Film 4 Frightfest – Awesome 2015 line-up announced
After the announcement of the Fightfest’s opening and closing films a week ago, the UK’s premiere horror festival has announced its complete line-up… And they’re not making it easy for us to bring you reviews of the majority of the films screening this year!
Yes, not only is Frightfest taking over the Vue cinema on Leicester Square again this year but they’re also taking over an extra screen, Screen 1, at the old home of Frightfest, The Prince Charles Cinema – which will be the location of ANOTHER “Discovery” screen strand.
From the press release:
Bigger, bolder, bloodier…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.
FrightFest always takes great pride in platforming the brightest British and Irish talent and 2015 is an outstanding year. Apart from opening with David Keating’s CHERRY TREE, there is the world premiere of Steve Oram’s hilarious and very disturbing AAAAAAAAH!, Dominic Brunt’s sharp-edged female revenge saga BAIT, Ben and Chris Blaine’s sexually charged zom-rom-com NINA FOREVER, Mark Murphy’s tale of twisted minds, AWAITING, Paul Hyett’s much-anticipated HOWL, Adam Levins’ sinister family drama ESTRANGED, Howard J. Ford’s pulsating child-abduction thriller NEVER LET GO, Corin Hardy’s Sundance sensation THE HALLOW, Ruth Platt’s morally-challenging chiller THE LESSON, Liam Regan’s gruesome revenge saga BANJO, Eugene McGing’s supernatural haunter THE UNFOLDING and finally AFTERDEATH, a hellish thriller by new directors Gez Medinger and Robin Schmidt.
The Main screens shine brightly with a vivid, stellar mix of the monstrous, the macabre and the must-see. Apart from our closing anthology TALES OF HALLOWEEN and our ‘gorious’ festive attraction A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY, there is Iain Softley’s cleverly vicious CURVE, Bernard Rose’s stylishly affecting FRANKENSTEIN, Adrian Garcia Bogliano’s masterpiece SCHERZO DIABOLICO, Abner Pastoll’s deranged ROAD GAMES, Alistair Legrand’s genre-bending shocker THE DIABOLICAL, Ted Geoghegan’s well-received ghost story WE ARE STILL HERE, Adam Schindler’s agoraphobic SHUT IN, Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell & Yoann-Karl Whissell’s post-apocalyptic romp TURBO KID, Bruce McDonald’s Halloween horror HELLIONS and Levan Bakhia’s explosive LANDMINE GOES CLICK. Plus, the Israeli Paz Brothers put the grim in pilgrimage with JERUZALEM, director Adam Egypt Mortimer gives us his cutting-edge “feminist slasher movie” SOME KIND OF HATE, first-time director Eric Hannezo gives us his version of RABID DOGS, STUNG lets loose a battalion of giant wasps and Australian director Ursula Dabrowsky bring us her highly unusual shocker INNER DEMON. Completing the main screen mayhem is splatstick psycho-thriller DEATHGASM, suburban shocker SLUMLORD, the brilliantly unnerving EMELIE, the stark, gore-filled NIGHT FARE and JAMES WAN’S DEMONIC.
Embracing the ever-burgeoning independent arena, this year’s increased number of films in the Discovery Screens illustrates the growing global investment in the genre. From Australia and France, Mexico and Russia, Argentina and Peru, FrightFest showcases the most electrifying examples, including world premieres for Jaron Henrie-McCrea’s CURTAIN, Russell Friedenberg’s WIND WALKERS, Padraig Reynolds’ WORRY DOLLS and Benjamin Moody’s LAST GIRL STANDING. There are European premieres for Ben Cresciman’s SUN CHOKE, Kyle Rankin’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEB, Valentin Javier Diment’s THE ROTTEN LINK, John Fallon’s THE SHELTER, Adam Mason’s HANGMAN and Brian James O’Connell’s BLOODSUCKING BASTARDS. UK premieres score highly too with Mickey Keating’s POD, Perry Blackshear’s THEY LOOK LIKE PEOPLE, John Knautz’s GODDESS OF LOVE, Anthony DiBlasi’s MOST LIKELY TO DIE, Alberto Marini’s SUMMER CAMP, Rodney Ascher’s THE NIGHTMARE, Zak Hilditch’s THESE FINAL HOURS, Pavel Khaleev’s III, April Mullen’s FARHOPE TOWER, Jeffrey Lando’s SUSPENSION, Isaac Gabaeff’s monster mash-up THE SAND, Eduardo Schuldt’s Peruvian horror THE ENTITY, Tyler Shields’ feature film debut FINAL GIRL 14 year-old French director Nathan Ambrosioni’s HOSTILE, Takashi Miike’s OVER YOUR DEAD BODY, David Gelb’s THE LAZARUS EFFECT, Dan Berk & Robert Olsen’s BODY, Isabel Coixet’s ANOTHER ME, Chad Archibald’s BITE, Joe Chien’s ZOMBIE FIGHT CLUB, and Josh Forbes’ CONTRACTED: PHASE II. There is also a special screening for Paul Goodwin’s FUTURE SHOCK! THE STORY OF 2000AD. This selection is bound to cause much heated debate and ecstatic discussion.
If the Discovery Screen Strand has increased in popularity, so has the Retrospective selection. This year audiences will be able to discover an eclectic programme straddling grindhouse to art-house with brand new restorations of the classic HELLRAISER, the giallo masterpiece YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY, the exploitation duo MADMAN and THE MUTILATOR, the cult Hammer Horror CAPTAIN KRONOS: VAMPIRE HUNTER, the high camp HAWK THE SLAYER and the high-end horrors TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES and THE REFLECTING SKIN.
Plus the Duke Mitchell Film Club is back with a rare screening of REMAKE, REMIX, RIP-OFF a crazy experience of the golden years of Turkish cinema, where demand was high, technical know-how low and copyright law non-existent! And the popular Duke @ Frightfest Film party is back too.
Frightfest 2015’s other special events, the growing guest list and the expanded Short Film Showcase entries will be announced in the coming weeks… Stay tuned! And make sure to come back here during the festival for all our – usually extensive – coverage of the films screening at Frightfest 2105!
The Nightmare
Emelie
Nina Forever
Aug 27
MAIN SCREEN
Cherry Tree (European premiere)
Turbo Kid (London premiere)
Stung (UK premiere)
Aug 28
MAIN SCREEN
Hellions (London premiere)
Landmine Goes Click (UK premiere)
The Diabolical (UK premiere)
Jeruzalem (UK premiere)
We Are Still Here (UK premiere)
James Wan’s Demonic (European premiere)
DISCOVERY SCREENS
Afterdeath (UK premiere)
The Unfolding (world premiere)
Body (UK premiere)
The Shelter (European premiere)
Zombie Fight Club (UK premiere)
Pod (UK premiere)
Wind Walkers (world premiere)
Worry Dolls (world premiere)
Aaaaaaaah! (world premiere)
Never Let Go (world premiere)
Blood Sucking Bastards (UK premiere)
The Rotten Link (European premiere)
The Entity (UK premiere)
III (UK premiere)
Final Girl (UK premiere)
The Sand (UK premiere)
Aug 29
MAIN SCREEN
Shut In (UK premiere)
Bait (London preview)
Frankenstein (UK premiere)
Some Kind of Hate (UK premiere)
Rabid Dogs (world premiere)
Deathgasm (UK premiere)
DISCOVERY SCREENS
Tenderness of the Wolves (restoration premiere)
Madman and The Mutilator (Grindhouse double bill restoration)
Contracted: Phase II (UK premiere)
Remake, Remix, Rip-Off (UK premiere)
Future Shock! The Story of 2000AD (preview)
The Nightmare (UK premiere)
Estranged (UK premiere)
The Hallow (London preview)
Sun Choke (European premiere)
Night of the Living Deb (European premiere)
Hangman (European premiere)
Another Me (UK premiere)
Aug 30
MAIN SCREEN
Slumlord (European premiere)
Road Games (world premiere)
Inner Demon (UK premiere)
Scherzo Diabolico (UK premiere)
A Christmas Horror Story (UK premiere)
DISCOVERY SCREENS
Farhope Tower (UK premiere)
Over Your Dead Body (UK premiere)
These Final Hours (UK premiere)
Most Likely to Die (UK premiere)
Summer Camp (world premiere)
They Look Like People (UK premiere)
Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (restoration premiere)
Hawk the Slayer (restoration premiere)
Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (restoration premiere)
Hellraiser (restoration premiere)
The Reflecting Skin (restoration premiere)
Aug 31
MAIN SCREEN
Curve (UK premiere)
Night Fare (UK premiere)
Nina Forever (UK premiere)
Emelie (UK premiere)
Tales of Halloween (European premiere)
DISCOVERY SCREENS
Banjo (world premiere)
Hostile (UK premiere)
Bite (UK premiere)
Curtain (world premiere)
The Lesson (world premiere)
Howl (world premiere)
Awaiting (UK premiere)
Goddess of Love (UK premiere)
The Lazarus Effect (UK premiere)
Suspension (UK premiere)
Last Girl Standing (world premiere)
