’s rare to find such well-written and beautifully dark material. My head was spinning with ideas for how to make this film, and I couldn’t wait to do it.”
“Lord of Misrule is a dark, unflinching look at how a community can be turned against itself by blind faith and superstition,” says screenwriter de Ville. “I think that’s something that, unfortunately, should resonate deeply with audiences who have lived through world events of the past six years.”
Producer Nik Bower sees Lord of Misrule as a “chilling and utterly convincing horror, in the vein of The Wicker Man or more recent hits like The Witch and Midsommar. I hope audiences will enjoy it for that. It’s also an emotionally complex character-driven drama with compelling performances, beautiful production design and stunning cinematography.”
Add director Bell, “There is an ever-growing collective thirst for films that push the genre into places that audiences can relate to in frightening and fundamental ways. I hope Lord of Misrule will do what movies do best and transport the audience to another world.”
Lord of Misrule will be joined by over 50 films from around the world at the New York City Horror Film Festival. The festival offers 13 programs, each consisting of terrifying new feature films and shorts. Q&A panels and celebrity guests follow each screening. Fans and filmmakers will mingle at the full bar located at Look Dine-in Cinema.
The NYC Horror Film Festival will also provide virtual screenings of most of the movies showing, available one day after each live screening. VIP passes and tickets are on sale now.
The NYC Horror Film Festival is the brainchild of founder Michael J. Hein, who created the festival in 2001 as a venue for new independent horror filmmaking. The festival will continue its Lifetime Achievement Award that honors the scare masters of horror. George Romero was the first recipient, followed by Tom Savini, Tobe Hooper, Roger Corman, Mick Garris, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Frank Henenlotter, Bill Lustig, Robert Englund, Wes Craven, Lloyd Kaufman, Angus Scrimm, Sean Cunningham, Adrienne Barbeau, Brad Dourif, Tony Todd, Kane Hodder and Greg Nicotero.
For more information about the NYC Horror Film Festival and to purchase passes and tickets, please go to www.nychorrorfest.com
11/29/22
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Ronnie Hein
CEO and Executive Director
201-390-9717
Ronnie@nychorrorfest.com
The New York City Horror Film Festival will be presenting its Lifetime Achievement Award to slasher icon Kane Hodder.
After a two-year hiatus, the New York City Horror Film Festival (to be held at Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas, 260 West 23rd Street, from December 1-4) will relaunch its Lifetime Achievement Award on the occasion of the fest’s 20th Anniversary. The recipient of 2022’s honor will be none other than Friday the 13th/Hatchet star Kane Hodder, who has been terrorizing moviegoers since 1988.
“No one does scary better than Kane Hodder,” says Ronnie Hein, the festival’s CEO and Executive Director. “Kane has been making audience scream their lungs out for decades, making him one of the true masters of horror. The New York City Horror Film Festival looks forward to honoring Kane for his long tenure in the genre. And our audience can’t wait to meet him for what promises to be a very special night.”
Hodder joins past recipients George Romero, Tom Savini, Tobe Hooper, Roger Corman, Mick Garris, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Frank Henenlotter, Bill Lustig, Robert Englund, Wes Craven, Lloyd Kaufman, Angus Scrimm, Sean Cunningham, Adrienne Barbeau, Brad Dourif, Tony Todd and Greg Nicotero.
Hodder has starred in hundreds of films and television shows, as well as being a stunt coordinator and stuntman on scores of films (including Seven and Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw Massacre III). After years as a stuntman, Hodder made his way to acting. Hodder is the only actor to play terror titan Jason Voorhees more than once, across four entries in the Friday the 13th franchise, and even a videogame based on the films. The actor later segued into playing another fearsome scarred killer, Victor Crowley in four Hatchet flicks.
In 1977, Hodder was performing a stunt that went horribly wrong, leaving him with second and third degree burns over 40 percent of his body. It was a long and painful road to recovery, chronicled in his autobiography Unmasked: The True Story of the World’s Most Prolific Cinematic Killer and director Derek Dennis Herbert’s documentary To Hell and Back: The Kane Hodder Story. As proof of his dedication to his movie mayhem. Hodder has the word “Kill!” tattooed on the back of his bottom lip.
When he is not filming, Hodder spends much of his time working with children in burn centers, as well as with numerous charities. Despite the roles he portrays, Hodder is often described as a very kind, compassionate and generous soul, who truly cares for those who suffer life’s cruel blows. As anyone can tell you who has met Hodder at one of his many convention appearances, he loves and appreciates his fans. Hodder also has the most wicked and wonderful comedic timing, as evidenced when he played himself in the cult TV series Holliston. He is also an avid poker player who often competes in celebrity tournaments.
“Attitude is everything when it comes to the character,” Hodder once said of playing Jason. “I’m a real natural when it comes to looking scary. If you’re not seriously trying to frighten people, then the fear these movies are intended to generate doesn’t come across. I truly try to scare the shit out of people all the time. Between takes, in the make-up trailer, you never know when I’m going to go ‘Boo!’ That’s the main reason I keep getting asked to play Jason.”
The NYC Horror Film Festival is the brainchild of Michael J. Hein, who created the festival in 2001 as a venue for new independent horror filmmaking. After Michael’s passing in 2011, the festival created the Michael J. Hein Achievement Award to celebrate the hard work and perseverance of creators in the field. Rob Zombie, Stuart Gordon and Tom Atkins were the first recipients of this award.
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For more information about the festival and to purchase passes and tickets, please go to www.nychorrorfest.com