Horror Highlights: THE BECOMERS, THE CONJURING UNIVERSE, EXILED: CROOKED ROSE WOODS

THE BECOMERS: “Forced to flee their dying planet, two body-snatching alien lovers arrive separately on Earth. Determined to find each other, the aliens jump from body to body, but they quickly learn that it’s not easy to inhabit their new, fleshy hosts, and that life in modern-day America is more complicated than they could have ever imagined.”

“Writer/director Zach Clark’s acclaimed sci-fi genre-bender THE BECOMERS kicks off its U.S. theatrical release on Friday, August, 23rd and arrives on VOD in North America on Tuesday, September 24th. The film will open in New York on August 23rd at Cinema Village, in Los Angeles on August 30th at Lumiere Music Hall, and in Chicago on September 13th at Music Box Theatre, with more cities listed below.

The latest film from the celebrated American indie filmmaker, the visually striking and outrageously plotted film reverberates with the pulse of politics and cultural trends of the last five years —drawing from COVID, Qanon, and constant states of anxiety— while exploring themes of confusion, isolation, and the deep need for human connection through the story of two body-snatching alien lovers. The cast includes Molly Plunk (LITTLE SISTER, SEE YOU NEXT TUESDAY), Mike Lopez (MAY DECEMBER), Keith Kelly, Isabel Alamin, and Frank V. Ross (DRINKING BUDDIES), with narration by Russell Mael, lead singer of the renowned musical duo Sparks.

Best known for the critically acclaimed WHITE REINDEER, released by IFC Films, and LITTLE SISTER, featuring Addison Timlin and Ally Sheedy, THE BECOMERS is Clark’s fifth feature. Also a celebrated editor outside of his own films, his credits include Sophia Takal’s ALWAYS SHINE, Hannah Fidell’s THE LONG DUMB ROAD, Michael Tully’s DON’T LEAVE HOME, and Michael M. Bilandic’s indie cult film JOBE’Z WORLD.

THE BECOMERS was shot in Chicago and is produced by Joe Swanberg (HAPPY CHRISTMAS, DIGGING FOR FIRE) and Eric Ashworth. Eddie Linker (GHOSTLIGHT, QUEEN OF EARTH) produced for Slasher Film Company. Daryl Pittman lensed, Fritz Myers composed the film’s original score, and Glamhag production designed. “

Zach Clark’s Sci-Fi Genre-Bender THE BECOMERS, Opening from Dark Star Pictures on Friday, August 23 & Arriving on VOD Tuesday, September 24

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“The Conjuring Universe” Immersive Experience at Six Flags Fright Fest: “Six Flags, the world’s largest regional theme park company and largest operator of water parks in North America, recently unveiled Fright Fest Extreme – presented by SNICKERS, featuring an expansive lineup of terrifying horror franchises ahead of the brand’s highly anticipated annual event. Beginning shortly after Labor Day, thrill-seekers and horror enthusiasts are invited to immerse themselves in the pulse-pounding excitement and terror that only Fright Fest can deliver with Six Flags’ largest investment and expansion yet.

This Fall step into the extended world of New Line Cinema’s The Conjuring universe with a new authentic experience blending elements from all of its spine-chilling series – including for the first time Annabelle and The Nun.

Guests are invited to enter the Warren Museum of the Occult where they will notice familiar items have gone missing. With pedestals and display cases now empty, demonic sounds filling the air and objects moving on their own – it is clear the spirits are aware of a new presence in the building.

As visitors navigate the museum, they will step into iconic scenes from the films including Bathsheba’s Den, Annabelle’s Playroom, and a confessional at St. Carta. With shadow lurkers, demons, scarecrows, and the Crooked Man on the prowl, you will feel like a target of “the conjuring.”

The Conjuring Universe will be open at Six Flags Great Adventure, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags Fiesta Texas in early September and running through November 3, 2024.

During this year’s Fright Fest guest will also have the option to be transported into the eerie realms of Netflix’s Stranger Things and Army of the Dead, Legendary Entertainment’s Trick R’Treat, Lionsgate’s SAW as well as an experience centering around Legendary and Netflix’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Specific mazes DO vary by park…please check local websites for full details.”

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EXILED: CROOKED ROSE WOODS: “Kansas City’s own horror mastermind, Darren Lynn Bousman, has joined forces with one of the city’s most bone-chilling haunted houses, EXILED: Trail of Terror, to bring a new level of fear to Kansas City this fall. Together, they are crafting a one-of-a-kind fusion of terror and immersive storytelling — giving people a living, breathing emotional experience.

Bousman beckons you to step into a realm of terror this fall at EXILED: Crooked Rose Woods, an outdoor haunted house nestled in the sinister shadows of Bonner Springs, Kansas, just 25 minutes west of downtown Kansas City, Missouri. “Those looking for traditional scares, be warned, this insidious event breathes, reacts, and transforms with your every interaction”, taunts Bousman.

“I was raised in Kansas City, and every Halloween, my father and I would venture into the West Bottoms. It was there that my fascination with horror and the macabre was born. But as I grew older, I craved something more than the usual shocks and jump-scares. I wanted an experience that would truly terrify me. And now, I’m thrilled to bring that to my hometown,” recalls Bousman.

After directing blockbuster hits like Saw II, III, and IV, Spiral and the cult favorite Repo! The Genetic Opera, Bousman also shifted his focus to immersive, live-action horror. That experience led to the creation of The Tension Experience with fellow Kansas City native Clint Sears. This new live venture, touted as “living a personalized horror film,” redefined horror entertainment. The success and uniqueness of The Tension earned Bousman and his team a high-profile fanbase with the likes of Neil Patrick Harris, for one. “In Tension, I was transformed, transfixed, terrified, and turned on. It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced,” Harris said. Bousman carved a niche in Hollywood, creating larger-than-life theater projects that unnerved everyone attending.

Building on this momentum, Bousman, alongside Morgan Rooms — co-founder of IIIexperience and producer of the upcoming Exiled 2024, is a converted believer in Bousman’s vision, and promises that EXILED: Crooked Rose Woods will redefine terror. “Darren shattered my concept of fear with The Tension Experience,” Rooms said. “What we’re bringing to Kansas City is beyond a nightmare; it’s a rebirth in terror,” he added. Allowing guests to choose their destiny, patrons can choose three different levels of terror.

After Bousman and his family experienced the thrill of EXILED: Trail of Terror in 2023, he reached out to Dan Scott, the company’s Managing Partner, with an innovative idea. “After meeting Darren and hearing his ideas, we knew we had to collaborate and bring this unique concept to life,” Scott said. Bousman and the EXILED team are keeping their plans under wraps about what haunt-goers can expect, but they offer a tantalizing clue. “This will be unlike any haunt Kansas City has ever seen,” ominously warns Bousman. “This experience will be more than just a bunch of scare actors in a corn maze. It will be a living, breathing thing, and it will be too late when you realize what I mean by that.”

The spectral gates of EXILED: Crooked Rose Woods will open from Friday, September 13 through November 2. The creators encourage the brave to get involved early via www.ExiledKC.com  “The more involved you allow yourself to get in our world, the scarier it will be,” Rooms added.

Jen Scott, Managing Partner of EXILED, also issued a chilling message: “The doors open in September, but the haunting begins NOW. Dare to be part of the legend that will haunt Kansas City forever. Prepare to lose yourself in EXILED: Crooked Rose Woods. Survival isn’t guaranteed — nor is it the point.”

Tickets will range from $59-199 and go on sale August 20.  For more information, visit EXILED online at www.exiledkc.com.”