FrightFest have announced the line-up for this year’s horror-fest, and it’s pretty special.
In fact, we’d argue it’s the best selection in the festivals long (and great) history.
Here’s the official press release:
Are you ready for a monstrous and memorable mayhem of killer claws, cannibalism, cult classics, murderous musicals, chiller thrillers, graphic novel action and sick celluloid masterpieces? Then prepare yourself for the biggest, strongest and most eclectic must-see programme in Film4 FrightFest’s history.
From the opening night turbo-driven thrill-ride THE GUEST to the UK premiere of the closing night mesmeric sci-fi fantasy THE SIGNAL, FrightFest has netted the latest works from genre big-hitters such as Eli Roth (THE GREEN INFERNO), Alan Moore and Mitch Jenkins (SHOW PIECES), Tommy Wirkola (DEAD SNOW 2: RED VS. DEAD), Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller (SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR), Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (AMONG THE LIVING), Fabrice Du Welz (ALLELUIA), Nacho Vigalondo (OPEN WINDOWS and EXTRATERRESTRIAL), John McNaughton (THE HARVEST), Adam Green (DIGGING UP THE MARROW), Nicolas McCarthy’ (HOME), Lucky McKee and Chris Sivertson (ALL CHEERLEADERS DIE), Adrian Garcia Bogliano (LATE PHASES), Greg Mclean (WOLF CREEK 2), Eduardo Sanchez (EXISTS) and Milan Todorovic (NYMPH).
Plenty of genre movies have been garnering massive critical attention from other signature festivals which FrightFest has embraced, including: the moving and charming LIFE AFTER BETH, the laugh-out-loud crowd-pleaser ZOMBEAVERS, Jennifer Kent’s utterly beguiling THE BABADOOK, the extraordinary German slasher THE SAMURAI, the ‘Glee’-ful STAGE FRIGHT, the Hollywood rags to witches STARRY EYES, the hugely entertaining HOUSEBOUND, the unique R100, the cult of the damned FAULTS, the Kiwi corker I SURVIVED A ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST and Jay Weisman’s sci-fi mindbender SHOCKWAVE DARKSIDE 3D
Film4 FrightFest has always shone a spotlight on British talent and this year is no exception – sharply spearheaded by Luke Hyams’ unusual X MOOR, Phil Hawkins’ THE LAST SHOWING, featuring horror icon Robert Englund in his best starring role in years, Adam Spinks’ creature feature THE EXPEDITION, John Shackleton’s supernatural horror THE SLEEPING ROOM, Ivan Kavanagh’s sinister THE CANAL, Oliver Frampton’s urban nightmare THE FORGOTTEN, Jeremy Wooding’s wild western BLOOD MOON, Edward Boase’s spooky THE MIRROR and Simeon Halligan’s truly shocking WHITE SETTLERS.
Discovering and nurturing new talent from across the globe has always at the heart of FrightFest’s manifesto and this year’s ever-popular Discovery Strand is testament to this, boasting thirty-eight films which includes THE HOUSE AT THE END OF TIME, the first ever horror movie from Venezuela, Matthew, A. Brown’s startling neo-noir revenge thriller JULIA, Casey La Scala’s rapture survival THE REMAINING, Chad Archibald’s maniac-franchise-in-the-making THE DROWNSMAN, the mumblecore insidious CREEP, the intestinal gag-filled BAD MILO!, the shattering TRUTH OR DARE, the surprising ALTERGEIST, the king of the hill PRESERVATION, the bodysnatching HONEYMOON, Lowell Dean’s hilarious midnight movie WOLFCOP, the cyber chiller THE DEN, the Australian urban legend LEMON TREE PASSAGE, Ben Wagner’s intimate DEAD WITHIN, the giallo-infused ANOTHER, the inevitable WRONG TURN 6 and Ate de Jong’s psycho-sexual horror DEADLY VIRTUES.
Plus there some brilliant documentaries receiving their UK premieres: Alexandre O. Philippe’s Zombie culture reveal, DOC OF THE DEAD and Erik Sharkey’s touching portrait of Drew Struzan, DREW: THE MAN BEHIND THE POSTER. There is also the World Premiere of David Gregory’s LOST SOUL – THE DOOMED JOURNEY OF RICHARD STANLEY’S ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU.
The retrospective selection this year includes restored versions of Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING, Wes Craven’s A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, Jorg Buttgereit’s NEKROMANTIK and Giulio Paradisi’s cult exploiter THE VISITOR, each with significant talent attachment and presented by writer, critic, broadcaster Kim Newman.
Plus there is a special presentation of James Ward’s mind-bending horror-sci-fi COHERENCE by THE DUKE MITCHELL FAN CLUB @ FILM4 FRIGHTFEST plus their in-house party.
With a record number of female directors showing their work this year in both the main sections and in the short film showcases, the return of the ‘Shortcuts To Hell’ competition 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, Film4FrightFest continues to be the single most important event of 2014 in the UK genre calendar.
This year’s guest list and the Short Film Showcase entries will be announced soon.
Alan Jones, Festival co-director, said today: “Everything genre-wise you’ve been hearing about – and a whole lot you haven’t yet – has been included in the programme to ensure our move to the Vue will be the most exciting and game-changing genre event of the year. Humbly, we cannot overestimate how much work has been done by Team FrightFest in planning this move in every detail to ensure your complete satisfaction with the venue arrangements, the operating duties and the comprehensive multi-levelled programming. While everything looks to be changing, nothing is fundamentally changing in terms of retaining our unique, all-inclusive atmosphere and the wellbeing of everyone who attends.”
Julia Wrigley, Head of Film4 Channel, added: “It’s fantastic to be back for our eighth year of fear as headline sponsors of Film4 FrightFest. For us, it’s still a great place to get reacquainted with favourite filmmakers and make exciting discoveries, many of which end up on the channel. We can’t wait to settle into a new venue to see what the team has in store for us, while our FrightFest fortnight on Film4 allows viewers to invite the horror and excitement into their own home.”
Festival & day passes go on sale from 28 June. Tickets for Individual films are on sale from 19 July.
Bookings: www.myvue.com/Frightfest
08712 240 240 (24 hour booking line)
Screens 5, 6 & 7 will house the main event while the Discovery strands will play in Screens 3 & 8.
For full programme details go to: www.frightfest.co.uk
Cool, right? And that’s not the end of the announcements – stay tuned to Total Film for some future surprises!
