London’s FIlm4 FrightFest is an annual celebration to be envied (by me, every year). The FrightFest team consistently announce an incredible lineup devoted to anticipated premieres, buzzing fest titles and—the most exciting part of any fest—discovery hopefuls. This year, joining Tales of Halloween, Cherry Tree, Turbo Kid, Nina Forever and rep titles like Captain Kronos, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key and The Reflecting Skin is an abundance of brand new horror and brand new talent.
Film4 FrightFest 2015 marks its 16th year with its largest line-up ever. From Thurs 27 August to Mon 31 August, the UK’s leading event for genre fans will return to the Vue West End, Leicester Square to present seventy-six films across five screens, plus a host of special events. There are eighteen countries representing five continents with a record-breaking sixteen European premieres and twenty-six UK premieres. In addition, there is a further ‘Discovery’ strand at The Prince Charles Cinema, signalling a welcome return to FrightFest’s spiritual home.
Highlights are vast, so below simply find the hefty list of titles. For tickets and so much more, visit FrightFest. What are you looking forward to?
A Christmas Horror Story
Directors: Grant Harvey, Steven Hoban, Brett Sullivan. Cast: William Shatner, George Buza, Zoé De Grand Maison, Caprice Bauer, Rob Archer. Canada 2015. 100 mins.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas as FrightFest presents some festive fright in this Yule-be-sorry anthology set in the small town of Bailey Downs. High school students investigate a mysterious homicide that occurred the prior holiday season, a couple notices their young son is acting strangely after a snowy forest trip to cut down a traditional tree and one family are stalked through a winter wonderland by Krampus, the Xmas demon. Meanwhile at the North Pole, Santa is fending off zombie elves… TALES FROM THE CRYPT meets SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT for frosted Jingle Bell Shock.
Aaaaaaaah!
Director: Steve Oram. Cast: Steve Oram, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Toyah Willcox, Noah Fielding, Julian Barratt. UK 2015. 80 mins.
Alpha Male Smith and his Beta, Keith, move to take over a local community. They hook up with restless Female, Denise, igniting a deadly feud in which emotions run high and deep-seated grudges resurface amongst the tribe. Are we not men? Or are we simply beasts? Steve Oram, the actor/writer from SIGHTSEERS and KILL LIST stars in his long-awaited debut feature with a host of his friends. Get ready for the most unusual celluloid primal scream - an anarchic, hilarious, disturbing and touching look at the human condition. THEMROC meets PINK FLAMINGOS in the Cult Movie of the Year.
Afterdeath
Directors: Gez Medinger, Robin Schmidt. Cast: Miranda Raison, Sam Keeley, Daniella Kertesz, Elarica Gallacher, Lorna Nickson Brown. UK 88 mins.
Five young people wake up on a beach washed up by the tide. Where are they? What brought them there, and what are the strange creatures that surround them? All this and more will be revealed in this beautifully executed, award-winning first feature, chock full of exciting new acting talent, from Gez Medinger and Robin Schmidt – future genre names to keep a sharp eye out for.
Another Me
Director: Isabel Coixet. Cast: Sophie Turner, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Claire Forlani, Rhys Ifans, Geraldine Chaplin. UK 2013. 86 mins.
A top flight cast and a cult Catalan director (THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS, ELEGY) bring the bestselling Young Adult novel by Cathy MacPhail to the screen. British schoolgirl Fay’s father is dying, so getting the role of Lady Macbeth in the school play is a welcome diversion. Then she becomes aware that someone is following her every move. Who could be so cruel as to taunt her at this sad time? Soon evidence suggests she is being haunted by the dead twin she barely knew existed in a hard-hitting and affecting mystery dealing with apparitions, doppelgangers and mind games.
Awaiting
Director: Mark Murphy. Cast: Tony Curran, Diana Vickers, Rupert Hill, Peter Woodward, Adrian Bouchet. UK 2015. 90 mins.
Take a horrifying journey of introspection into the depths of base human nature and the capabilities of twisted minds. Morris is a recluse with mysterious psychotic tendencies, whose life changes when his innocent daughter Lauren rescues one of his intended victims and befriends him at their remote Yorkshire farmhouse. Soon travelling businessman Jake realises he is stranded with no chance of ever being allowed to escape and that his presence in the house is gradually revealing an epic clash of wills. Worse, the descent into darkness will unearth unexpected secrets from the past and signal a host of future shocks.
Banjo
Director: Liam Regan. Cast: Laurence R. Harvey, Dan Palmer, James Hamer-Morton, Dani Thompson, Vito Trigo. UK 2015. 82 mins.
Meet Peltzer Arbuckle, a bullied office employee, humiliated by his megalomaniac boss, teasing colleagues and cheating partner. Stuck in his mundane, nightmarish reality, once news about an embarrassing sexual accident circulates the workplace, Peltzer decides to put up with his misery no more, and conjures up his childhood imaginary friend Ronnie who manipulates him to exact gruesome revenge on his tormenting co-workers. As the body count rises, Peltzer must either run away from his past or take control of his future, battling between sanity and madness in a twisted tale of infidelity, revenge and snapped banjo strings.
Bite
Director: Chad Archibald. Cast: Elma Begovic, Jordan Gray, Annette Wozniak, Denise Yuen, Lawrene Denkers. Canada 2015. 90 mins.
While on her hen party getaway to exotic Costa Rica, bride-to-be Casey gets a seemingly harmless bite from an unknown insect while bathing in an idyllic jungle pool. But after returning home with matrimonial cold feet, she starts exhibiting alien behaviour as what crept under her skin starts taking hold. Between physical transformation and wedding anxiety, Casey succumbs to her new instincts and begins creating a hive that not only houses her translucent offspring, but also feeds on flesh. Cronenbergian body horror returns to the genre with a bang in this fearless fusion of slime, shivers and shock.
Bloodsucking Bastards
Director: Brian James O'Connell. Cast: Fran Kranz, Emma Fitzpatrick, Joey Kern, Jacquelyn Palmquist, Pedro Pascal. USA 2015. 86 mins.
If you think you've ever had a bad day in the office, think again! Work life is a killer in this comedy horror from the popular Dr God Comedy team. For Evan, played by Fran Kranz (CABIN IN THE WOODS) girlfriend problems and work woes are already causing him headaches – the last thing he needs is a vampire infestation to cap it all off. This fast, funny and very bloody feature slayed them in the aisles at its US Slamdance screenings.
Body
Directors: Dan Berk & Robert Olsen. Cast: Helen Rogers, Alexandra Turshen, Lauren Molina, Adam Cornelius, Larry Fessenden. USA 2015. 75 mins.
A tight, smart, gripping, funny thriller brought to life with strong performances and a sharp visual eye. Three girlfriends head out for a wild night during the Christmas holidays, but their jaunt is about to turn deadly. Cali suggests they crash her rich uncle’s mansion since he’s out of town and soon they’re partying the night away. However there’s something Cali hasn’t told her BFFs and a series of questionable choices leads to an accidental death. Soon the fear of possible reprisals finds the terrified trio embarking on a course of action from which there is no return.
Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter
Director: Brian Clemens. Cast: Horst Janson, Caroline Munro, John Cater, Ian Hendry, Wanda Ventham. UK 1972. 91 mins.
When a young maiden is drained of blood in the village of Durward, Captain Kronos is summoned to find the root cause. With his hunchback and gypsy dancer assistants in tow, Kronos traces the bloodsucker curse in the Hammer cult swashbuckler where ‘The Avengers’ TV series writer Brian Clemens made his directorial debut. Devised by The House of Horror to be first in a comedy adventure cycle featuring the evil-fighting hero, and starring prominent Scream Queen Caroline Munro, this rapier-witted, cleverly constructed and freewheeling mix of serial antics and Grand Guignol was one of Hammer’s best shots at 1970s rebranding.
Cherry Tree
Director: David Keating. Cast: Anna Walton, Naomi Battrick, Sam Hazeldine, Patrick Gibson, Minnie Phipps. Ireland 2015. 90 mins.
Faith’s world is turned upside down when she finds out her father is dying. When the mysteriously alluring Sissy Young becomes her field hockey coach, Faith finds a compassionate spirit and much-needed mother figure. Little does she know that Sissy is the head of a centuries-old witches' coven using the fruit of an ancient cherry tree in a secret ritual that restores life. And soon Sissy has enticed Faith into making a fateful bargain that is about to change everything… From David Keating, the director of the critically acclaimed neo Hammer horror WAKE WOOD, comes another blood-freezing rural nightmare.
Contracted: Phase II
Director: Josh Forbes. Cast: Alice Macdonald, Matt Mercer, Najarra Townsend, Elisha Yaffe, Charity Daw. USA 78 mins.
In 2013 Film4 FrightFest premiered the ferocious body horror CONTRACTED to great acclaim. In this shocking sequel the fear escalates as the sexually transmitted outbreak worsens and threatens to engulf all humanity. Prepare for some wince-inducing sequences of body horror and beyond which will have you squirming in your seat.
Curtain
Director: Jaron Henrie-McCrea. Cast: Danni Smith, Tim Lueke, Martin Monahan, Rick Zahn, Preston Lawrence. USA 2015. 74 mins.
Danni moves into a New York apartment and starts sprucing the place up. She doesn’t know the previous tenant committed suicide in very strange circumstances. Nor does she know there’s a mysterious portal to another dimension in the bathroom that’s hungry for…. shower curtains! But where does this unusual gateway hidden behind the white tiling lead? That’s what Danni and her ‘Whale Saver’ chugger workmate Tim decide to find out. It’s an investigation into a unique phenomenon full of surprise and unimaginable horror as they both enter The Yonder in a stunningly directed, creatively devised and quirky oddball gem.
Curve
Director: Iain Softley. Cast: Julianne Hough, Teddy Sears, Madalyn Horcher, Penelope Mitchell, Drew Rausch. USA 2015. 86 mins.
From the Blumhouse of hit horrors (home of THE PURGE, INSIDIOUS, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY and SINISTER franchises), a dark chiller loaded with unexpected twists and shocking turns. Bride-to-be Mallory is driving to Denver for her wedding when her car breaks down on a deserted highway. Accepting help from Good Samaritan Christian, she offers the handsome charmer a lift after he fixes the engine. But soon Christian’s sick agenda become clear and to avoid his clutches she deliberately crashes the car in the mountains. Trapped in her overturned vehicle, she must use every trick in the book to escape the predatory hitchhiker.
Deathgasm
Director: Jason Lei Howden. Cast: Milo Cawthorne, James Blake, Kimberley Crossman, Sam Berkley, Daniel Cresswell. New Zealand 2015. 90 mins.
From the producers of HOUSEBOUND and FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY, a splatstick shocker full of brutal, bloody, fanatical fun. When metal-thrashing outcast Brodie meets a kindred spirit in Zakk, they start their own band Deathgasm. Soon the duo’s resentment of the suburban wasteland leads them to sheet music said to grant the Ultimate Power to whoever plays it. But the music also summons the ancient evil entity Aeloth The Blind One who threatens to tear apart existence itself. With their classmates and family inhabited by demonic forces that turns them into psycho killers, can the wicked force be stopped devouring all mankind?
James Wan's Demonic
Director: Will Canon. Cast: Maria Bello, Frank Grillo, Cody Horn, Dustin Milligan. Megan Park. USA 2015. 83 mins.
Director James Wan brought his magic touch to SAW, INSIDIOUS, THE CONJURING and FAST & FURIOUS 7. Now the ANNABELLE producer puts his name to another super-shock supernatural mystery. In the aftermath of a horrific massacre where five college students were brutally murdered inside an abandoned home, Detective Mark Lewis and psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Klein question the lone survivor of a ghost-hunting excursion that seemingly went horribly wrong. The amateur paranormal activists were simply seeking proof of poltergeist phenomenon at the supposed haunted house. But what started out as a harmless pursuit turned into something truly terrifying.
Emelie
Director: Michael Thelin. Cast: Sarah Bolger, Joshua Rush, Carly Adams, Carl Bailey, Thomas Bair. USA 2015. 80 mins.
When their regular babysitter calls to say she’s unavailable, the Thompsons find a last minute replacement to look after their three kids Christopher, Sally and Jacob while they celebrate their 13th wedding anniversary. But no sooner have the unconcerned parents pulled out of the driveway than it becomes clear that Anna is no ordinary babysitter. As the evening creeps along the children begin to realise they might be in serious danger from the very psychologically disturbed woman who has invaded their home. Unnerving and superbly performed, this tense thriller announces director Michael Thelin as a genuine genre talent to watch.
Estranged
Director: Adam Levins. Cast: James Cosmo, Amy Manson, Nora-Jane Noone, James Lance, Craig Conway. UK 2015. 88 mins.
January is forced to return home after six wild years abroad. A road accident has left her wheelchair-bound with amnesia. Not only has she forgotten her family, but also her childhood and is surprised to discover her home is a stately country manor. Trying to settle in with boyfriend Callum at her attentive side, she becomes even more distant from her family, who just want their old daughter back. The trouble is she cannot remember who that person was, or why she fled in the first place. Now she must learn all over again how terrible relatives can be.
Farhope Tower
Director: April Mullen. Cast: John White, Tim Doiron, Evan Williams, April Mullen, Lauren Collins. Canada 2015. 82 mins.
Five paranormal investigators venture into the infamous Farhope Tower, known for its dark history of unexplained suicides, with dreams of landing a Reality TV deal. But they get more than they bargained for when they enter the strangely ever-changing layout, lair of the most powerful spirits they’ve ever faced. For once inside the derelict structure an omnipresent evil begins manipulating the team, and the higher they climb the more everything spirals out of control. For heaven’s sake, don’t go up! From the filmmakers behind 88 and DEAD BEFORE DAWN 3D comes a classy chiller to leave you super-creeped out.
Final Girl
Director: Tyler Shields. Cast: Abigail Breslin, Wes Bentley, Alexander Ludwig, Logan Huffman, Cameron Bright. USA 2015. 85 mins.
Ever since she was a young girl, Veronica has been groomed by her mentor to become a lethal assassin, her sights set on devil-may-care murderers who think they are above the law. Her latest targets are a pack of wild child American Psychos who love nothing more than hunting distressed female prey in the woods. But when the wolf pack is manipulated into picking Veronica as their latest victim, they learn pretty fast they chose the wrong girl. Famed photographer Tyler Shields makes his feature debut with an exciting and stylish mash-up of SCREAM horror mythology and LA FEMME NIKITA.
Frankenstein
Director: Bernard Rose. Cast: Xavier Samuel, Danny Huston, Carrie-Anne Moss, Tony Todd, Maya Erskine. USA 2015. 89 mins.
Mary Shelley’s immortal beloved lives again in CANDYMAN director Bernard Rose’s stylishly smart update of the classic myth set in present day Los Angeles. Adam is artificially created with a revolutionary 3D printer by married research scientists. But when bodily malfunctions relegate him to the scrapheap, Adam faces nothing but aggression and violence from the world around him as he discovers the true nature of humanity. Told from the Monster’s perspective and showcasing a stunning central performance by TWILIGHT star Xavier Samuel, this brilliant adaptation also gives horror icon Tony Todd his best role in years as blind hobo Eddie
Future Shock! The Story of 2000AD
Director: Paul Goodwin. Cast: Pat Mills, Grant Morrison, Neil Gaiman, Kevin O’Neill, David Bishop. UK 2015. 105 mins.
Welcome to the unruly anarchy of 2000AD: the Galaxy's Greatest Comic. This enlightening and enjoyable documentary tells the story of the UK science-fiction comic that changed the face of the industry. First published in 1977, it was violent, anti-authoritarian, blackly funny and above all, idiosyncratically British. A comprehensive overview of its history, a warts-and-all look at the highs and lows, a peek inside the creative process of its most famous creators, and a funny, moving and passionate chronicle of how a band of talented eccentrics assembled to create a visionary and extraordinary comic that’s still a game-changer 36 years on.
Goddess of Love
Director: Jon Knautz. Cast: Alexis Kendra, Monda Scott, Elizabeth Sandy, Woody Naismith, Ray Grady. USA 2015. 96 mins
Jon Knautz, director of past FrightFest favourites JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER and THE SHRINE, now invites you to feel the horrendous pain of heartbreak. Enter into a baroque vortex of madness when an emotionally unstable stripper is shattered after being dumped by her boyfriend. Brian was the love of Venus’ life and the thought of him having an affair with another woman begins her volatile descent into the dark side of psychosexual insanity. Co-writer Alexis Kendra plays Venus with startling insight in an erotic thriller that’s sexy and shocking in the super-stylish tradition of Brian De Palma and Roman Polanski.
Hawk The Slayer
Director: Terry Marcel. Cast: John Terry, Jack Palance, Shane Briant, Patrick Magee, Ferdy Mayne. UK 1980. 90 mins.
The Kitsch Klassic is back on the screen where it belongs! Thrill to John Terry as handsome Hawk saving witches from pig farmers. Boo nasty Jack Palance as his one-eyed evil brother Voltan when he kidnaps a nun and puts her in a cage. Cheer as Hawk enlists a group of misfits to save her, including a brawny giant, an elfin archer, a conniving dwarf and a mystical blind enchantress. An awfully good sword and sorcery fantasy unlike any other, honestly! And one the filmmakers are hoping to make a sequel to if they can raise enough money.
Hellions
Director: Bruce McDonald. Cast: Chloe Rose, Robert Patrick, Rachel Wilson, Rossif Sutherland, Luke Bilyk. Canada 2015. 82 mins.
After putting himself firmly on the genre map with PONTYPOOL, director Bruce McDonald returns with an atmospheric and impressive Halloween horror. Teenage Dora Vogel is coming to terms with an unwanted pregnancy. Yet to reveal the news to her mother, she simply wants to forget her current situation by partying Halloween night away. Putting on her angel costume she waits for her boyfriend to arrive. Instead, a malevolent group of monstrous pumpkin-headed trick-or-treaters come knocking with intentions of taking the unborn life inside her. Now Dora must use her sharpened survival instincts to endure the sinister demonic army until dawn.
Hellraiser
Director: Clive Barker. Cast: Andrew Robinson, Ashley Laurence, Clare Higgins, Doug Bradley, Sean Chapman. UK 1987. 93 mins.
Popular horror writer Clive Barker proved he could direct with scintillating charnel house style in the film version of his novel ‘The Hellbound Heart’. A surreal, claustrophobic and graphic shocker laced with perverse chills, when an Oriental puzzle box is opened it leads the various owners to thresholds of sensual pleasure and pain. There lurk the Cenobites, leather-clad, disfigured angels from hell, whose sadism knows no bounds, especially the one they call Pinhead. Full of fearful flair and outrageous imagery, Barker’s cult sado-masochistic delight brought a sobering atmosphere to late 1980s horror and became a bona-fide genre classic.
Hostile
Director: Nathan Ambrosioni. Cast: Julie Venturelli, Luna Belan, Shelley Ward, Anatolia Allieis, Nathan Ambrosioni. France 2015. 90 mins.
The New Wave of French horror cinema has arrived and at its vanguard is 14 year-old director Nathan Ambrosioni. Meredith Langston always longed to have children. She finally makes this happen when she adopts two young adolescent girls. However, her now idyllic world sours rapidly and dream veers to nightmare when she quickly finds that she is unable to cope with their increasingly strange behaviour. Desperate, she seeks the help of two journalists working for a local TV programme ‘SOS Adoption’. Unfortunately it is all for nothing, especially when the reporters discover that there is another presence in the house.
Howl
Director: Paul Hyett. Cast: Ed Speleers, Shauna Macdonald, Rosie Day, Sean Pertwee, Duncan Preston. UK 2015. 95 mins.
Young ambitious ticket collector Joe is overseeing the last train out of London on a dark and stormy night - the usual collection of passengers on board from the obnoxious teen to the workaholic businesswoman. Suddenly the train screeches to a halt in a forest after hitting something on the tracks, but the investigating driver never returns. Realising an unknown and dangerous threat is lurking in the woods the disparate group of strangers must work together in order to survive a common feral enemy. Hairy horror and bloody action adventure from Paul Hyett, director of THE SEASONING HOUSE.
III
Director: Pavel Khvaleev. Cast: Polina Davydova, Lyubov Ignatushko, Evgeniy Gagarin. Russia 2015. 89 mins.
During the outbreak of a mysterious deadly epidemic ravaging a rural European village, sisters Ayia and Mirra promise their dying mother to look after each other. When Mirra also falls victim to the disease, a desperate Ayia realizes that conventional medicine is not the answer. And at Father Herman’s house she discovers a Shamanic book containing spiritual healing rituals and clings to the hope this therapy will save her sister. But the mystical cure involves complete immersion into the victim’s deepest subconscious. What demons lie in wait for Ayia in this beautiful homage to Russian fairytales and Tarkovskian surreality?
Inner Demon
Director: Ursula Dabrowsky. Cast: Sarah Jeavons, Kerry Ann Reid, Andreas Sobik. Australia 2015. 84 mins.
Want to know what the next big Australian horror thing is after THE BABADOOK? Well, it’s this stunning and highly unusual shocker featuring a tour-de-force central performance by Sarah Jeavons in her first starring role. She plays teenage Sam abducted one night along with her younger sister by a feral serial-killing couple. Escaping from the boot of their car, she finds refuge in an isolated farmhouse, only to discover it is home to even greater horrors. As the spectre of her own mortality looms large, Sam must confront a nightmare scenario where the building terror twists in ever astounding directions.
Jeruzalem
Directors: Doran Paz, Yoav Paz. Cast: Tom Graziani, Yael Grobglas, Danielle Jadelyn, Yon Tumarkin. Israel 2015. 87 mins.
Old testament legend meets new terrorist reality in the latest shock sensation from the burgeoning Israeli horror explosion combining traditional cinema and ultra-realism with modern technology. While visiting Jerusalem, three American tourists