Oh yes, horror fans, it’s that time of year
again. The August bank holiday is nearly upon
us, which means it’s time to head to London’s
Leicester Square for Arrow Films FrightFest and
fi ve bloody days of the best new horror fi lms from
around the world.
Regulars know that it’s always a treat to
see what the team has in store for us and they
have pulled out all the stops for their 20th year.
There are (deep breath, everyone) 78 fi lms
from 14 countries with 20 world premieres, 20
international premieres and 28 UK premieres.
Where to start? Well, let’s look at the returning
favourites. The Soska Sisters are fi nally back at
the fest after wowing with American Mary back
in 2013, and we can’t wait for their remake of
David Cronenberg’s Rabid. The brilliant Lucky
McKee (The Woman) will be there with his latest
horror Kindred Spirits, genre icon Larry Fessenden
is bringing his fantastic riff on Frankenstein
Depraved, veteran producer Travis Stevens has his
much-buzzed directorial debut Girl On The Third
Floor, and speaking of The Woman, Pollyanna
McIntosh is making her directorial debut with her
follow-up to that shocking bloody satire: Darlin’.PORTAL
FRIGHTFEST RETURNS
The UK’s festival of fear is back with a record-breaking 20th anniversary line-up WORDS JONATHAN HATFULL
Horror fans have already been keeping a very
close eye on the likes of Daniel Isn’t Real (from
Some Kind Of Hate’s Adam Egypt Mortimer),
Nekrontik (the latest by Wyrmwood director Kiah
Roache-Turner) and ‘splatterpunk action comedy’
Why Don’t You Just Die!, which is also a strong
contender for best title of the festival in the face of
stiff competition.
Eddie Marsan makes a rare horror appearance
in Feedback, Seann William Scott goes serial
killer in Bloodline, Lawrie Brewster is back with
international anthology For We Are Many, and
Brit horrors Tales From The Lodge (starring
Mackenzie Crook and Johnny Vegas) and Dark
Encounter (with Alice Lowe and Laura Fraser)
promise to continue the excellent wave of recent
home-grown chillers.
Opening the festival is Ant Timpson’s fully
batshit-sounding Come To Daddy, starring Elijah
Wood, while Abner Pastoll (Road Games) closes
the festivities with thriller A Good Woman Is Hard
To Find, in which Sarah Bolger will go to any
lengths to keep her kids safe.
Oh, and you can get a fi rst look at upcoming
horror hits like Alexandre Aja’s Crawl and AndréØvredal’s Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark!
As always, there’s an excellent retro selection,
including Cronenberg’s original Rabid and Dario
Argento’s Tenebrae. The Italian maestro himself
is making a comeback to the festival and will be
on hand to talk all things horror with Alan Jones.
We’re also very excited about The Magnifi cent
Obsession Of Michael Reeves, a documentary
about the brilliant and all-too-brief career of the
director of Witchfi nder General.
We’ve barely scratched the surface here,
but whatever you’re looking for, you’re sure to
fi nd your particular horror tastes catered for at
FrightFest, and fi rst-timers should be assured:
you’re in for a treat. The atmosphere is a huge
part of experience as like-minded souls gather
for a celebration of all things blood-curdling. We
cannot wait.Arrow Films FrightFest runs from 22-26 August
at Cineworld Leicester Square and The Prince
Charles Cinema. Tickets are available from
http://www.frightfest.co.uk/tickets.html For more
information on the event and fi lms screening,
visit http://www.frightfest.co.uk010 | WWW.SCIFINOW.CO.UK
Expect a great
range of fi lms.“Tickets are on
sale now!”There will be
blood...lots.