Exclusive: Check Out The Groovy Tropical Poster For This Year’s Popcorn Frights Film Festival

Film festival season is upon us, and Florida’s Popcorn Frights Film Festival is ready to have some fun in the sun this year. FANGORIA is excited to partner with the festival to exclusively reveal the poster for this year’s festival, bringing monsters back to South Florida for another week (and change) of some of the best scares the Sunshine State has to offer. 

Designed by local artist Kent Hernandez, who designed the festival’s poster in 2024, this year’s art reflects not only the sun and surf Florida’s known for, but also plenty of gore, turning bathing beauties into something out of John Carpenter’s They Live. “The goal was to convey an ominous, lurking horror specific to South Florida — rife with beachy goodness, and hazy sunset vibes,” Hernandez says. 

This year’s festival, which will feature both in person and virtual programs, will celebrate films produced and shot in Florida, including locally produced short films as well as a full slate of features films. The festival will also feature plenty of filmmaker Q&As and special events, with its first wave of programming to be announced in the next few weeks. Film submissions for the festival are also open until July 18, via FilmFreeway. 

Established in 2015 by Igor Shteyrenberg and Marc Ferman, Popcorn Frights has grown to become one of the leading genre festivals in the United States, gathering nearly 13,000 attendees in 2024. They’ve also hosted genre royalty like Linnea Quigley, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, Brian Yuzna, Adam Rifkin, and more.

Popcorn Frights Film Festival takes place from August 7-17 in Miami, and festival passes are available to purchase now on their website. Check out the new poster down below: