Beyond Fest announces full slate, including ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’ ‘Halloween,’ ‘Suspiria’ and ‘Widows’
In just six years, the fall film gathering known as Beyond Fest has become one of the most electric and essential parts of L.A.’s annual movie calendar.
With roots in genre cinema but an apparent growing desire to push the boundaries of what that might mean, this year’s festival will host Los Angeles screenings of high profile new films “Bad Times at the El Royale,” “Halloween,” “Suspiria” and “Widows” — all of which will be coming from splashy international film festival debuts.
The festival, which this year runs from Sept. 26 to Oct. 9, will also host discovery titles such as “The Wind” and “Anna and the Apocalypse” and retrospective screenings of cult faves including “Liquid Sky,” “Bubba Ho Tep,” “All the Colors of the Dark” and “Akira.”
“We’re honored we get to champion the best filmmakers in the world with the best film fans in the world,” said Beyond Fest co-founder Christian Parkes in a statement. “To pair something as instantly iconic as ‘Halloween’ with a discovery like Emma Tammi’s chilling ‘The Wind’ is a dream come true.”
David Gordon Green’s new “Halloween,” still starring Jamie Lee Curtis, will play as part of a triple bill at the Egyptian Theater along with John Carpenter’s 1978 original and Bob Clark’s 1974 “Black Christmas.” Luca Guadagnino’s new take on Dario Argento’s horror classic “Suspiria” will play twice for free at the Cinerama Dome after the rest of the festival Oct. 22.
Gaspar Noe’s trance-inducing dance film “Climax” will open the festival with star Sofia Boutella in attendance. Jim Hosking will be there for his “An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn,” with stars Aubrey Plaza and Craig Robinson, as will filmmaker Justin MacGregor with his “Best F(r)iends: Volume Two” stars Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero.
Filmmaker Jonas Åkerlund will attend a screening of the uncut version of his “Lords of Chaos,” and the lineup also includes Zhang Yimou’s “Shadow.”
S. Craig Zahler’s “Dragged Across Concrete,” which stars Vince Vaughn and Mel Gibson and premiered at the Venice Film Festival, will be the closing night film.
Martial arts legend Sonny Chiba will appear at a screening of his 1977 “Doberman Cop.” Mike Hodge’s 1980 “Flash Gordon” will be paired with Lisa Downs’ documentary “Life After Flash,” with original cast members Sam J. Jones and Melody Anderson scheduled to attend.
Both Katushiro Ôtomo’s influential anime “Akira” and Robin Hardy’s pagan thriller “The Wicker Man” will be shown in rare 35 mm screenings.
Beyond Fest previously announced a retrospective of David Cronenberg films with the filmmaker scheduled to attend.
For more information, visit beyondfest.com. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon PST.
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