Image from Rob Jabbaz's THE SADNESS
Plus we're delighted to bring you trailers from THE BRILLIANT TERROR, BEYOND THE INFINITE TWO MINUTES, THE LAST RITE, BLOODTHIRSTY, KILLER CONCEPT, GREYWOOD’S PLOT & MYSTERY SPOT .
CINEWORLD DISCOVERY SCREEN 1
THURSDAY 26 AUGUST
Cast: Lora Burke, Tessa Kozma, Kristen MacCulloch, Nick Smyth, Colin Paradine.
MOTHERLY (World Premiere) Canada
18:35: Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Director: Craig David Wallace.
Cast: Lora Burke, Tessa Kozma, Kristen MacCulloch, Nick Smyth, Colin Paradine.
Outline: Kate and her nine-year-old daughter Beth have moved into an old isolated farmhouse outside a small town. Kate hopes this new beginning will shield her withdrawn daughter from their horrible past - her husband Brad was convicted of murdering a young girl, based largely on Kate’s testimony. Then a mysterious couple invade their home demanding to know the truth about the killing. In exchange, the vengeful duo guarantees Beth’s safety. But hell hath no fury than a parent scorned…
Screenwriter and BritFlicks Podcast host Stuart Wright looks back with producer and director Avi Federgreen over the impact of COVID19 and how despite the global pandemic he made his directorial debut after producing 60+ films and distributing 100+ films to date.
The podcast is a mine of filmmaker advice from a filmmaker who speaks from real experience and understanding.
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With: : Mike Lombardo, Julie O'Connor Ufema, Jeremiah Kipp, Heidi Honeycutt, Michael Gingold, Ashley Thorpe
THE BRILLIANT TERROR (World Premiere) USA
20:50: Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Directors: Paul Hunt & Julie Kauffman.
Cast: Mike Lombardo, Julie O'Connor Ufema, Jeremiah Kipp, Heidi Honeycutt, Michael Gingold, Ashley Thorpe.
Outline: Witness the obsessive lengths to which people on micro-budgets will go to bring their greatest fears to life on screen - and why - as small-town creative Mike Lombardo shoots, and reshoots his latest effort ‘The Stall’. Along the way, interviews with fierce women filmmakers, other directors, horror experts and misunderstood fans add their own hilarious and moving viewpoints. This incisive and forthright documentary lays the ‘Grassroots Horror’ movement very bare.
Watch the THE BRILLIANT TERROR trailer below!
Cast: Danny Trejo, Peter O'Brien, Mónica Antonópulos, Clara Kovacic, Guillermo Zapata.
SHADOW OF THE CAT (World Premiere) Argentina
23:00: Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Director: José María Cicala.
Cast: Danny Trejo, Peter O'Brien, Mónica Antonópulos, Clara Kovacic, Guillermo Zapata.
Outline: Join Danny Trejo (Gato) on a journey to the wildest side of fantasy adventure. Gato lives with his teenage daughter Emma on an isolated farm. Emma, tempted by curiosity about the mother who abandoned them, runs away and Gato sets out on a desperate search accompanied by his friend Sombra. Because 17 years ago, they were about to be captured by a sect and must now rescue Emma from the same cult who need her to carry out a bloody ritual.
Cast: Sarah French, Jed Rowen, Devanny Pinn, Jake Red, Heather Grace Hancock.
CINEWORLD DISCOVERY SCREEN 1
FRIDAY 27 AUGUST
PRETTY BOY (International Premiere) USA
10:50: Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Director: Marcel Walz.
Cast: Sarah French, Jed Rowen, Devanny Pinn, Jake Red, Heather Grace Hancock.
Outline: The shocking Hollywood nightmare continues…You first screamed at the masked serial killer Pretty Boy in LBGQT+ director Marcel Walz’s 2020 breakout FrightFest attraction BLIND. Now, after infiltrating the life of sight-impaired actress Faye, Pretty Boy is back in this campy horror gore-fest from the helmer of the BLOOD FEAST remake, Pretty Boy takes Faye from her Hollywood Hills home to gain access to an A-List Valentine’s Day party. But soon the party becomes massacre central as our handsome maniac runs amok amongst the disco lights and Beautiful People with his trusty butcher’s knife.
Sast includes: Larry Fessenden, Marieh Delfino, Dennie Gordon, Damien Gerard, Sunny Roe.
ISOLATION (World Premiere) USA
13:10: Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Directors: Alix Austin, Adam R. Brown, Larry Fessenden, Dennie Gordon, Andrew Kasch, Kyle I. Kelley, Alexandra Neary, Christian Pasquariello, Zach Passero, Bobby Roe, Kier Siewert.
Cast: Larry Fessenden, Marieh Delfino, Dennie Gordon, Damien Gerard, Sunny Roe.
Outline: A horror anthology shot entirely in lockdown. Nine directors made nine standalone but interconnected stories using only the resources and social distancing available during the early Covid-19 outbreak. From all corners of the world, people confront their biggest fears in attempts to survive an increasingly contagious and deadly pandemic, a premise that will hit close to home for everyone after the last unprecedented year. From ‘It’s Inside”, ‘Meat Hands’, ‘Fever’, ‘The Dread’ and ‘5G’ to ‘Homebodies’, ‘Comfort Zone’, ‘Gust’ and ‘Pacific Northwest’, nine tales of terror that follow isolated citizens from around the globe as they confront their darkest fears.
Cast: Kazunari Tosa, Riko Fujitani, Gota Ishida, Masashi Suwa, Yoshifumi Sakai.
BEYOND THE INFINITE TWO MINUTES (UK Premiere) Japan
18:30 Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Director: Junat Yamaguchi.
Cast: Kazunari Tosa, Riko Fujitani, Gota Ishida, Masashi Suwa, Yoshifumi Sakai.
Outline: A massive Japanese hit, acclaimed by ONE CUT OF THE DEAD director Shin'ichirô Ueda as a worthy successor to his continuous one-take sensation, it’s the time travel suspense comedy of the decade. Cafe owner Kato is relaxing after a long day when an image of himself suddenly appears on his television speaking from the future of two minutes. Soon Kato, his staff and regular customers are trapped in a time prison eager to learn about the distant future. But a Time Echo accelerates the paradox fiasco and a mysterious duo pays a visit as the future strikes back.
Watch the BEYOND THE INFINITE TWO MINUTES trailer below!
Cast: Tanya Burr, Harry Jarvis, Nina Wadia, Loreece Harrison, Erin Austin.
FOLLOWERS (World Premiere) 2ND SCREENING UK
20:35: Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Director: Marcus Harben.
Cast: Tanya Burr, Harry Jarvis, Nina Wadia, Loreece Harrison, Erin Austin.
Outline: A found-footage horror set in the cut-throat world of social media influencers. Four very different students move into a house suffering the usual social, financial and sexual anxieties that come with this exciting experience. They soon realise they are sharing their flat with a vengeful ghost from the 1990s called Dawn and she wins them millions of followers on social media. The big-money sponsorship deals quickly follow and greed becomes more powerful than fear. But the media attention awakens an old evil far more deadly than any ghost and the students must face the deadly consequences of their actions.
Cast: Dan Crane, Stephanie Brait, Jeff Hilliard, James Markham Hall Jr, Russell Steinberg.
LAGUNA AVE. (World Premiere) USA
23:10: Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Director: David Buchanan.
Cast: Dan Crane, Stephanie Brait, Jeff Hilliard, James Markham Hall Jr, Russell Steinberg.
Outline: Want to know what TETSUO would have been like if directed by John Waters? Then look no further than director David Buchanan’s quirky black-and-white oddity that he describes as “An insane, unruly teenager of a movie, found on a trash heap”. Dealing with the trials and tribulations of a disaffected former musician with a prosthetic hand who gets drawn into the mysterious and sinister world of his downstairs neighbour, LAGUNA AVE perfectly captures a paranoid Los Angeles where no one can be trusted, everything is decaying or coming apart at the seams and being held together with celluloid duct tape.
CINEWORLD DISCOVERY SCREEN 1
SATURDAY 28 AUGUST
Cast: Laura Montgomery Bennett, Lennon Leckey, Natasha Naomi Rea, Adrian Palmer.
BOY #5 (World Premiere) FIRST BLOOD STRAND. UK
11.00: Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Director: Ian Steele.
Cast: Laura Montgomery Bennett, Lennon Leckey, Natasha Naomi Rea, Adrian Palmer.
Outline: Produced on a low budget, bravely acted and directed and imparting a smartly different take on an age-old horror myth. The Vampire! Director Ian Steele’s labour of love tells the story of a burned-out social worker who has reached the end of her sympathetic tether. But then she comes across a boy who has been found on the streets of Manchester. Nathan is shy and withdrawn and clearly a suitable case for treatment. But as she gets closer to him, she learns that Nathan has a very peculiar type of mutation - a thirst for human blood! ARE WE
Cast: Charlotte Olivia, Jathis Sivanesan, John Black, Stefan Chanyaem, Justin Hayward.
ARE WE MONSTERS (World Premiere) FIRST BLOOD STRAND. UK
15:35: Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Director: Seb Cox.
Cast: Charlotte Olivia, Jathis Sivanesan, John Black, Stefan Chanyaem, Justin Hayward.
Outline: Maya is a werewolf conflicted with an identity crisis. She must seek to understand the two sides of herself before the consequences become deadly. Director Seb Cox’s feature film debut delves deep into the folklore of lycanthropy, Greek mythology and fabulous legend, then back again to ask important questions about identity, exactly who we are and who decides. With his background in animation and visual effects, Cox strives to communicate emotional wellbeing through fantasy, using metaphors to link audience empathy with real world problems.
Cast: Johnny Fleming, Kit Smith, Bethan Waller, Ian McNaughton.
THE LAST RITE (World Premiere) UK
18:15: Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Director: Leroy Kincaide.
Cast: Johnny Fleming, Kit Smith, Bethan Waller, Ian McNaughton.
Outline: A vibe of true horror coupled with the dank sense of uncertainty. Fact can be stranger and more terrifying than fiction. Medical student Lucy (Bethan Waller), suffering from sleep paralysis, finds herself plagued by a demonic entity after moving in with her boyfriend. Torn between sanity and the unknown, Lucy seeks help from a local priest forced to make a deathly choice. With the clock ticking, will Lucy escape the dark force consuming her from inside? Actor-turned-writer/director Leroy Kincaide makes his accomplished feature debut with a stark supernatural horror, one inspired by Kincaide’s own real-life paranormal experiences.
Watch THE LAST RITE Teaser below!
Cast: Ed Hartland, Jared Rogers, Yasen Atour, Octavia Gilmore, Kaitlin Reynell.
WHEN THE SCREAMING STARTS (World Premiere) UK
20:50: Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Director: Conor Buro.
Cast: Ed Hartland, Jared Rogers, Yasen Atour, Octavia Gilmore, Kaitlin Reynell.
Outline: When Norman Graysmith (Jared Rogers, THE KINDRED) is invited into the home of an aspiring serial killer, Aidan Mendle (writer/producer Ed Hartland, he believes he has the subject for the documentary that will make his career. What could possible go wrong? Especially as Aidan is a particularly inept homicidal maniac and fledgling filmmaker Graysmith is willing to do anything stupid to achieve his ambition. A spirited comedy horror mockumentary that’s both outrageously dark and gut-wrenchingly funny, you will be engaged from frame one as the camera becomes a character allowing for a heightened sense of ‘fly on the wall’ reality.
Watch the WHEN THE SCREAMING STARTS teaser below!
Cast: Ciara Bailey, Tad Morari, James Devlin.
BRING OUT THE FEAR (World Premiere) Ireland
23:00: Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Director: Richard Waters.
Cast: Ciara Bailey, Tad Morari, James Devlin.
Outline: From long time FrightFest community member Richard Waters and a graduate of our innovative New Blood strand. Rosie and Dan are a couple in a doomed relationship. Deciding to call it a day in the least acrimonious way possible, they decide to take one last walk in a favourite destination, the local forest. But suddenly the endlessly winding paths lead nowhere, the trees never seem to end, the sun never sets and a sinister presence starts stalking and tormenting them, trying to drive them insane... There is no escape but what exactly are they hiding?
CINEWORLD DISCOVERY SCREEN 1
SUNDAY 29 AUGUST
Cast: Lauren Beatty, Greg Bryk, Katharine King So, Michael Ironside, Judith Buchan.
BLOODTHIRSTY (European Premiere) Canada
18:25: Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Director: Amelia Moses.
Cast: Lauren Beatty, Greg Bryk, Katharine King So, Michael Ironside, Judith Buchan.
Outline: Queer indie pop star Grey is a newly successful artist who suffers from frequent nightmarish hallucinations of becoming a wolf. She visits an isolated mansion in the Canadian forest with her loyal girlfriend, Charlie, to produce her second album at the invitation of producer Vaughn whose musical genius is overshadowed only by an infamous past murder trial. Soon she embarks on a transformative journey that positions the self-obsessed intimacy of her song writing with her lycanthropic fantasies in a stylistic return to such werewolf classics as THE HOWLING and AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON with a shimmering LGBTQIA+ twist.
Watch the BLOODTHIRSTY trailer below!
Cast: Alejandra Toussaint, Laura de Ita, Alejandra Zaid, Diana Quijano, Horacio Castelo.
FORGIVENESS (World Premiere) Mexico
20:45: Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Director: Alex Kahuam.
Cast: Alejandra Toussaint, Laura de Ita, Alejandra Zaid, Diana Quijano, Horacio Castelo.
Outline: Reality is a prison in a surreal, violent and revenge-laden horror thriller by new Mexploitation maestro Alex Kahuam, already being hailed as a suffocating nightmare with influences from John Carpenter and Dario Argento. Three women mysteriously wake up in a strange hospital and discover that one of them is deaf, one is mute and the other one is blind. Each one of them will have to figure out why they are there and how to get out of the complex network where abuse, discrimination and torture are just a few of the tools of a sinister organization.
CINEWORLD DISCOVERY SCREEN 1
MONDAY 30 AUGUST
KILLER CONCEPT (World Premiere) USA
10:50: Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Director: Glenn Payne.
Cast: Glenn Payne. Casey Dillard, Coley Bryant, Caroline Upthegrove, Caleb Hall.
Outline: Director/writers/stars Glenn Payne and Casey Dillard are back after beguiling FrightFest 2019 with DRIVEN. This time they take on the serial killer genre with their unique smarts and quirky sardonic wit. A scriptwriter, a photographer and a true crime author are collaborating on a thinking man’s slasher movie based on an assassin with a predilection for victims named after flowers still holding a reign of terror over their local community. But what two of them don’t know is that the third is the actual real-life maniac and will do anything to disguise their modus operandi either factual or fictional.
Watch the KILLER CONCEPT trailer below!
GREYWOOD’S PLOT (UK Premiere) USA
15:45: Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Director: Josh Stifter.
Cast: Josh Stifter, Daniel Degnan, Keith Radichel, Samantha Kirchoff, Aaron McKenna.
Outline: Dom’s passion in life is a monster-hunting web series he produces with his indifferent friend Miles. After several embarrassing failed attempts, Dom is on the verge of giving up. Then he receives anonymous videotape claiming to show the existence of the fabled El Chupacabra demon. Real or hoax? Dom must find out and enters the woods to investigate meeting mysterious landowner Doug Greywood. A unique send-up of the creature feature and found footage genres, director/star Josh Stifter’s second movie, after THE GOOD EXORCIST with Robert Rodriguez, is film noir grindhouse using a fun and impressive array of visual trickery.
Watch the GREYWOOD’S PLOT trailer below!
Cast: Graham Skipper, Lisa Wilcox, Debbie Rochon, Julie Osterman, Seán Patrick Judge.
MYSTERY SPOT (World Premiere) USA
18:15: Discovery Screen 1. Tickets
Director: Mel House.
Cast: Graham Skipper, Lisa Wilcox, Debbie Rochon, Julie Osterman, Seán Patrick Judge.
Outline: Lisa Wilcox, star of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4 & 5, and Graham Skipper, indie icon of BLISS, THE MIND’S EYE and VFW, together at last! A number of guests find refuge in a small motel in the middle of nowhere, its only distinguishing characteristic being the ruins of an old Mystery Spot - a long-dead roadside attraction with strange metaphysical powers. Nathan and Rachel are just two of the guests attempting to eradicate dark pasts that seem to be using the Mystery Spot’s unique properties to escape painful shadows. But only some will survive its reality-shattering implications.
Watch the MYSTERY SPOT trailer below!
