They have such wonders to show you, to paraphrase Clive Barker through Pinhead. For twenty six years FrightFest London has been a showcase for horror and fantasy in all its diverse glory.
This year it runs from Thursday 21 August to Monday 25 August, at The Odeon LUXE Leicester Square, London over seven screens, including the two at the ODEON Luxe West End.
FrightFest will showcase sixty-nine features from across the world. The popular ‘First Blood’ strand is now an established fixture. There are documentaries, plus a 4K restoration retrospective of one of the most important British shockers ever. The regular short-film strand, is extended to four showcases – details to be announced later.
The festival opens, with the UK premiere of The Home, from director James DeMonaco, creator of The Purge franchise. Actor/comedian Pete Davidson plays Max; a rebellious twentysomething sentenced to community service at a quiet retirement home.
The closing film is the UK premiere of Kurtis David Harder’s Influencers, the second instalment of Shudder’s successful original.
There’s a slew of returning directors this year. Erik Bloomquist will be attending with his latest chiller Self Help. Simon Rumley presents Crushed, the Adams family are back with Mother Of Flies, and Joe Begos returns with Jimmy And Stiggs. Additionally FrightFest will be the first festival to present the new version with additional Eli Roth footage.
Neil Marshall will be presenting the World premiere screening of the 4K Restoration of his classic, The Descent.
Other main screen highlights include UK premieres of The Toxic Avenger, A Serbian Documentary about the controversial film, Toshiaki Toyoda’s Transcending Dimensions - a violent, surreal fantasy. Seth Daly’s home invasion feature film debut, The Rows, Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s sex and lies thriller Bone Lake.
What She Doesn’t Know, is a serial killer thriller co-written by Terry Castle, daughter of the legendary William Castle. The McManus Brothers’ present Redux Redux, a genre-bending sci-fi horror.
Also on the main screen will be Odyssey, a ride through London’s seedy underbelly, the world premiere of Bamboo Revenge.
Cognaitive, a sci-fi thriller taking on the ever-growing concern of AI, suburban monster horror Hold The Fort, pre-teen fear fable Marshmallow.
Night Of Violence, Illya Konstantin’s anti-corporation office invasion horror, and Flush, a thrillingly comedic plunge into the depths of crap.
There are World premieres of Appofeniacs, which portrays how easily deepfake technology can be weaponised, the whodunnit horror 213 Bones, Vatanyu Ingkaviat’s eerily explosive Tomb Watcher and The Red Mask, a twisted love letter to the stalk and slash genre.
This year’s three Discovery strands showcase emerging and established voices from across the world. The US leads the way, including Borderline with Samara Weaving, Patrick Rea’s serial killer clown spree Super Happy Fun Clown, Keith Boynton’s bloody The Haunted Forest, and folk horror The Arborist.
There are World premieres for the giallo-tinged shocker Death Cycle, the body horror of Human, chiller Don’t Let The Cat Out, and Pig Hill, an adaptation of the Nancy Williams novel.
Blood Shine is a new cinematic dimension in sadistic ritualism, Noseeums where Get Out meets Candyman, Parasomnia, blurs the lines between dream and nightmare, and Five, welcoming back Dani Barker, of Follow Her.
Other US offerings include the corporate satire Kombucha, the World premiere Your Host in which Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley returns to the horror genre. There’s, dressed-to-kill chiller The Mannequin, the revenge tale In A Cold Vein, Cover, in which stamp collecting has never been so deadly.
There’s slasher thriller The Only Ones, A Blind Bargain which reimagines the classic shocker and horror comedy Portal To Hell.
The Other People is a suspense thriller, and from Will Canon comes The Confession, setting the story of the Pied Piper in rural Texas.
From the UK there’s Bambi: The Reckoning, a gory retelling of the 1923 novel and 1942 Walt Disney classic. Then the thriller Blockhead, the first narrative feature from Matt Harlock, the director behind the award-winning documentary American: The Bill Hicks Story.
In the ‘First Blood’ strand there are four World premieres: He Kills At Night, The Caretaker, Healing Andy, and The Haunting At Jack The Ripper’s House.
From Australia transgender filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay returns with The Serpent’s Skin. There’s Parish Malfitano’s Salt Along The Tongue, which combines witchery, spirit possession and exorcism.
From Canada there is the World premiere of Sick Puppy, a portrait of a serial killing married couple. As well as Foreigner which explores the cost of assimilation, and identity. From New Zealand there is the international premiere The Weed Eaters.
From Europe there is the Norwegian Above The Knee, a story about a man suffering from Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID). Another mental condition, agoraphobia, forms the plot for Spain’s El Instinto/Instinct.
Turning to the documentaries, in Captured Souls: In Conversation With Graham Humphreys, Chris Collier explores the life and legacy of the renowned illustrator. Whilst in Where Is Juan Moctezuma? Alaric S. Rocha’s mockumentary unravels the mysterious disappearance of 1970s Mexican horror film auteur Juan F. Moctezuma.
Another infamous personality was Andy Milligan, a pioneer of avant-garde theatre a trailblazer of early Queer cinema, and one of the most divisive talents in exploitation/horror history. All will be covered in The Degenerate: The Life & Films Of Andy Milligan
The Rocky Horror Picture Show turns 50 and Andreas Zerr’s Sane Inside Insanity: The Rocky Horror Phenomenon charts it all.
Finally, there are two Animation masterpieces: From Latvia, the UK premiere of Dog Of God, the historical depiction of the most famous werewolf trial in Northern Europe.
The second presentation is the Korean entry Gill, Director Jae-huun Ahn is the director of Meditation with a Pencil, a Korean animation studio, whose previous critically acclaimed works includes Green Days and The Shaman Sorceress.
Ticketing details:
The Full Festival Passes will be on sale from Saturday 12 July at noon.
The Day Passes and Single tickets will be on sale from Saturday 19 July at noon.
Further information can be found at www.frightfest.co.uk
