7 Festival Favorite Horror Flicks To Look Out For In 2015

After sitting through a year's worth of horror movies, it's time to start compiling my all-encapsulating "Best Of 2014" and "Worst Of 2014" awards lists, but before we get there, I'd like to highlight a few festival favorites that have yet to find a proper release. While most of the films I've loved have received public recognition in the same year they hit the circuit, like Stage Fright, there are a few PHENOMENAL films still waiting for their moment in the sun. While I can happily report most have reached distribution deals already, that still doesn't mean they don't deserve another bump to freshen your minds! This year has already brought us creepy dolls, demonic board games, phallic monsters, musical horror - the list goes on - but I can promise you that there are still PLENTY of treats that haven't seen the light of day yet. How about a romantic creature feature, or zombie animals, or a boy scout slasher?! Not only that, but one of my only 5-Star reviews on the year is sitting atop this very list, so I'm not dredging the waters here and scraping up titles just for an article. These aren't predictions, these are actual reactions to what I've already had the pleasure of enjoying - get excited! From Austin to Toronto, here are seven festival darlings you should be looking forward to in 2015! 7) WolfCop US Distribution: Image Entertainment Release Date: January 20th, 2015 "Lou, you're a wolf!" "COP!" That's all you need to understand about WolfCop. Leo Fafard plays Lou Garou, an alcoholic small-town sheriff who gets turned into a werewolf, but instead of becoming a wild beast, Garou instead turns into a furry law enforcer who solves crimes as WolfCop! Because he's a wolf, and a cop - you're still with me, right? Much like my very next selection, WolfCop is not a film that's meant to be taken seriously, so you can expect loads of wolf-related puns, some wicked transformations, and an obvious "Dirty Hairy" comparison - plus, WolfCop gets a little action. Yeah, Lowell Dean has too much fun playing around with WolfCop. I love the resurgence of 80s style absurdity, because WolfCop is made for midnight audiences who already pounded a few drinks and bought into the "werewolf officer" concept so energetically enacted by Dean. He never bails on making Garou a monster wearing a sheriff's outfit, switching between gunplay and werewolf carnage for a bloody mess of decapitated thugs, fleshy face masks, and some of the messiest transformations imaginable. Mixing in plenty of references to "The Three Little Pigs" and "Little Red Riding Hood," Jonathan Cherry, and a rockin' soundtrack from the Shooting Guns, Lowell Dean has produced a pretty comical horror throwback about a werewolf law enforcer who even has his own theme song - because being a WolfCop wasn't badass enough. 6) Zombeavers US Distribution: Freestyle Release Date: March 20, 2015 When I first heard about Zombeavers, I immediately wrote it off as some schlocky gimmick that would never take off. We're talking about zombified beavers slaughtering a stereotypical group of vacationing kids by chewing through them like dry diftwood - I mean, could that concept really work? Yes, yes it f#cking does, because writer/director Jordan Rubin takes the "zombeaver" concept and blows it out of the water, going far beyond animal attacks. The entire film is a pitch-perfect 80s throwback from the very moment Courtney Palm's character gets naked right up until the final death sequence, going for bloody guffaws peppered with true zombie horror. Well, ok, maybe the scares are lacking, but who cares when you've got 'effing zombie beavers? The whole ordeal starts when Bill Burr and John Mayer (yes, those names are correct) accidentally spill toxic waste into a lake, turning the local beaver population into hungry creatures who gobble up anything in sight. On the menu during Zombeavers are a collection of sorority girls and their boy toys, frantically fighting off wave after wave of zombeaver puppets until every last mutant is dead. It's all rather hilarious, and the monsters always end up attacking in different ways, so the fun of Zombeavers never really gets old no mater how genrefied the entire production becomes. It's a constant blast from start to finish that's destined to be a cult classic, best suited for a late night viewing with your horror compadres. Beers, buds, and Zombeavers - does life get any better? 5) Norway US Distribution: TBD Release Date: TBD OK - I'm not 100% certain that Norway belongs on a list discussing horror movies to look forward to, because it's more a dark comedy about house-music-loving vampires, but if WolfCop and Zombeavers made the cut, Norway deserves the mention as well. Norway comes from the mind of Greek writer/director Yannis Veslemes, and explores the old-school Eastern European club scene through the eyes of a vampire named Zano, who must keep dancing to stay alive (according to him). From here he falls for a woman, becomes tangled in a Nazi plot, and never stops keeping the beat alive. Norway is a trippy dreamscape that plays out like a Michel-Gondry-inspired vampire comedy, artistically going outside of the box by utilizing toys to show longer travel scenes and lighting every scene like a fluorescent disco club. Different characters have different colored blood, couches fly, and vampires eat soup with garlic - yet Zano's infectious energy plays out like a bit of vampiric beat poetry. Between Norway, Only Lovers Left Alive, and A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, 2014 restored my faith in vampires almost completely. 4) Cub US Distribution: TBD Release Date: TBD Jonas Govaerts has made some pretty rad music videos in his time, but nothing compares to his directorial feature, Cub. Coming from the mystical land of Belgium, Govaerts tells a horrifying campfire story by using an actual campfire setting and a pack of boy scouts who are supposedly prepared for anything. Cub is extremely stylish, which comes from Govaerts' proven talents, but he also shows a command of tension when the children find themselves running away from an urban legend. Besides plenty of able performances and your typical slasher lore, there are some fantastic set pieces that bring Govaerts' woodland inhabitant to life, like a gigantic twiggy nest where the film's "villain" resides. The entire film could have simply taken place amidst a densely wooded area, but a few other locales offer pleasantly appealing changes in pace. Mix in some killer scout-themed traps and a few twists, and Cub becomes anything but just another natural slasher. Like I said before, Cub is a campfire story worth fearing! 3) Backcountry US Distribution: IFC Midnight Release Date: TBD While Backcountry played as part of Toronto's Discovery slate, I caught this creature feature at the Film Lincoln Center right here in New York City, where bears and nature are the least of a commuter's worries (besides man-eating sewer rats!). Thankfully my city-slicker attitude didn't prevent me from loving every single minute of Adam McDonald's reinstatement of nature's dominant fury, but those thanks should go McDonald's way for making the first disturbingly horrific animal movie in quite some time. Sharknados might be all the rage, but nothing beats gritty, primal fury in the form of a lumbering mammal. Missy Peregrym and Jeff Roop play a boyfriend/girlfriend tandem planning a romantic outdoorsy excursion, but when Roop's character confidently gets them lost without a map, survival becomes their only focus. As days turn into nights, the two find themselves fleeing from the clutches of a predatory bear who is looking for its next snack - and this is where Peregrym kicks into survivalist mode. For all the woodsman knowledge Roop displays during the film's opening, it's Peregrym who shines here as a rookie survivalist thrust into the most intense training experience imaginable. Backcountry is no-frills, down-home horror that uses reality as its biggest source of fear - it's pretty much a furrier Jaws. 2) It Follows US Distribution: Radius-TWC Release Date: 2015 Q1 It Follows is the ULTIMATE stalker flick, yet its simplicity is what becomes writer/director David Robert Mitchell's most endearing attribute. Not only does Mitchell redefine an entire subgenere of horror, but he does so through an intriguing metaphor for young love, sex, and the transmitted diseases that sometimes come along with those sinful actions. Don't get me wrong, there's no religious preaching or anything, and everything is tied together by a monster who sends chills up your spine while never finding a faster pace than Jason with a broken leg. I'm telling you, It Follows is so remarkably simple, you'll be kicking yourself for not imagining the concept yourself - but it's better you didn't, because Mitchell damn near perfected it. Starring future scream queen Maika Monroe, we watch as her character receives an unwanted gift after having a little summer fun with her crush in the form of a lurking beast who never stops advancing. No matter where she goes or what she does, the "creature" is continually walking in her direction, disguised as anyone it likes, and it won't stop until reaching its goal. What happens once the creature kills? It simply goes back to the previous victim it was just passed from. Never stopping. Ever. Just thinking about a monster that never stops, can disguise itself however necessary, and breaks you down emotionally before physically turning you into a pretzel is horrifying enough. It Follows is relentless, brooding, absolutely f#cking brilliant, and is sure to impress those horror fans looking for a fresh way to get their chills. 1) Spring US Distribution: Drafthouse Films and FilmBuff Release Date: TBD I don't just dole out 5-star reviews to every romantic horror film that terrorizes a coastal Italian town, but Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead's Lovecraftian fairytale affected me in ways no horror film should, and shocked me in ways no romantic drama ever has. I caught the film at this year's Fantastic Fest and haven't been able to shut up about it since, mainly because Spring defies our comprehension of certain genres by addressing a tender, fragile love through occult sacrifices and grotesque beasts. Isn't your heart melting already? This isn't your typical "monsters and mayhem" creature feature though, as Lou Taylor Pucci's character turns a mid-life-crisis into a dangerous European odyssey when he meets an enchanting seductress in Nadia Hilker's mysterious character. We're clued in early to her "beastly" affliction, so half of the fun of Spring becomes watching Pucci struggle to understand why his listless lover keeps acting so strangely, and their chemistry is wonderfully intoxicating as the cat and mouse game plays out. But fear not, horror fans - the same guys who created VHS: Viral's "Bonestorm" segment bring another slew of practical effects covered in blood and slime. Spring is anything but a one-trick pony, drawing comparisons like "Linklater meets Carpenter" that commend a fine-tuned script and squeamish, memorably visual artistry. Spring is the kind of movie I'll proudly screen on a first date, and if she isn't crying by the end, I'll know she's not a keeper.