From the press release:
Are you ready for a spine-chilling global avalanche of Indian zombies, Israeli oldboys, vengeance-crazed Vikings, Swedish mesmerists, Irish telekinesis, Argentine undead, Aussie bone-crushers, murderous Mormons and Chilean assassins?
Film4 FrightFest 2013, returning for its 4teenth year, has unveiled its biggest line-up in history. From Thurs 22 August to Monday 26 August, the UK’s leading event for genre fans will be at the Empire Cinema in London’s Leicester Square to present 51 films on three screens. Empire 1 will house the main event while the Discovery strands will play in Empires 2 & 4. The new FrightFest Xtra strand, also in Screen 2, will allow fans to catch up with sold-out performances of the most popular attractions.
This year there are eleven countries representing five continents with a record-breaking thirty-three UK or European premieres and ten world premieres.
The world premieres include our opening night attraction The Dead 2: India from the Ford Brothers, Banshee Chapter, produced by Star Trek’s Zachary Quinto, Kit Ryan’s startling Dementamania, the epidemic shocker Antisocial the Argentinean post World War Z drama The Desert and the retro Spanish chiller For Elisa. European premieres include Don Mancini’s Curse of Chucky, Anthony Di Blasi’s Missionary and Steven R. Monroe’s I Spit On Your Grave 2.
The UK premieres feature our closing night film, the most want-to-see 2013 title Big Bad Wolves, Jim Mickle’s appetising We Are What We Are, Vincenzo Natali’s Haunter, Ryuhei Kitamura’s No One Lives, Lasse Hallstrom’s The Hypnotist, the Pastor Brothers’ The Last Days, the VHS documentary Rewind This!, Bobcat Goldthwait’s horror-comedy Willow Creek, producer Adam Green’s Hatchet III, acclaimed anthology V/H/S/2, the fantasy thriller Odd Thomas, rural horror romp 100 Bloody Acres, compulsive chiller The Conspiracy, Renny Harlin’s mystery thriller Thedyatlov Pass Incident & Marina De Van’s high-voltage shocker Dark Touch.
The Brits are once again proving that the genre is in fine form. Aside from the aforementioned The Dead 2: India and Dementamania, there is Christian James’ toilet-humoured Stalled, Jeremy Lovering’s white-knuckle ride In Fear, Farren Blackburn’s axe-murderous Hammer of the Gods, Kate Shenton’s human suspension doc On Tender Hooks, The Paranormal Diaries: Clophill, from the Zombie Diaries duo, Michael Bartlett & Kevin Gates, Kieran Parker’s latest in the zombie action franchise Outpost: Rise of the Spetsnaz and The Borderlands., a paranormal chiller from Elliot Goldner.
Keynote previews include The Grief Tourist starring Michael Cudlitz and Melanie Griffith, and Carlos Medina’s award-winning Painless.
Crowd-pleasers have always been at the heart of the FrightFest experience, so audiences can sit back and thrill to the roof-raising You’re Next, the incredible Cheap Thrills, the mutant-tastic Frankenstein’s Army and a Special Preview of the Hollywood blockbuster R.I.P.D. starring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges. And we have included two of our February FrightFest Glasgow draws – the fabulously trashy grindhouser Bring Me The Head Of The Machine Gun Woman and Michael Stephenson’s hugely entertaining doc The American Scream.
Expanding the Discovery Strand means there are double the treats to sample this year, including the nerve-shredding Snap, the smart horror-fantasy Hansel & Gretel & the 4:20 Witch, Sonny Laguna’s ferocious Wither, Israeli war fantasy Cannon Fodder, Scream-styled homage Sadik 2, James Sizemore ‘s demonic The Demon’s Rock, David McCracken’s story of small-town child abuse Daylight & sex-disease horror Contracted. There is also a first-time screening of three episodes of Adam Green and Joe Lynch’s TV series Holliston.
Plus, there’s a chance to discover an eclectic mix of Premiere screening restorations : Ozploitation classic –Wake In Fright, a tribute to Hammer Horror icon Peter Cushing – Corruption, the first Roger Corman Edgar Allan Poe masterpiece – The Fall of the House of Usher, and the genre landmark that is F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu.
With Andy Nyman’s ever-popular ‘Quiz From Hell’ now in its 4th year, the announcement of the ‘666 Short Cuts To Hell’ competition winners, in association with Horror Channel and Movie Mogul, the ‘Turn Off Your Bloody Phone!’ entries and the usual bloody red carpet gathering of stars, directors and surprise guests, Film4 FrightFest 14 looks set to raise the roof. Let the screaming begin!
Alan Jones, Festival co-director, said today: Fourteen years down the line from our seminal start in 2000, the ambitions of the Film4 FrightFest remain exactly the same: to promote horror and fantasy in all its rich and varied ways, to foster the latest in world genre cinema, to highlight our vibrant home-grown independent sector and to invite an international array of directors, actors and filmmakers to discuss their work. For that reason we have remained at the vanguard of the genre”.
Julia Wrigley, Head of Film4 Channel4, added: ‘“We are thrilled to return for the 7th year in a row as the headline sponsors of Film4 FrightFest. Once again, the line-up includes a great range of British films, including the relentlessly terrifying Film4 Production In Fear. Our FrightFest fortnight on Film4 is packed with channel premieres, festival favourites and some classics from the crypt”.
The guest line-up and 2013 Short Film Selections will announced shortly.
Festival & day passes go on sale from 29 June. Tickets for Individual films are on sale from 27 July.
Bookings: 08 714 714 714 or www.empirecinemas.co.uk
Visit www.frightfest.co.uk for more information.
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PROGRAMME – SCREEN 1
THURSDAY AUG 22
18:30 OPENING FILM – THE DEAD 2: INDIA (World Premiere)
Directors: Howard & Jon Ford. Cast: Joseph Millson, Meenu, Anand Goyal, Sandip Datta Gupta, Poonam Mathur. UK 2013, 90 mins.
Another darkly mysterious Continent becomes an inhospitable and dangerous dead zone in the highly anticipated follow-up to the Ford Brothers’ critically acclaimed zombie road movie THE DEAD. Launched at FrightFest 2010 to eventual massive global success, the cult commercial franchise moves to the hustle and bustle of India as the devastating zombie outbreak takes hold and British turbine engineer Nicholas Burton must trek from one side of the country to the other if he is ever to see his pregnant girlfriend Ishani again. But it’s a journey he must undertake if he is to saveher and his unborn child from an impending flesh-eating zombie holocaust.
21:00 CURSE OF CHUCKY (European Premiere)
Director: Don Mancini. Cast: Fiona Dourif, Brad Dourif, Danielle Bisutti, Brennan Elliott, A Martinez. USA, 2013. 90 mins.
The serial killer who’s such a doll returns for more murderous mayhem. Chucky arrives to wreak havoc within a dysfunctional family that’s regrouped for a funeral. In the wake of her mother’s passing, Nica – in a wheelchair since birth – is forced to put up with her relatives as they say their tearful goodbyes. When the people she loathes start turning up dead, Nica is horrified to discover the culprit might be the weird doll she was sent a few days earlier. Picking up events from the finale of CHILD’S PLAY 3, creator and SEED OF CHUCKY helmer Don Mancini back in the director’s chair,
23:30 YOU’RE NEXT (London Preview)
Director: Adam Wingard. Cast: Sharni Vinson, AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Amy Seimetz, Ti West. USA 2013, 95 mins.
Now you can finally see director Adam (A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE) Wingard’s home invasion horror slaked with survival suspense, pitch black comedy and body count splatter. The dysfunctional Davison family are getting together to celebrate a wedding anniversary. And while Crispian warns his new girlfriend Erin that things could get tense around the dinner table, nothing prepares her or any of the oblivious family for what lies in store. For when a crossbow bolt smashes through the window into a party guest’s eye, the dazed family come under attack by unknown assailants who want them dead.
FRIDAY AUG 23
10:30 THE DYATLOV PASS INCIDENT (UK Premiere)
Director Renny Harlin. Cast: Richard Reid, Gemma Atkinson, Matt Stokoe, Luke Albright, Holly Goss. USA, 2013, 90 mins.
In February, 1959, nine Russians hikers ventured into the Ural Mountains on a trip that should have been manageable for a group with their vast experience. Two weeks later, all nine were discovered dead. A search party found the hikers’ tents ripped open from the inside and all seemed to have died from hypothermia. With no compelling evidence or witnesses to account for the puzzling night, the case quickly fell into legendary infamy. The riddle has baffled investigators, researchers and authorities ever since. Now five young filmmakers retrace the steps of the doomed hikers in pursuit of the unsolvable mystery. What will they find?
12:45 DEMENTAMANIA (World Premiere)
Director: Kit Ryan. Cast: Sam Robertson, Vincent Regan, Kal Penn, Geoff Bell, John Thomson. UK, 2013. 83 mins.
Friday the 13th. A day like any other day for software analyst Edward Arkham. But after taking a shower he steps on a wasp and the sharp sting he receives will bug him throughout the whole day. It will put him on edge for every meeting with his fellow city-workers It will infect the friendships he has with his open plan desk jockeys. It will make him go crazy when he receives an unwanted email from his ex-girlfriend. And it will erupt into horrific bloody violence at a local nightclub. This is THE FLY meets ‘The Office’ as Edward finds himself caught between the realms of his deranged imagination and the mundane reality of his everyday existence.
15:00 TOTAL FILM ICON (to be announced)
16:20 HATCHET III (UK Premiere)
Director: B J McDonnell. Cast: Danielle Harris, Kane Hodder, Zach Galligan, Caroline Williams, Derek Mears. USA 2013, 81 mins.
In the third gore-gantuan instalment of Adam Green’s modern slasher franchise, Marybeth uncovers the true secret to stopping the voodoo curse that has left the ghost of deformed maniac Victor Crowley haunting and stalking the Honey Island swamplands in the New Orleans bayou for decades. An entire police department, face off with the infamous slaughter-machine in this action-packed, explosive sequel full of splatter stunts – all adhering to Green’s strict no-CGI rule. The first of the series to be filmed almost entirely on location in New Orleans, this marks the directing debut of cameraman B J McDonnell (‘The Walking Dead’).
18:45 HAUNTER (UK Premiere)
Director: Vincenzo Natali. Cast: Abigail Breslin, Michelle Nolden, David Hewlett, Peter Outerbridge, Stephen McHattie. USA, 2013, 97 mins.
GROUNDHOG DAY meets THE OTHERS in Vincenzo Natali’s chilling reverse-ghost story. True to the form of CUBE, CYPHER and SPLICE, Natali’s spooky tale of vintage murders, time travel, and clear boundaries between the living and the dead is impeccably constructed and tightly focused with a strikingly good performance from Abigail Breslin. She plays Lisa Johnson, a teenager, who along with her family are deceased, doomed to repeat the fateful last day before they were all killed by the Haunter in 1985. Only Lisa has ‘woken up’ . It’s the present day and the serial-killing Haunter is closing in again.
21: 15 V/H/S/2 (UK Premiere)
Directors: Adam Wingard, Simon Barrett, Eduardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale, Timo Tjahjanto, Gareth Huw Evans, Jason Eisener. Cast: Kelsy Abbott, Hannah Al Rashid, Fachry Albar, Oka Antara, Devon Brookshire. USA 2013, 95 mins.
In the far superior sequel to V/H/S, two private investigators break into the abandoned house of a missing college student, uncovering a collection of mysterious videotapes. They reveal four horrifying films, trafficked by an underground tape sharing community, which lead the pair to a shocking resolution to their case. The horrific contents of each cassette come from such genre visionaries responsible for an array of notable shockers like YOU’RE NEXT, A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE, THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, THE RAID, HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN and THE ABCs OF DEATH
23:30 100 BLOODY ACRES (UK Premiere)
Directors: Cameron & Colin Cairnes. Cast: Damon Herriman, Angus Sampson, Anna McGahan, Oliver Ackland, Jamie Kristian. Australia 2013, 92 mins.
In the proud tradition of THE LOVED ONES and WOLF CREEK comes this hilarious horror from Down Under. Reg Morgan runs a small organic bone fertiliser business in the outback with his bullying older brother Lindsay. They’ve recently taken the lead over their competitors thanks to a secret ingredient – liquidised human corpses! When Reg picks up three city-slickers who’ve broken down, he’s torn between his instincts to mulch the trio, and pangs of conscience as he falls for one of his captives, the charming Sophie. Gory, shocking and funny, with one of the most hysterically disturbing sex scenes in cinema history, mark this rural survival saga an Oz classic.
SATURDAY AUGUST 24
10:30 THE HYPNOTIST (UK Premiere)
Director: Lasse Hallström. Cast: Tobias Zilliacus, Mikael Persbrandt, Lena Olin, Helena af Sandeberg, Oscar Pettersson. Sweden 2012, 122 mins. Swedish with English subtitles.
In 2009 FrightFest pioneered the Nordic Noir trend by being the first festival in the world to show THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. Now we present the latest Scandinavian sensation from award-winning director Lasse Hallström, based on the international bestseller by Lars Kepler.. A triple murder, all the same family. The only surviving witness, Josef, whose parents and little sister were killed before his eyes. Is in shutdown, The killer is at large, and it looks as if the elder sister escaped the carnage. But she‘s missing and it seems only a matter of time until her slaughter. In desperation, Detective Inspector Joona Linna turns to disgraced hypnotist Erik Maria Bark…
13:15 FRANKENSTEIN’S ARMY (English Premiere)
Director: Richard Raaphorst. Cast: Karel Roden, Joshua Sasse, Robert Gwilym, Alexander Mercury, Luke Newberry. USA 2013, 86 mins.
In the waning days of World War II, a battalion of Russian soldiers find themselves lost in eastern German enemy territory. Stumbling upon a village decimated by an unseen terror, they discover a secret Nazi laboratory and a mad scientist conducting experiments using the journal of one Dr. Victor Frankenstein to fuse flesh and steel to create unstoppable undead soldiers. Call it a historical HOSTEL on Hammer Horror steroids, cyberpunk by way of classic Universal monster mayhem or found-footage fear taken to the next level, this inventive old-style freakshow with gore, guts and gunplay is a midnight movie audience’s wet dream and instant cult classic.
15:30 HAMMER OF THE GODS (UK Premiere)
Director: Farren Blackburn. Cast: Charlie Bewley, James Cosmo, Michael Jibson, Clive Standen, Glynis Barber. UK 2013, 95 mins.
It’s Britain, 871 AD and dying King Bagsecg needs reinforcements with a strong leader to cement the Viking position in central Britain. So he sends his son, Steinar, and his brutal associates, Grim, Jokul and Hagen, to find his vicious firstborn Hakan the Ferocious to take on the gathering Saxon armies. This is an old-fashioned, high adventure romp through BEOWULF and GAME OF THRONES style terrain from Farren Blackburn, director of ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘The Fades’, and written by Matthew Read, scripter of the PUSHER remake. It’s HAMMER time, so kiss my axe!
18:00NO ONE LIVES (UK Premiere)
Director: Ryuhei Kitamura. Cast: Luke Evans, Adelaide Clemens, Lee Tergesen, Derek Magyar, Beau Knapp. USA 2012, 87 mins.
Fourteen students are murdered and the crime scene offers no clues to the whereabouts of the one person who could be the only survivor. Months later a gang of robbers screw up their latest mansion heist and mug a couple in a car instead. What they realise too late is that the driver is the killer responsible for the student massacre. Then it’s Psycho vs. Psychos in a taut, tension-laden cat-and-mouse chiller that sees both sides trying to outdo the other in terms of entrapment, torture, pain and terror. MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN director Ryuhei Kitamura continues his American gothic adventures with a stylish, ingenious and sensational shocker.
20:55 R.I.P.D. (UK Premiere)
Director: Robert Schwentke. Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Kevin Bacon, Jeff Bridges, Mary-Louise Parker, Stephanie Szostak. USA 2013, 120 mins. 3D.
MEN IN BLACK meets GHOSTBUSTERS in an blockbuster crime fantasy by RED director Robert Schwentke. Based on the comic book ‘Rest In Peace Department’ by Peter M. Lenkov, veteran sheriff Roy Pulsifer has spent his career with the legendary R.I.P.D., tracking monstrous spirits who are cleverly disguised as ordinary people. His latest mission is to bring to justice a breed of criminals trying to escape final judgment by hiding on Earth. Pulsifer teams up with detective Nick Walker and two of R.I.P.D.’s finest must miraculously restore the cosmic balance or watch the eternal time tunnel to the afterlife begin sending angry souls the wrong way.
23:30 CHEAP THRILLS (English Premiere)
Director: E.L. Katz. Cast: Pat Healy, Ethan Embry, Sara Paxton, David Koechner, Amanda Fuller. USA 2013, 85 mins.
This smart, fun and highly disturbing feature is the debut feature of E. L. Katz, writer of AUTOPSY and POP SKULL. Craig is down on his luck, fired from his job, facing eviction and a wife and newborn to care for. Craig heads to a bar where he runs into old friend Vince. Things then go from nostalgic to crazy when the duo hooks up with a wealthy married couple out for a good time, who start making bets on Craig and Vince’s behaviour. Eager to out-do each other, the two blue-collar nobodies embark on a battle for cash. To begin with the wagers are innocent but then the challenges start getting more extreme and bloody as the night goes on…
SUNDAY AUGUST 25
10:15 MISSIONARY (European Premiere)
Director: Anthony DiBlasi. Cast: Mitch Ryan, Connor Christie, Dawn Olivieri, Jesse Malinowski, Kip Pardue. USA 2013, 95 mins.
From CASSADAGA and DREAD director Anthony DiBlasi comes the psycho kook of Mormon, a Godsploitation thriller with a splatter-day saint twist. Separated from her husband, Katharine Kingsmen is having a hard time raising her son Kesley. So when two Mormon missionaries arrive at the door to preach the gospel, she doesn’t see any harm in them playing football with him. But for Elder Brock it’s the prelude to a major test of his faith as he seduces Katharine and becomes increasingly obsessed by the perfect family life he’s always wanted. Then Katharine shuns his affections – an act that tips him over the edge.
12:40 IN FEAR (Special Preview)
Director: Jeremy Lovering. Cast: Iain De Caestecker, Alice Englert, Allen Leech. UK, 2013. 85 mins.
In Jeremy Lovering’s chilling feature debut, a young couple fights to survive one night-turned-nightmare. Driving to a music festival Tom and Lucy have plans to cement their burgeoning relationship at a countryside hotel. But with hotel signs leading them in ever-decreasing circles through the dark, rural terrain, they soon become lost in a maze of dirt tracks and dead ends…and the target of an unknown tormentor. With the lead performances by Alice Englert and Iain De Caestecker given an added edge by the director withholding the script, this uniquely produced white-knuckle horror revels in its sense of unsettling claustrophobic style.
15:00 THE GRIEF TOURIST (Special Preview)
Director: Suri Krishnamma. Cast: Michael Cudlitz, Melanie Griffith, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Suzanne Quast, Eddie J. Fernandez. USA 2012, 85 mins.
Once a year security guard Jim Tahna takes a vacation and travels to locations in the life of a serial killer. This year’s obsession is arsonist Carl Marznap so Jim spends his days in Hetacomb, California, visiting the places of pain and anguish in the mass murderer’s abused life. Staying in a seedy motel Jim discovers an unexpected connection to a local diner waitress attempting to recover from her own tragedy. But next door at his motel is a prostitute and soon Jim’s sexual impulses and weakening grip on reality deteriorate into violent despair. Featuring a fearless lead performance from Michael (‘Southland’) Cudlitz and a brilliantly back-on-form Melanie Griffith, this is a powerful, haunting and exceptional study in criminal cause and effect.
PLUS…SPECIAL EVENT: – ANDY NYMAN’S QUIZ FROM HELL 4
What would FrightFest be without our annual ‘Quiz From Hell’? Now in its fourth year of ever-growing popularity amongst our genre savvy audience, we are delighted to welcome back our ‘Ghost Stories’ host with the most, the incomparable Andy Nyman. Where does he get the time to plan, compile the slasher posers and film some of the questions in famous places of fear? This year alone Andy has starred as The Tumour in the highly anticipated KICK-ASS 2 and also featured in the new Spanish sci-fi thriller AUTOMATA from HIERRO director Gabe Ibanez, not to mention co-creating and directing the new live show stage-she Infamous’ starring celebrated psychological entertainer Derren Brown. So start swotting up now for our fiendish quiz compered as ever with a smile and style by the best in the business.
18:45 THE CONSPIRACY (UK Premiere)
Director: Christopher MacBride. Cast: Aaron Poole, James Gilbert, Peter Apostolopoulos, Angela Besharah, Bruce Clayton. Canada 2012, 85 mins.
The found-footage movie steps into yet another unique arena. Two filmmakers are shooting a documentary about Terrance G, a conspiracy theorist convinced all major world events – the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, 9/11, the banking crisis – are the responsibility of a secret society controlling the course of history for profit. Suddenly, after weeks of surveillance, Terrance goes missing. Digging deeper, they hit upon links to the mysterious Tarsus Club who worship the ancient deity Mithras and decide to infiltrate the weird cult. Maintaining a compulsively gripping, terror traction, the film builds to a chilling crescendo of palpable paranoid fright.
PLUS…SPECIAL EVENT: 666 SHORT CUTS TO HELL COMPETITION WINNERS
At FrightFest Glasgow in February we and our friends at Movie Mogul, in association with Horror Channel, asked aspiring filmmakers, “Can you make a short film that can cut it in hell?” It was no ordinary competition though – entrants had to follow a series of ‘killer’ restraints such as a maximum of 6 lines of dialogue, a maximum of 6 cast and crew and a maximum budget of £666. Entries flooded in – all judged by our panel of 6 consisting of THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE trilogy director Tom Six, Paul Hyett, director of THE SEASONING HOUSE, Total Film’s Rosie Fletcher, Movie Mogul’s John Shackleton, Horror Channel presenter Emily Booth and FrightFest’s own Paul McEvoy. Today you will see the 6 shortlisted movies and the overall winner will be announced, who will receive a prize of £6,666 and the opportunity to develop a horror feature idea under mentorship of Movie Mogul, for a possible 2014 production..
21:10 THE LAST DAYS (UK Premiere)
Directors: Alex & David Pastor. Cast: Quim Guttierez, Jose Coronado, Marta Etura, Leticia Dolera, Isak Ferriz. Spain 2013, 101 mins. Spanish with English subtitles.
From the CARRIERS directing duo of Alex and David Pastor comes a brave, bold blockbuster science fiction fantasy adventure that delivers epic thrills, visceral excitement, high-flying visual effects and grandiose emotion. A mysterious epidemic known as The Panic has spread across the planet. This irrational fear of open spaces leads to instant death and soon the world’s population remains trapped inside buildings afraid to move. As Barcelona descends into chaos Marc embarks on a citywide quest to search for his pregnant girlfriend Julia – without setting foot outside. Clever, moving and visually startling, THE LAST DAYS ends with the most profound and haunting coda of the year.
23:30 I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE 2 (European Premiere)
Director: Steven R. Monroe. Cast: Jemma Dallander, Joe Absolom, Yavor Baharov, Aleksander Aleksiev, Mary Stockley. USA 2013, 90 mins.
The movie you thought they wouldn’t dare remake now has an equally astounding sequel. Director Steven R. Monroe returns for another D-Day of the Woman. Kate has just settled into New York and she’s thrilled when she’s offered what seems like a dream assignment. But what starts out as an innocent and simple photo shoot soon turns into something disturbingly unthinkable! Brutalised, tortured and kidnapped to a distant foreign country, Katie is mercilessly buried alive and left to die. Against all odds, she manages to escape and she taps into the darkest places of the human psyche to exact the starkest and bloodiest revenge on her attackers.
MONDAY AUGUST 26
11:30 DARK TOUCH (UK Premiere)
Director: Marina De Van. Cast: Marie Missy Keating, Marcella Plunkett, Padraic Delaney, Catherine Walker, Richard Dormer. Ireland, 2013. 90 mins.
From multi-award winning visionary Marina De Van, director of IN MY SKIN, comes the French icon’s most personal film yet. At night, an isolated country house deep in the Irish countryside takes on a monstrous life of its own. Objects and furniture attack the inhabitants, leaving 11 year-old Niamh (Marie Missy Keating, daughter of Ronan) the only survivor of a bloody massacre that destroys her entire family. Taken in by family friends, Niamh can’t find the peace she so desperately wants. And all around her, signs of danger continue to manifest, her surroundings imbued with a lurking violence that soon unleashes itself again in this high-voltage poignant horror.
13:30 BANSHEE CHAPTER (World Premiere)
Director: Blair Erickson. Cast: Ted Levine, Katia Winter, Michael McMillian, Jenny Gabrielle, Chad Brumnet. USA 2013, 85 mins. 3D
In 1963 the U.S. government began experimenting on unsuspecting Americans with chemical agents. Intended to induce mind control, the programme was named ‘MK-ULTRA’ and the results were horrifying…When her best friend James Hirsch goes missing, Internet journalist Anne Roland decides to investigate and discovers Hirscch made a videotape of himself taking a mind-altering drug before vanishing into thin air. When Anne learns this friend has been extracting the drug from the pineal glands of dead humans, the search leads to the mysterious Chamber 5 in a Black Rock desert research centre.
15:35 ODD THOMAS (UK Premiere)
Director Stephen Sommers. Cast: Anton Yelchin, Willem Dafoe, Shuler Hensley, Patton Oswalt, Addison Timlin. USA, 2013. 97 mins.
From director Stephen Sommers (THE MUMMY) is a thrilling supernatural fantasy based on the bestselling book by Dean R Koontz. Odd Thomas sees murdered dead people and feels it’s his duty to make those responsible pay for their sins. The local police chief knows about his clairvoyant gifts and is happy to use him to keep the town virtually crime free. But one day, Odd meets a suspicious-looking man who he is convinced is connected to some terrible catastrophe that is about to occur, so he calls upon his ‘psychic magnetism’ to gather more information before dark forces are unleashed.
18:30WE ARE WHAT WE ARE (UK premiere)
Director: Jim Mickle. Cast: Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Michael Parks, Kelly McGillis. USA, 2013. 100 mins.
A brilliant re-imagining of Jorge Michel Grau’s Mexican art-house fantasy from Jim Mickle, director of STAKE LAND. Following the unexpected death of their mother, teenage daughters Iris and Rose Parker are ordered by their father to carry on a macabre ancestral ritual at all costs. But when a torrential storm hits their upstate New York region, the town’s river overflows and the local authorities start uncovering long-buried clues that lead them to the Parker family’s cannibalistic secret. Stunning performances from the cast add enormous weight to this major career step forward for Mickle in terms of directorial maturity, superb film craft and subtle horror nuance.
21:00 CLOSING FILM – BIG BAD WOLVES (UK Premiere)
Directors: Aharon Keshales & Navot Papushado. Cast: Dov Glickman, Dvir Benedek, Lior Ashkenazi, Menashe Noy, Rotem Keinan. Israel 2013, 109 mins. Hebrew with English subtitles.
A series of brutal murders puts the lives of three men on a collision course in the black comedy thriller sensation of the year. They are the father of the latest victim on a cruel vendetta, the vigilante cop operating outside the law, and the main suspect in the killings – a religious studies teacher arrested for the crime but released due to a police blunder and lack of evidence. Watch them conspire, connive, accuse and squirm in this stylishly violent revenge chiller, expertly and brutally crafted, with fabulous cinematography, a stunning score and a teasingly twisting plot that’s part OLDBOY, part Hitchcock, part Coen Brothers.
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PROGRAMME – DISCOVERY STRAND, SCREEN
FRIDAY AUG 23
10:40 FOR ELISA (World Premiere)
Director: Juanra Fernandez. Cast: Ana Turpin, Ona Casamiquela, Luisa Gavasa, Jesus Caba, Sheila Ponce. Spain, 2013. 80 mins. Spanish with English subtitles.
This terrifying story finds its basis in an innocent children’s game. Something that looks naive and harmless turns into the worst nightmare. Desperate to earn some money student Ana answers a job advert asking for occasional nanny duties. Arriving at apartment 3B in the town square for the job interview, things couldn’t have gone better either, but before long Ana realises she has entered a terrifying dark world of obsession and misery. Kept prisoner in a creepy residence full of antique toys, she must try and overcome the deranged diva Diamantina and her strange daughter Elisa to prevent herself from becoming just another possession in the house of 1000 dolls.
13:00 BRING ME THE HEAD OF THE MACHINE GUN WOMAN (London Preview)
Director: Ernesto Diaz Espinoza. Cast: Fernanda Urrejola, Matias Oviedo, Sofia Garcia, Daniel Antivilo, Felipe Avello. Chile 2012, 74 mins. Spanish with English subtitles.
A powerful Argentine gangster is using everything in his power to stop assassination by the drop-dead-gorgeous mercenary Machine Gun Woman. The staggering sum of cash he offers for her head sets in motion an army of murderous hitmen, but the scantily clad, femme-fatale bounty hunter is not going to become a sitting target that easily, especially when her favourite fashion accessories are shiny multiple weapons. The most ruthless killer to ever wear stilettos, she’s Hell-on-Heels in an all-guns blazing, sexy, violent slice of neo LatinXploitation. Flashy and trashy grindhouse fare the way they used to make ‘em.
15:00 SADIK 2 (World Premiere)
Director: Robin Entreinger. Cast: Alexandra Bialy, Chloe Gallen, Guillaume Gamand, Leon Vitale, Damien Gorce. France, 2013. 75 mins. French with English subtitles.
As usual, a group of Isa’s friends get together in a rental country house to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Things are running smoothly, until one of them mysteriously disappears, and their game of guessing the Horror Movie Maniac turns into a bloody nightmare. For the production team behind the popular SADIK movie are looking for ways to extend their reality horror brand into fear franchise and this bunch of slackers, stoners and film buffs look like the perfect way forward. Full of SCREAM-style homage, this body count reinvention goes through the self-referential motions with gory aplomb.
18:00 OUTPOST: RISE OF THE SPETSNAZ (English Premiere)
Director: Kieran Parker. Cast: Bryan Larkin, James ‘The Colossus’ Thompson, Velibor Topic, Ben Lambert, Vivien Taylor. UK, 2013. 87 mins.
In the third instalment of the hit Nazi zombie action horror franchise, we discover the horrifying origins of these supernatural soldiers and see them in ferocious gladiatorial battle against the most ruthless and notorious of all military special forces: the Russian Spetsnaz. Restoring the series to its Word War II origins it introduces a new hero in Dolokhov (Bryan Larkin), a member of Russia’s elite special forces. A frenetic action packed storyline and some fantastic new villains, this OUTPOST is the goriest and most violent fight fest ever, and marks Kieran Parker’s directorial debut, after serving as producer of the previous two episodes.
20:45 THE PARANORMAL DIARIES: CLOPHILL (World Premiere)
Directors: Michael Bartlett, Kevin Gates. Cast: Michael Bartlett, Kevin Gates, Craig Stovin, Criselda Cabitac, Mark Jeavons. UK, 2013. 90 mins.
From THE ZOMBIE DIARIES duo comes a new fear franchise. In March 1963, a black mass was held at a ruined church in Clophill, Bedfordshire by a coven of dark witches. Fifty years on from the original incident, the Clophill legend remains etched on the psyches of the local populace. In 2010, a documentary team was assembled to investigate the legend of the Clophill witches and to try and uncover the truth behind the paranormal events. What followed during that long weekend at Clophill was a terrifying journey into the unknown, a voyage into unfathomable terror and a stark reminder of supernatural forces at continual work.
23:00 WAKE IN FRIGHT (Special screening)
Director: Ted Kotcheff. Cast: Donald Pleasence, Chips Rafferty, Gary Bond, Sylvia Kay, Jack Thompson. Australia 1971, 114 mins.
A rare chance to see this Australian masterpiece on the big screen, director Ted Kotcheff’s seminal shocker is one of the earliest examples of Ozploitation and never has a more nihilistic view of outback life been filmed. Thought lost for decades until a dusty print was discovered in a Pittsburgh warehouse, this re-mastered classic hasn’t dated and remains a powerful, genuinely shocking and amazing work of art. Teacher John Grant arrives in the rough mining town of Bundanyabba planning to stay overnight before catching the plane to Sydney. But his one night stretches to five and he plunges headlong towards his own destruction.
SATURDAY AUG 24
10:40 THE DEMON’S ROOK (European Premiere)
Director: James Sizemore. Cast: Ashleigh Jo Sizemore, James Sizemore, John Chatham. Melanie Richardson, Sade Smith. USA, 2013. 90 mins.
Young Roscoe finds a portal to another world where he is taught magic by an elder demon known as Dimwos. The demon raises the boy into manhood, revealing to him many things… except for one dark secret. When Roscoe discovers the secret withheld, his anger inadvertently unleashes three malevolent demons. Roscoe flees the demons’ wrath by escaping through the portal, drawing the demons to discover our world for themselves. From debut director James Sizemeore, co-founder of the art cult The Black Riders, comes this family affair produced and filmed within the 50-acre Sizemore farm compound.
13:00 STALLED (European Premiere)
Director: Christian James. Cast: Dan Palmer, Antonia Bernath, Tamaryn Payne, Mark Holden, Giles Alderson. UK 2013. 80 mins.
It’s Christmas Eve. A down-on-his-luck janitor is cleaning cubicles in an office block. Unfortunately for this forlorn floor-sweeper, he becomes trapped in the washroom the very second a zombie outbreak occurs. Will he be able to hit the emergency alarm with severed fingers and a catapult bra? Has he met his Waterloo? Will he just go potty? Or will he simply remain…STALLED? Consistently hilarious, brilliantly executed, cleverly constructed and visually imaginative, director Christian James’ remarkable comedy horror is THE EVIL DEAD meets PHONE BOOTH in a toilet. For in a zombie apocalypse no one can hear you strain – or gives a crap.
15:15 CANNON FODDER (UK Premiere)
Director: Eitan Gafny. Cast: Liron Levo, Yafit Shallev, Roi Miller, Emos Ayeno, Gome Sarig. Israel 2012, 94 mins. Hebrew & English with English subtitles.
The international success of RABIES really started something. Now the on-trend movies to make in Israel are horror, like this up-front fantasy detailing a new Middle East conflict. Security operative Doron takes on one last mission: to go to Lebanon. With an elite force behind him Doron soon discovers that reality is not so simple. For a new and unknown entity must be dealt with, a bloodthirsty, ravening, totally unpredictable enemy. But now that his enemy has changed its face, it’s up to him and his unit to wage a new war, a different war, to find an antidote, and get back across the border before the Middle East conflict is changed forever.
18:15 REWIND THIS! (UK Premiere)
Director: Josh Johnson. Cast: Atom Egoyan, Jason Eisener, Frank Henenlotter, Charles Band, Cassandra Petersen. USA 2013, 94 mins.
This thoughtful, informative and entertaining elegy examines the myriad aspects of society that were altered by the creation of videotape. From its poor picture quality, ropey pan-and-scan and glitches marking the best parts through to its inventive marketing and sheer breadth of titles available, Josh Johnson’s documentary celebrates not just the fan-boy collectors but also the product that changed the face of movie culture and the film business. Genre celebrities like Frank Henenlotter, Charles Band and Roy Frumkes discuss how VHS changed the ability to make and distribute films in an anecdotally enlightening and warmly nostalgic way..
21:05 THE BORDERLANDS (World Premiere)
Director: Elliot Goldner. Cast: Aidan McArdle, Patrick Godfrey, Gordon Kennedy, Luke Neal, Robin Hill. UK, 2013. 89 mins.
A team of Vatican investigators are sent to the British West Country to look into reports of paranormal activity during a Christening at a newly re-opened remote church. Father Crellick has webcam proof of artefacts moving on the altar and other weird happenings. But two of the three-man team aren’t so sure, but going back through church records, they see that the holy place has a history of strange occurrences, and there is that raspy scratching sound they keep hearing coming from the walls. So they set up cameras in the hope of filming and recording something unusual. An elaborate fake, or could this one be the real deal?
23:25 ON TENDER HOOKS (World Premiere)
Director: Kate Shenton. Cast: Kate Shenton, Tam Smith, Ana Laco, Håvve Fjell, Charlyne Chiappone. UK 2013, 70 mins.
The first self-funded feature film from accomplished short filmmaker Kate Shenton, this eye-opening documentary film delves into the world of human suspension and the eclectic people involved. Kate spent a year following different people and a group of suspenders. Every Sunday they pierce themselves with hooks and hang in mid-air from rigs in a display that challenges the perceptions and squeamishness of even the most hardened. Beginning with communities in London, and then following events in Rico, Croatia and Oslo, Norway, the film depicts a wide variety of experience and opinions, and probes thoughtfully into a deeply misunderstood practice.
SUNDAY AUGUST 25
10:20 PAINLESS (Preview)
Director: Juan Carlos Medina. Cast: Tomas Lemarquis, Alex Brendemuhl, Juan Diego, Ramon Fonsere, Derek De Lint. Spain 2012. 105 mins. Spanish with English subtitles.
A strikingly original vision of European history, poetry and cinematic artistry, director Juan Carlos Medina’s astonishing feature debut is a sophisticated adult fable. On the eve of the Spanish Civil War in 1931 a group of children, insensitive to physical pain, are incarcerated in the fortress-like Canfranc hospital high in the Pyrenees to be taught what physical suffering actually means and its fatal consequences. One of the boys accidentally becomes the most feared torturer of General Franco’s regime. Moving and melancholic, shocking and sobering, this stunning masterpiece is bound to leave you spellbound throughout until the operatic tear-inducing finale.
12:50 HANSEL & GRETEL & THE 4:20 WITCH (UK Premiere)
Director: Duane Journey. Cast: Cary Elwes, Lara Flynn Boyle, Michael Welch, Molly C Quinn, Yancy Butler. USA, 2013. 90 mins.
Fairy-tale horror and stoner comedy combine to great effect in this smartly entertaining fantasy. Agnes, a little old lady from Pasadena, grows the best weed in town. But when Gretel’s boyfriend Hansel goes missing after scoring dope, she tracks him to Agnes’ deceptively charming Gingerbread House. There she discovers Agnes is attempting to devour his soul to revive her youth. Unfortunately Gretel’s attempts to rescue Hansel are thwarted by a Latino drug gang. There is charismatic performance by ‘Castle’ TV series regular Molly C Quinn plus a blissfully OTT turn from ‘Twin Peaks’ star Lara Flynn Boyle.
15:15 HOLLISTON (Special Preview)
Directors:Adam Green & Joe Lynch. Cast: Adam Green Joe Lynch, Laura Ortiz, Corri English, Dee Snider. USA. 2012. 70 mins
FrightFest is delighted to preview three episodes from Season 2 of the hit TV series that has a huge cult following in the States and seen guest appearences from the likes of John Landis, Kane Hodder and comedian Seth Green. Set in the small New England town of Holliston, Massachusetts, the series stars Adam Green as “Adam” and Joe Lynch as “Joe”, who are college grads chasing their dream to become horror filmmakers, whilst not quite making ends meet working at a local cable access station. It has been described as ‘Friends’ for geeks, nerds and horror fans.
18:40 DAYLIGHT (World Premiere)
Director: David McCracken, Joel Townsend, Kaidan Tremain. Cast: Jennifer Bacon, David McCracken, Josh Riedford, Sydney Morris. Jeanine Cameron. USA, 2012, 97 mins.
Remember the Satanic abuse panic that originated in the United States in the 1980s, spreading throughout the country and eventually to many parts of the world? Reports proliferated about the physical abuse of individuals in the context of occult rituals. At its most extreme definition a worldwide conspiracy was postulated involving the wealthy and powerful of the global elite. Now, a team of Child Protective Services workers are investigating a series of bizarre child abuse cases in the small town of Daylight, Indian and as the mystery unfolds, the authorities, lawyers and therapists all discover the cases may be linked by demonic possession.
21:05 THE DESERT (World Premiere)
Director: Christoph Behl. Cast: Lautaro Delgado, Victoria Almeida, William Prociuk, Lucas Lagre, Maria Figueras. Argentina, 2013. 98 mins. Spanish with English subtitles.
The wave of quality fantasy from Argentina continues with this thought provoking story of a failed love triangle set post-World War Z. Axel, Jonathan and Ana live together in a fortified house, after a global catastrophe. Outside is a threatening apocalyptic landscape – inside was once a perfect three-way bond of supportive friendship. Now that has been torn apart by Ana forming a close relationship with Jonathan leaving frustrated Axel alone, tattooing his body with flies. With deep wounds festering, everything changes when Axel and Jonathan go out on an expedition in search of provisions and return home with a zombie…
MONDAY AUGUST 26
11:15 THE BORDERLANS (repeat showing)
13:35 WILLOW CREEK (UK Premiere)
Director: Bobcat Goldthwait. Cast: Alexie Gilmore, Bryce Johnson. USA, 2013. 90 mins.
Celebrated stand-up American comedian Bobcat Goldthwait has turned his hand to the Bigfoot myth in his sly commentary on the business of urban legends and the nature of belief. Crypto-zoology enthusiasts will know that Willow Creek is the town closest to Bluff Creek, where the famed Patterson-Gimlin film of Bigfoot was shot in 1967. Jim is a firm believer that there are Sasquatches in the woods; his girlfriend Kelly is not. But she’s a good sport, so when Jim wants to spend a weekend camping in the supposedly beast infested woods, the city girl goes along. But what they find there is something they never, ever expect.
15:20 SNAP (UK Premiere)
Directors: Youssef Delara & Victor Teran. Cast: Jake Hoffman, Nikki Reed, Scott Bakula, Thomas Dekker, Jason Priestley. USA, 2013. 90 mins
SNAP will shred the nerves and rattle the demons of the mind as it charts the unhinging of a damaged brain. Abrasive, with hard cuts and loud imagery, the focus is on Jim Whitman, a painfully shy, musically talented savant whose work has made him a social networking star. But Jim consistently traverses an introverted life, trying to contain the schizophrenic darkness inside him. Struggling to keep his Mr Hyde-like personality in check, he befriends, and eventually obsesses over, Wendy, a caring social worker with problems of her own. A dark and terrifying journey into the psychopathic vortex, how do you stop a human time bomb from exploding?
18:34 REWIND THIS (repeat showing)
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PROGRAMME – DISCOVERY STRAND, SCREEN 4
10:40 THE AMERICAN SCREAM (London Preview)
Director: Michael Stephenson Cast: Matthew Brodeur, Victor Bariteau, Manny Souza
USA 2012 84 mins
From Michael Stephenson, director of the BEST WORST MOVIE, comes another charming and hugely entertaining documentary. Meet the Brodeur, Souza and Bariteau families who live in the seaside town of Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Every year they spend fortunes turning their homes into stunning haunted houses for the Halloween holiday, determined to dazzle and impress their. Watch them as they plan, slave, obsess and suffer trying to outdo each other in the fearful fun-ride department. An engaging, inspiring, heart-warming examination of creativity, community and love of Halloween horror.
12:50 HANSEL & GRETEL & THE 4:20 WITCH (UK Premiere)
Director: Duane Journey. Cast: Cary Elwes, Lara Flynn Boyle, Michael Welch, Molly C Quinn, Yancy Butler. USA, 2013. 90 mins.
Fairy-tale horror and stoner comedy combine to great effect in this smartly entertaining fantasy. Agnes, a little old lady from Pasadena, grows the best weed in town. But when Gretel’s boyfriend Hansel goes missing after scoring dope, she tracks him to Agnes’ deceptively charming Gingerbread House. There she discovers Agnes is attempting to devour his soul to revive her youth. Unfortunately Gretel’s attempts to rescue Hansel are thwarted by a Latino drug gang. There is charismatic performance by ‘Castle’ TV series regular Molly C Quinn plus a blissfully OTT turn from ‘Twin Peaks’ star Lara Flynn Boyle.
15:15 THE DEMON’S ROOK (European Premiere)
Director: James Sizemore. Cast: Ashleigh Jo Sizemore, James Sizemore, John Chatham. Melanie Richardson, Sade Smith. USA, 2013. 90 mins.
Young Roscoe finds a portal to another world where he is taught magic by an elder demon known as Dimwos. The demon raises the boy into manhood, revealing to him many things… except for one dark secret. When Roscoe discovers the secret withheld, his anger inadvertently unleashes three malevolent demons. Roscoe flees the demons’ wrath by escaping through the portal, drawing the demons to discover our world for themselves. From debut director James Sizemeore, co-founder of the art cult The Black Riders, comes this family affair produced and filmed within the 50-acre Sizemore farm compound.
18:30 PAINLESS (Preview)
Director: Juan Carlos Medina. Cast: Tomas Lemarquis, Alex Brendemuhl, Juan Diego, Ramon Fonsere, Derek De Lint. Spain 2012. 105 mins. Spanish with English subtitles.
A strikingly original vision of European history, poetry and cinematic artistry, director Juan Carlos Medina’s astonishing feature debut is a sophisticated adult fable. On the eve of the Spanish Civil War in 1931 a group of children, insensitive to physical pain, are incarcerated in the fortress-like Canfranc hospital high in the Pyrenees to be taught what physical suffering actually means and its fatal consequences. One of the boys accidentally becomes the most feared torturer of General Franco’s regime. Moving and melancholic, shocking and sobering, this stunning masterpiece is bound to leave you spellbound throughout until the operatic tear-inducing finale.
21:00 WITHER (UK Premiere)
Directors: Sonny Laguna & Tommy Wiklund. Cast Patrik Almqvist, Lisa Henni, Amanda Renberg, Patrick Saxe, Ralf Beck. Sweden, 2012. 95 mins. Swedish with English subtitles.
A Swedish homage to Sam Raimi’s original EVIL DEAD, this is a fast, ferocious, graphic tale of demonic possession with a Scandinavian twist. Ida and Albin are setting off for a fun holiday with their friends to a remote cabin in the vast Nordic woodlands. But their carefree weekend comes unhinged when one of them accidentally unleashes a mysterious and murderous creature trapped in the basement. Worse, under the floorboards lurks an evil from Sweden’s dark past. As the savage demon begins its assault, the blood-dredged body count mounts, Join the cavalcade of blood and guts at this crazy cabin of the dead.
23:15 SNAP (UK Premiere)
Directors: Youssef Delara & Victor Teran. Cast: Jake Hoffman, Nikki Reed, Scott Bakula, Thomas Dekker, Jason Priestley. USA, 2013. 90 mins
SNAP will shred the nerves and rattle the demons of the mind as it charts the unhinging of a damaged brain. Abrasive, with hard cuts and loud imagery, the focus is on Jim Whitman, a painfully shy, musically talented savant whose work has made him a social networking star. But Jim consistently traverses an introverted life, trying to contain the schizophrenic darkness inside him. Struggling to keep his Mr Hyde-like personality in check, he befriends, and eventually obsesses over, Wendy, a caring social worker with problems of her own. A dark and terrifying journey into the psychopathic vortex, how do you stop a human time bomb from exploding?
SATURDAY AUGUST 24
12:50 DAYLIGHT (World Premiere)
Director: David McCracken, Joel Townsend, Kaidan Tremain. Cast: Jennifer Bacon, David McCracken, Josh Riedford, Sydney Morris. Jeanine Cameron. USA, 2012, 97 mins.
Remember the Satanic abuse panic that originated in the United States in the 1980s, spreading throughout the country and eventually to many parts of the world? Reports proliferated about the physical abuse of individuals in the context of occult rituals. At its most extreme definition a worldwide conspiracy was postulated involving the wealthy and powerful of the global elite. Now, a team of Child Protective Services workers are investigating a series of bizarre child abuse cases in the small town of Daylight, Indian and as the mystery unfolds, the authorities, lawyers and therapists all discover the cases may be linked by demonic possession.
15:30 ANTISOCIAL (European Premiere)
Director: Cody Calahan. Cast: Michelle Mylett, Cody Thompson, Adam Christie, Ana Alic, Romaine Waite. Canada, 2013. 90 mins.
Five university friends gather at a house party to ring in the New Year and celebrate the end of the previous one. What they don’t know is The End really is nigh. Unbeknownst to them, an epidemic has erupted outside, causing outbreaks around the world. With nowhere else to turn, they barricade themselves indoors with only their personal technical devices as a means to find out what is going on. As the virus spreads, the mood in the house changes from fear to paranoia. Who is safe? Who can they trust? Reality becomes blurred as they slowly discover the source of the virus causing the sickness… and there is no going back.
18:40 THE DESERT (World Premiere)
Director: Christoph Behl. Cast: Lautaro Delgado, Victoria Almeida, William Prociuk, Lucas Lagre, Maria Figueras. Argentina, 2013. 98 mins. Spanish with English subtitles.
The wave of quality fantasy from Argentina continues with this thought provoking story of a failed love triangle set post-World War Z. Axel, Jonathan and Ana live together in a fortified house, after a global catastrophe. Outside is a threatening apocalyptic landscape – inside was once a perfect three-way bond of supportive friendship. Now that has been torn apart by Ana forming a close relationship with Jonathan leaving frustrated Axel alone, tattooing his body with flies. With deep wounds festering, everything changes when Axel and Jonathan go out on an expedition in search of provisions and return home with a zombie…
21:05 WILLOW CREEK (UK Premiere)
Director: Bobcat Goldthwait. Cast: Alexie Gilmore, Bryce Johnson. USA, 2013. 90 mins.
Celebrated stand-up American comedian Bobcat Goldthwait has turned his hand to the Bigfoot myth in his sly commentary on the business of urban legends and the nature of belief. Crypto-zoology enthusiasts will know that Willow Creek is the town closest to Bluff Creek, where the famed Patterson-Gimlin film of Bigfoot was shot in 1967. Jim is a firm believer that there are Sasquatches in the woods; his girlfriend Kelly is not. But she’s a good sport, so when Jim wants to spend a weekend camping in the supposedly beast infested woods, the city girl goes along. But what they find there is something they never, ever expect.
23:15 CONTRACTED (UK Premiere)
Director: Eric England. Cast: Alice Macdonald, Caroline Williams, Najarra Townsend, Katie Stegeman, Matt Mercer. USA, 2013. 80 mins.
New sexually transmitted infections have risen to almost half a million in England alone.. So what was Samantha thinking when she met a mysterious stranger at a friend’s party? Their flirting ended up them having wild sex, but she had no idea her one-night-stand would have such a devastating effect on her life. For she learns her pick-up is urgently wanted by police, for what she’s not quite sure until she contracts a virulent STD. And the check-up becomes her worst nightmare… Director Eric England hopes CONTRACTED will do for sex with random strangers what JAWS did for going to the beach!”
SUNDAY AUGUST 25
10:25 OUTPOST: RISE OF THE SPETSNAZ (English Premiere)
Director: Kieran Parker. Cast: Bryan Larkin, James ‘The Colossus’ Thompson, Velibor Topic, Ben Lambert, Vivien Taylor. UK, 2013. 87 mins.
In the third instalment of the hit Nazi zombie action horror franchise, we discover the horrifying origins of these supernatural soldiers and see them in ferocious gladiatorial battle against the most ruthless and notorious of all military special forces: the Russian Spetsnaz. Restoring the series to its Word War II origins it introduces a new hero in Dolokhov (Bryan Larkin), a member of Russia’s elite special forces. A frenetic action packed storyline and some fantastic new villains, this OUTPOST is the goriest and most violent fight fest ever, and marks Kieran Parker’s directorial debut, after serving as producer of the previous two episodes.
13:00 THE PARANORMAL DIARIES: CLOPHILL (World Premiere)
Directors: Michael Bartlett, Kevin Gates. Cast: Michael Bartlett, Kevin Gates, Craig Stovin, Criselda Cabitac, Mark Jeavons. UK, 2013. 90 mins.
From THE ZOMBIE DIARIES duo comes a new fear franchise. In March 1963, a black mass was held at a ruined church in Clophill, Bedfordshire by a coven of dark witches. Fifty years on from the original incident, the Clophill legend remains etched on the psyches of the local populace. In 2010, a documentary team was assembled to investigate the legend of the Clophill witches and to try and uncover the truth behind the paranormal events. What followed during that long weekend at Clophill was a terrifying journey into the unknown, a voyage into unfathomable terror and a stark reminder of supernatural forces at continual work.
15:20 THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER (Special screening)
Director: Roger Corman. Cast: Vincent Price, Mark Damon, Myrna Fahey, Harry Ellerbee, David Andar. USA, 1960. 80 mins.
1960s horror began here with director Roger Corman’s seminal Edgar Allan Poe adaptation, the first of a celebrated series. With Hammer taking the lead in Great Britain by going back to classic Universal monsters, upping the budgets and filming in gore-drenched colour, Drive-in company American International Pictures had to fight back somehow. The result was a minor masterpiece, surprisingly faithful to the Poe original, as it tells the story of Roderick Usher (marvellous Vincent Price), his fears for the sanity of his sister Madeleine, her burial alive while in a cataleptic trance, and the fall of their once grand family as she returns to exact revenge on her brother. Dripping with decadence, corruption, incestuous desire and sins of the family, this Corman classic is in lush Cinemascope and, in this vibrant restoration, looks as good now as it did back in the day when it grabbed the attention of all budding horror fans.
18:30 NOSFERATU (Special screening)
Director: F W Murnau. Cast Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav Van Wagenheim, Greta Schroeder, G H Schnell. Germany, 1922. 95 mins. Silent with English subtitles.
Few films have had a more profound and lasting impact on the horror genre than Murnau’s prime example of German Expressionism, directed with determination to evoke unsettling chills with a strong visual appeal. This unofficial adaptation of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ – the reason why it was originally shown in butchered form due to Stoker’s widow taking legal action – features symphonic lighting, rhythmic editing and horror imagery that has been copied endlessly ever since. During the Bremen plague in 1838 estate agent Hutter is sent to the Carpathian Mountains to arrange a property sale for the mysterious Count Orlock (the magnificent Max Schreck). When Hutter falls under his blood-sucking master’s thrall, it’s left to his wife Ellen to banish the evil creature back to the hell he came from. The most celebrated sequence – Orlock climbing stairs to Ellen’s boudoir, his menacing outline casting terrifying wall shadows remains unparalleled in the horror hall of fame.
21:20CORRUPTION (Special screening)
Director Robert Hartford-Davis. Cast: Peter Cushing, Sue Lloyd, Kate O’Mara, Anthony Booth, Vanessa Howard. UK, 1967. 91 mins.
FrightFest could not let the 100th Anniversary marking the birth of horror legend Peter Cushing go unmarked. That’s why he’s included in our poster this year and here’s another tribute to that true gentle man of horror, the Master of Hammer who played Baron Frankenstein six times and Dracula’s nemesis Van Helsing in five incarnations. We are delighted to screen this newly restored, energetically sleazy and underrated gem slickly directed by 60s trashmeister Robert Hartford-Davis (THE BLACK TORMENT, GONKS GO BEAT, INCENSE FOR THE DAMNED, THE FIEND). Cushing plays Sir John Rowan, a brilliant surgeon decapitating prostitutes for pituitary gland fluid to repair the disfigured face of his model girlfriend (Sue Lloyd, star of TV’s ‘The Baron’). Advertised at the time as “A super-shock picture so no woman will be admitted to see it alone!”, this benchmark in Cushing’s golden period has the most demented ending ever – hippies sending a laser beam out of control.
MONDAY AUGUST 26
11:20 THE DEMON’s ROCK (repeat screening)
13:40 CANNON FODDER (UK Premiere)
Director: Eitan Gafny. Cast: Liron Levo, Yafit Shallev, Roi Miller, Emos Ayeno, Gome Sarig. Israel 2012, 94 mins. Hebrew & English with English subtitles.
The international success of RABIES really started something. Now the on-trend movies to make in Israel are horror, like this up-front fantasy detailing a new Middle East conflict. Security operative Doron takes on one last mission: to go to Lebanon. With an elite force behind him Doron soon discovers that reality is not so simple. For a new and unknown entity must be dealt with, a bloodthirsty, ravening, totally unpredictable enemy. But now that his enemy has changed its face, it’s up to him and his unit to wage a new war, a different war, to find an antidote, and get back across the border before the Middle East conflict is changed forever.
15:25 ON TENDER HOOKS (World Premiere)
Director: Kate Shenton. Cast: Kate Shenton, Tam Smith, Ana Laco, Håvve Fjell, Charlyne Chiappone. UK 2013, 70 mins.
The first self-funded feature film from accomplished short filmmaker Kate Shenton, this eye-opening documentary film delves into the world of human suspension and the eclectic people involved. Kate spent a year following different people and a group of suspenders. Every Sunday they pierce themselves with hooks and hang in mid-air from rigs in a display that challenges the perceptions and squeamishness of even the most hardened. Beginning with communities in London, and then following events in Rico, Croatia and Oslo, Norway, the film depicts a wide variety of experience and opinions, and probes thoughtfully into a deeply misunderstood practice.
18:40 STALLED (European Premiere)
Director: Christian James. Cast: Dan Palmer, Antonia Bernath, Tamaryn Payne, Mark Holden, Giles Alderson. UK 2013. 80 mins.
It’s Christmas Eve. A down-on-his-luck janitor is cleaning cubicles in an office block. Unfortunately for this forlorn floor-sweeper, he becomes trapped in the washroom the very second a zombie outbreak occurs. Will he be able to hit the emergency alarm with severed fingers and a catapult bra? Has he met his Waterloo? Will he just go potty? Or will he simply remain…STALLED? Consistently hilarious, brilliantly executed, cleverly constructed and visually imaginative, director Christian James’ remarkable comedy horror is THE EVIL DEAD meets PHONE BOOTH in a toilet. For in a zombie apocalypse no one can hear you strain – or gives a crap
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