Mascara & Popcorn’s Body Horror Contest of 2014 Review

Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest Etsy Montreal Artisans. Photo by Michael Bakouch
Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest Etsy Montreal Artisans. Photo by Michael Bakouch

With Halloween approaching and people searching for creatively horrifying costume ideas, the second edition of Mascara and Popcorn’s Body Horror Contest happened in the right place (Foufounes Électriques) at the right time.

Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest SPFX 2014. Photo by Michael Bakouch
Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest SPFX 2014. Photo by Michael Bakouch

From year to year, Mascara and Popcorn’s Short Horror Film Festival is gaining momentum and growing in its number of participants and attendees. The Body Horror Contest is the latest addition to the M&P banner, as last Friday marked its second instalment only and even at the event’s first year, the excitement was palpable and the crowd, ravenous.

Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest The monsters of L"hotel 54. Photo by Michael Bakouch
Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest The monsters of L”hotel 54. Photo by Michael Bakouch

The event stretched from 6 pm to 2 am, the crowd filling the place closer to 9 pm. At that point, the landscape was colourful, creepy and horrifying and not sporting a costume were the odd ones.

Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest's host The Crow. Photo by Michael Bakouch
Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest’s host The Crow. Photo by Michael Bakouch

This is the beauty of paying close attention to what Freaky Miss T. (Florence Touliatos) and her crew are up to if you are passionate about macabre beauty, gruesome body transformations, creative makeup special effects and horror shorts that will make your skin crawl.

Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest Vampire. Photo by Michael Bakouch
Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest Vampire. Photo by Michael Bakouch

As always, Florence was amazing at organizing and hosting her Halloween edition of the Body Horror Contest, gathering a very creative and talented bunch composed of monsters, special effects makeup artists, short film contestants, Etsy Montreal artisans, a mindblowing show of blood theatre and metal by Montreal band Bookakee, as well as Mascara and Popcorn loyal fans.

Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest Freaky Miss T. Photo by Michael Bakouch
Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest Freaky Miss T. Photo by Michael Bakouch

In the short film category composed of 12 contestants, two shorts stood out as crowd favorites, with runner up “Eco-Massacre” by Martin Bruyère and winner “M is for Monkey” by Corey Nikolaus.

In the special effects makeup category, we had seven very talented makeup artists all with their special creatures and story of origin which added to the show’s suspense. This edition’s runner up was a monster called “Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil” by Christina Castiello, and the winner was Tamsen Rae’s “Swamp Witch”. Last April, the first ever Body Horror Contest took place at Bistro de Paris and the public voted unanimously for a creature called “The Breather” by local FX heroine Véro Dumas.

Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest SPFX 2014. Photo by Michael Bakouch
Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest SPFX 2014. Photo by Michael Bakouch

Very unique and special artisans, including many from Etsy Montreal, were in the spotlight with their weird and wonderful products. Even in disguise as creatures of the underworld, as always, these artists are ready to chat about their creations and just about anything.

Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest Etsy Montreal Artisans. Photo by Michael Bakouch
Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest Etsy Montreal Artisans. Photo by Michael Bakouch

All proudly representing their unique artifact, some creepier than others and some breathtakingly beautiful, in all the crowd got a chance to touch, feel and see over seventeen different types of products and gear up for the upcoming Body Horror Celebration and Weird and Wonderful Expo which are slated to take place in April 2015.

Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest Etsy Montreal Artisans. Photo by Michael Bakouch
Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest Etsy Montreal Artisans. Photo by Michael Bakouch

From insanely realistic pickled body parts to Halloween-themed sweets and treats, you got to see it all. There’s a lot of anticipation surrounding the next Body Horror Contest and if you missed both of them this year (the last one took place in April, Montreal Rampage was there, read all about it here: insert link to Ken Gaucher’s article from April HERE) well don’t get down on yourself! Instead, get inspired for next year and make sure to stay tuned for more creepy goodness, visceral cinema and human oddities. Don’t miss a beat by following the latest news on Mascara and Popcorn and the Body Horror Contest.

Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest Etsy Montreal Artisans. Photo by Michael Bakouch
Mascara & Popcorn Body Horror Contest Etsy Montreal Artisans. Photo by Michael Bakouch

Mascara & Popcorn’s Body Horror Contest of 2014 took place on Friday, October 17th at Foufounes Électriques (87 rue Ste-Catherine Est, Montreal) from 6 pm to 2 am. Tickets $10 – $15. You can get more info HERE

For more of Michael Bakouch’s incredible pictures, check out his website HERE and his blog HERE

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