The BoneBat Comedy Of Horrors Film Festival Is Almost Here

We’re not even four full months in and this has already been the rainiest year in, I don’t know, ever. Holy crap it’s wet and dark and dank and miserable outside. You know how to combat that? By spending an entire Saturday sitting inside and watching horror movies and drinking beer, that’s how. In Seattle, this means it’s once again time for the BoneBat “Comedy of Horrors” Film Festival, which runs April 8 from 1pm to 12am at SIFF Cinema Uptown.

Hosted by Steve and Gord from The BoneBat Show podcast, this is always one of the grossest, goriest, most entertaining days on Seattle’s cinematic calendar. Horror and comedy can be a tough mix (for every Shaun of the Dead there are like a dozen attempts that make me want to claw out my own eyes), but they usually round up a strong list of contenders.

2017 marks the seventh installment, and as usual, they’ve put together a hell of a line up. This year, the Comedy of Horrors has two feature length Seattle premieres. There’s Found Footage 3D, a meta horror joint about a group of filmmakers trying to make a found footage horror movie only to find themselves in a found footage horror movie.

There’s also The Night Watchmen, about a group of hapless night watchmen doing battle with what appears to some sort of demon vampire clown, or something.

Outside of the features, there are 42 shorts from from ten different countries all broken down into digestible blocks throughout the day. While we all know that short films can be hit and wildly miss, the good thing about them is that they’re short. If one sucks, you wait a few minutes and move on to the next. But again, Steve and Gord do a sturdy job in the weeding out process, and while not every one lands, there’s always a collection of fun, twisted, and downright strange shorts to gawk at.

The BoneBat Comedy of Horrors Film Fest is also more than just comedic horror movies. There are musical acts sprinkled throughout the day, and this year includes the Super Sonic Soul Pimps, who have seriously been playing around Seattle since at least the 1990s. With a laundry list of sponsors, there’s also the most extensive raffle I’ve ever seen, though in the four or five years I’ve been going, I’ve still never won a goddamned thing. And as one of the sponsor is Mac and Jacks, there’s also always screaming deals on beer, which makes everything better.

After haunting Central Cinema, this marks the second year the Comedy of Horrors will take over a theater at SIFF Cinema Uptown. While the food menu isn’t as extensive, never fear, there’s still beer. (If you didn’t notice, I really like beer.)

So, check out the Bone Bat website for the more details, to hear interviews with the folks behind Found Footage 3D and The Night Watchmen, and to buy tickets. They run $40, but are totally worth the price. And what else are you going to do on a Saturday afternoon, go outside? Don’t be absurd.