I was so excited when first heard that the Music Box Theatre was going to move up their Cinepocalypse Film Festival to early in the year. Last year’s was in November and it made it tough for me to make most of the films. But as it turns out, I’ll be out of town at the Monster Bash convention that week, so I will be missing what looks to be another amazing lineup of features.

First of all, how about that amazing above artwork for the event, thanks to the talented Ed Repka. Kind of says it all, doesn’t it?

As for the special guests, Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson and screenwriter C. Robert Cargill are Co-Presidents of the 2018 Feature Film Jury. Writer-director Lana Wachowski will be there to host a screening of her debut film Bound (1996). Ernest R. Dickerson will be receiving the Cinepocalypse’s 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award. He will be there screening 35mm prints of Juice and Demon Knight. And lastly, Stephen Hopkins will be attending to host a 25th Anniversary screening of Judgment Night.

But let’s get to the important part… THE FILMS! Here is a quick run down of the titles and the directors. For more information and details about each of these, head over to the Music Box’s Cinepocalypse site HERE.

• Malicious – Directed by Michael Winnick (World Premiere)
• The Domestics – Directed by Mike P. Nelson (World Premiere)
• Boogeyman Pop – Directed by Brad Michael Elmore (World Premiere)
• Hover – Directed by Matt Osterman (World Premiere)
• Empathy – Directed by Yedidya Gorsetman (World Premiere)
• Gags – Directed by Adam Krause (World Premiere)

• Await Further Instructions – Directed by Johnny Kevorkian (World Premiere)
• The Russian Bride – Directed by Michael S. Ojeda
• The Appearance – Directed by Kurt Knight (World Premiere)
• The Brink – Directed by Jonathan Li (North American Premiere)
• The Cop Baby – Directed by Alexander Andrushenko (North American Premiere)
• Luciferina – Directed by Gonzalo Calzada (North American Premiere)
• The Secret Poppo – Directed by Kevin Cline, Zach Harris, & Sean Pierce (U.S. Premiere)
• The Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned from a Mythical Man – Directed by Tommy Avallone’s  (Midwest Premiere)
• The Captain – Directed by Robert Schwentke (Midwest Premiere) from Germany
• Clara’s Ghost – Directed by Bridey Elliott (Midwest Premiere)
• The Devil’s Doorway – Directed by Aislinn Clarke (Midwest Premiere)
• Heavy Trip – Directed by Juuso Laatio & Jukka Vidgren (Midwest Premiere)
• A Prayer Before Dawn – Directed by Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire (Midwest Premiere)
• Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich – Directed by Sonny Laguna & Tommy Wiklund Midwest Premiere)
• Relaxer – Directed by Joel Potrykus (Midwest Premiere)
• Satan’s Slaves – Directed by Joko Anwar (Midwest Premiere) from Indonesia
• Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss by Passing Through the Gateway Chosen by the Holy Storsh – Directed by Vivieno Caldinelli (Midwest Premiere)
• Summer of ’84 – Directed by Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell, & Yoann-Karl Whissell (Midwest Premiere)
• What Keeps You Alive – Directed by Colin Minihan (Midwest Premiere)
• Wolfman’s Got Nards – Directed by André Gower (Midwest Premiere)
• The Ranger – Directed by Jenn Wexler (Illinois Premiere)
• Howard the Duck – Willard Huyck’s 1986 cult film
• Doctor X – Directed by Michael Curtiz, this is the 1932 classic, filmed in a two-strip Technicolor process