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Eastern European folklore is a rich source of inspiration for the folk horror genre in modern cinema, with several great movies based on these folk traditions. Films like "November," "Kratt," and "Viy" bring Eastern European folklore to life, showcasing the haunting beauty and creepy elements of these tales. From werewolves and witches to terrifying creatures like the Leshy and Baba Yaga, these movies provide a visual treat and a glimpse into the dark and bizarre world of Eastern European folklore.

Eastern European folklore is filled with tales so horrifying they've inspired a slew of brilliant horror movies. Indeed, folk horror is a very popular genre in modern cinema, routinely drawing inspiration from folk tales and cultural mythology. Eastern European folklore is proving to be a fertile source, and several great folk horror movies have adapted its horrors.

Folk horror is a genre that was previously associated with British cinema, with...

Rasmus Merivoo’s Dark Fairy Tale Kratt Brings Magic and Mayhem to Home Video Festival Hit Available on Digital HD & Cable VOD October 11 Across North America from Red Water Entertainment “an adult fairy tale in the vein of Guillermo del Toro” — Simplistic Reviews “Incredibly entertaining and ambitious” — Cbr Toronto, On – Following …

The post Red Water Entertainment Summons Dark Fairy Tale Kratt to VOD October 11th appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Rasmus Merivoo’s Dark Fairy Tale Kratt Brings Magic and Mayhem to Home Video Festival Hit Available on Digital HD & Cable VOD October 11 Across North America from Red Water Entertainment “an adult fairy tale in the vein of Guillermo del Toro” — Simplistic Reviews “Incredibly entertaining and ambitious” — Cbr Toronto, On – Following …

The post Red Water Entertainment Summons Dark Fairy Tale Kratt to VOD October 11th appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Red Water Entertainment has announced that they will be giving writer/director Rasmus Merivoo’s Estonian horror comedy / dark fairy tale Kratt a digital and VOD release in North America on October 11th – and along with that announcement comes the unveiling of the film’s trailer, which you can see in the embed above. The film will be available to watch on the likes of iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, iNDemand, and Dish next month.

Said to be “in the vein of Guillermo del Toro“, Kratt has the following synopsis:

Children are left at Grandma’s without smartphones. Real life seems boring, working feels hard. Luckily they find instructions for Kratt – a magical creature from old Estonian mythology who will do whatever its master says. All they have to do now is buy a soul from the Devil! Life stops being boring in a bloody way…

The film stars Mari Lill,...

Encyclopocalypse Publications is proud to bring Paul Gandersman and Peter Hall's debut YA Horror novel, The Dead Friends Society, to print on November 11, 2022: "Drew and her friends aren't like most college kids. They're dead.

Murdered in 1998 by a masked killer known only as The Fireman, their spirits are trapped in Greywood House, desperate to escape...until Abbey and her family arrive.

The new girl finds herself drawn to their haunting presence, which only makes things worse. Because the dead know what the living can't: The Fireman is coming back.

And this time the ghosts of Greywood House will have to do whatever it takes to stop the next bloodbath, even if it means the end of their afterlives...

"The Dead Friends Society was supposed to be a movie." explains authors Peter Hall and Paul Gandersman, "We started developing it years ago, when the world was very different. We...

Exclusive: Avi Federgreen’s Indiecan Entertainment is launching a genre-focused distribution arm, hot on the heels of releasing Junta Yamaguchi’s time paradox comedy Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes.

Red Water Entertainment will serve as a home for genre cinema from around the world, focused on bringing North American audiences high-quality cinema with no language or regional barriers.

It will work primarily in the horror, science fiction and action genres, but will release films from the vast spectrum that the term ‘genre’ encompasses. “There’s a lot of wonderful genre cinema that never sees the light of day in North America, and I’m excited to help some of these films find the audiences they deserve,” said Federgreen.

Red Water’s launch slate comprises six diverse films that will release late this year. They are Stefano Lodovichi’s The Guest Room (aka The Room; Italy), John Farrelly’s The Sleep...

When you were at primary school, did you ever get asked to write an essay about what you did in your summer holidays? In the absence of interesting events, were you tempted to get creative? Rasmus Merivoo’s Kratt – part of the Fantasia 2021 line-up – feels as if it started out that way, but that’s not to fault it. It perfectly captures the spirit of a summer adventure.

Mia and Kevin (Nora and Harri Merivoo – this makes no secret of being a family film) are sent to stay with their grandmother (Mari Lill) for the summer because their parents want some time alone. Being stuck out in the middle of nowhere in rural Estonia isn’t their idea of fun, especially without their phones, and the suggestion that they fill up their time by doing chores doesn’t go down well. They’re smart kids, however, always looking for solutions,...

Stars: Nora Merivoo, Harri Merivoo, Mari Lill, Elise Tekko, Roland Teima, Ivo Uukkivi | Written and Directed by Rasmus Merivoo

In Estonian mythology a Kratt is a creature made out of hay and old household implements and brought to life with a soul purchased from the devil. Once animated it was bound to do whatever tasks it was given. The problem was, if it ran out of things to do it became bored, and murderous. I first encountered a Kratt in Rainer Sarnet’s Estonian folk horror film November. Now his countryman Rasmus Merivoo has written and directed a much less serious take on these creatures, simply entitled Kratt.

Mia (Nora Merivoo) and Kevin (Harri Merivoo) have been dropped off with Grandma (Mari Lill) while their parents attend a retreat. Given chores and denied internet access the kids are not happy. They eventually wind up at the library in the company...

Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival has unveiled much of its feature lineup including early highlights from several sidebars for this year’s online 25th edition, with the full program to be announced in July.

Fantasia’s preliminary lineup is highlighted by a glut of world and premieres including Edoardo Vitaletti’s “The Last Thing Mary Saw”; fest regular Richard Bates Jr.’s “King Knight”; Mikhael Bassilli and Luc Walpoth’s “Baby Money”; Canadian actor-turned-director Mark O’Brien’s debut “The Righteous”; “Hellbender” from John Adams, Toby Poser, and Zelda Adams; and the highly anticipated directorial debut of former Fantasia winning writer Travis Taute’s (“Number 37”) “Indemnity.”

Available to audiences across Canada, Fantasia will run Aug. 5-25 and present screenings, panels and workshops on its digital platform, hosted for the second year running by Festival Scope and Shift72. Event organizers are also closely monitoring the health and safety guidelines laid out by public officials in Montreal,...

Canadian genre festival Fantasia has unveiled the first crop of titles that will screen at its 25th edition, which is set to take place virtually August 5-25.

As per last year, the event will run on a platform created by Festival Scope and Shift72 and will feature screenings, panels and workshops, available to audiences in Canada. Organizers continue to discuss with local authorities about the possibility of adding a limited range of physical events, they said.

This year’s edition will have an enhanced focus on Japanese cinema. Below, the first wave of confirmed titles is listed, with the full program announcement to follow in late July. As previously announced, Fantasia will open with Quebec-set zom-com Brain Freeze.

Fantasia 2021 titles:

The 12 Day Tale Of The Monster That Died In 8

Dir. Shunji Iwai

Japan

North American Premiere

Agnes

Dir. Mickey Reece

USA

International Premiere

All The Moons

Dir. Igor Legarreta

Spain...

Organisers consulting with local Montreal authorities on possibility of limited range of physical events.

Top brass at Fantasia International Film Festival have announced the first wave of films including a focus on Japan for the virtual edition of the 25th anniversary festival that runs August 5-25.

The festival will screen for Canadian audiences on a platform created by Festival Scope and Shift72. Organisers are taking advice from local health authorities in Montreal on the possibility of adding a limited range of physical events.

Japanese selections include Tsutomu Hanabusa’s manga adaptation Kakegurui 2: Ultimate Russian Roulette about a deadly school...

Projects about biohacking, werewolves, Kung-Fu and even killer fingernails and the menopause are among those being presented at this week’sFrontières Platform Cannes for genre films.

A co-presentation between the Cannes Film Market and Canada’s Fantasia International Film Festival, this year’s Frontières selection is also notable for featuring a large number of genre projects by female filmmakers and centered on female characters. The projects also come from as far afield as Argentina, Israel and Russia, well as the U.S., U.K. and Canada.

Taking place online on June 25, the 4th Frontières has two distinct strands. The Buyers Showcase will present six projects that have recently been completed or are in post-production, and screens footage for buyers, sales agents and festival programmers. The Proof of Concept Presentation, meanwhile, will screen teaser trailers for seven projects looking for financing partners.

Surveying the 13 projects, newly appointed Frontières executive director Annick Mahnert...

Works include The Paper Tigers represented by Xyz Films, Amp International.

Frontières has announced the final selection of projects for its annual Cannes platform as it prepares to return for the fourth year to the Marché du Film as part of the upcoming online edition.

They include proof of concepts for Rules For Werewolves, a feature-length adaptation of the SXSW short entry with Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) attached to star, Argentinian filmmaker Tamae Garateguy’s Dogman, and Buyer’s Showcase sales title The Paper Tigers represented by Xyz Films and Amp International.

The 2020 slate focuses on emerging voices in...

Works include The Paper Tigers represented by Xyz Films, Amp International.

Frontières has announced the final selection of projects for its annual Cannes platform as it prepares to return for the fourth year to the Marché du Film as part of the upcoming online edition.

They include proof of concepts for Rules For Werewolves, a feature-length adaptation of the SXSW short entry with Finn Wolfhard (Stranger Things) attached to star, Argentinian filmmaker Tamae Garateguy’s Dogman, and Buyer’s Showcase sales title The Paper Tigers represented by Xyz Films and Amp International.

The 2020 slate focuses on emerging voices in...

Genre industry initiative Frontières has unveiled the titles taking part in its 2020 Cannes showcase, which this year will be held online as part of the Marché du Film’s digital incarnation.

Presented by the Montreal fest Fantasia and the Marché on June 25, the event involves a buyers’ showcase featuring six projects recently completed or in post, and proof of concept presentations of a further eight early-stage projects.

Among those selected os the Xyz and Amp repped The Paper Tigers, female-driven and directed werewolf thriller Bloodthirsty from the producer of Harpoon, and Rules For Werewolves starring Stranger Things’ Finn Wolfhard.

Access to the showcases will be available to professionals accredited to this year’s Marche, as well as select industry representatives invited by Frontières organizers. There are also networking events planned.

Here’s the full list of projects.

Buyers’ Showcase

Bloodthirsty (Canada)

Director: Amelia Moses

Producer: Michael Peterson (775 Media Corp...

Film production incentives have been a success story for the Eastern European territories that have been late to embrace the rebates but are catching up fast. And, despite interruptions caused by the Covid-19 crisis, industry officials and filmmakers remain upbeat.

In Romania, where major player Castel Film Studio cancelled four international productions while under temporarily closure, the two-year-old production rebates system has also been suspended for now.

“Everything is on hold due to the state of emergency,” says producer and industry consultant Alex Traila.

Despite helping draw such high-profile projects as the BBC’s “Killing Eve,” administrators of the 35% cash-back incentives caused a stir with delays in payments after the government-mandated work shutdowns took effect March 26.

The Romanian Film Centre has since issued assurances that it has sufficient funds to write checks when work resumes, and Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has pegged the date for the end of the state of emergency as early May.