- The Raid
- Skylines (film)
- To Your Last Death
- Bite (film)
- Teeth
- P2 (film)
- Black Water (film)
- Curse of Chucky
- FrightFest (film festival)
- Skylines (film)
- Triangle (2009 British film)
- Rabid (2019 film)
- Bookworm (film)
- FrightFest
- The Borderlands (2013 film)
- Terrified (film)
- Possum (film)
- The Human Centipede (First Sequence)
frightfest film festival
FrightFest (film festival) GudangMovies21 Rebahinxxi LK21
FrightFest, also known as Arrow Video FrightFest is an annual film festival held in London and Glasgow. The festival holds three major events each year: a festival running five days over the UK late August Bank Holiday weekend, a Halloween event held in London in late October, and a festival in Glasgow held around February as part of the Glasgow Film Festival.
The first event was held in London in 2000 and the first Glasgow festival was held in 2006. As its name indicates FrightFest primary focus is on the horror film genre, however, the event regularly features documentaries, science fiction and thriller films.
History
FrightFest was founded by film producer Paul McEvoy, film distributor Ian Rattray, and journalist and film critic Alan Jones, and television PR specialist Greg Day. Paul McEvoy has stated that his initial idea for FrightFest "came from my love and admiration for the seminal 'Shock Around The Clock' events of the 1980s organised by Stefan Jaworszyn and Alan Jones." The first event was in 2000 held at the Princes Charles cinema in London screening a selection of films over the August bank holiday. In an interview with Starburst magazine, Alan Jones explained:
Because I’d been a journalist for so long, I knew the film companies to talk to about getting films. It was easy enough. The reason we put it on the August bank holiday weekend really was because I live very near the Notting Hill Gate carnival – hate it – and wanted something to do, and thought there are other people as well who just couldn’t bear the carnival and the fact it took over the whole of London. So here was an alternative. We got a really good audience the first year and looking back, it’s grown and grown to where we are now.
Poster and logo designs are provided by the artist Graham Humphreys.
Direction
FrightFest is directed by Paul McEvoy, Ian Rattray and Alan Jones. In 2006, Greg Day joined the company as a co-director. McEvoy and Jones are heavily involved in the selection process for films and this can involve scouting other film festivals but watching all submissions that are made online.
It is managed by the co-directors and two co-festival managers, and events are coordinated by volunteers. The FrightFest Advisory Board also includes those in the film industry professionals and previous FrightFest staff or volunteers, in voluntary positions.
FrightFest has had a number of different sponsors over the span of its life, including the Horror Channel, Film4, Volkswagen Lupo, Bizarre magazine (of which the August issue was given away free), Xfm, Zone Horror and Play.com.
Festival programme
The objective of FrightFest is to "provide the UK with a horror fantasy festival similar to the market leaders in Europe, Sitges (Spain) and Brussels (Belgium)." FrightFest is organised in various strands:
Awards
FrightFest does not give out its own awards for the films selected and screened during the festival.
= Total Film FrightFest Awards
=Total Film publish their own awards for the festival, independent of FrightFest. Categories include: Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Monster, Best Death, Best Scare, Best Gore, Best Gross-Out, Best WTF Twist, and Best for Striking Originality.
This is the list of winners for Best Film:
Past Awards
The Screen International partnered with FrightFest from 2016 to 2022 when the festival was sponsored by Arrow Video, and presented The Screen International Rising Star Award to celebrate the work of emerging UK genre talent.
= The Screen International Rising Star Award
=London Festival Line-ups
The following is a listing of each film and shorts (and previews) shown at the festival each year:
= Halloween October FrightFest
=2006 marked the first FrightFest Halloween All-Nighter, which would be traditionally held on 30 October of each year. An all-night Halloween film festival was shown on 30 October 2008. Films shown at the event were Gnaw, Hush, Book Of Blood, Treevenge, My Name Is Bruce, The Children, Langliena: Una Storia Macabra, Escape from New York, Splinter, and Pig Hunt. In 2009 the all-night Halloween film festival was shown at the Empire Cinema on 30 October 2009. Films shown at the event were Umbrage, George A Romero's Survival Of The Dead, Paranormal Activity, Wrong Turn 3: Left For Dead, Jennifer's Body, and Carriers. The 2010 all-night event was shown at the Empire Cinema. Films shown at the event were Confessions, Altitude, The Silent House, Choose, and Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale.
In 2011, an all-night Halloween film festival, was held on 29 October. A second showing of the films, excluding Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo’s Livid, was held on 4 November 2011. The films shown were The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence), Bad Meat, Faces in the Crowd, Livid, Cold Sweat, and The Watermen. The 2012 Halloween All-Nighter was held on 27 October at Leicester Square. The films shown were Bait 3D, Gallowalkers, Zombie Flesh Eaters, Excision, The Tall Man, and The Helpers. In 2013, the Frightfest Halloween All-Nighter was held on Saturday 26 October at the Vue Cinemas in Leicester Square. The films shown were Soulmate, Patrick, Discopath, Mark of the Devil, The Station, and Nothing Left to Fear.
Glasgow Festival Line-ups
Starting in 2006, FrightFest has held a yearly film festival in Glasgow as part of the Glasgow Film Festival. Films shown are listed below:
= FF Glasgow 2025
=The 2025 edition is due to take place on March 6, 7 and 8 at the Glasgow Film Theatre.
Extra FrightFest Events
Extra FrightFest events are listed below:
Blogs
Regular blogs are now a feature of the festival's website. They began with The Alan Jones Diary and a guide to DVDs Gore in the Store. Recently it has grown to include more blogs which cover Video Games, TV, the Australian horror scene, foreign language genre fare, HD format releases, Memorabilia and Comics.
The 2009 annual redesign of the website added two more blogs and a regular review blog from Alan Jones.
The organisers of the festival blog annually about their visits to the Cannes Film Festival and the Fantastic Fest in Austin Texas.
FrightFest Originals
Launched in August 2012, FrightFest Originals is a range of limited edition posters featuring new artwork for classic and modern feature films. Posters can be purchased through the dedicated FrightFest Originals online website or at FrightFest events.
FrightFest Presents
In 2005 a "FrightFest Presents" DVD label was created and briefly distributed Dead Meat, Malefique, Tears of Kali, Eyes of Crystal and The Roost within the UK.
The label was an imprint of Revolver Entertainment.
In 2015, the label was revived in cooperation with Icon Film Distribution. Films to be released from October 2015 are Night of the Living Deb, Some Kind of Hate, Last Girl Standing, AAAAAAAAH!, Afterdeath, Landmine goes click, Emelie, The Lesson, Estranged.
FrightFest Features
On 23 May 2011 FrightFest Features DVD label was launched, the first 2 DVDs released were both films that had previously played in the festival: Italian director Federico Zampaglione's 2007 film Shadow and the 2007 New Zealand action comedy The Devil Dared Me To. Films will be released theatrically and for home entertainment, the label is launched in conjunction with Wild Bunch.
Quiz
In 2005 the FrightFest quiz was introduced. The first quiz was spread over the weekend but was then streamlined. In 2007 the quiz was devised by Alan Jones, who often hosts the quiz.
2010 saw the introduction of Andy Nyman's Quiz from Hell, an audiovisual horror movie quiz hosted by Andy Nyman. This quiz was last presented in 2013. The quiz is currently presented as "The FrightFest quiz".
Ticketing
Tickets are sold with the option of a weekend pass or individual tickets. 2007 saw the introduction of Day Passes. Weekend passes go on sale, typically, in July each year with individual tickets on sale a month later. Tickets are bought online, by phone or in person.
Since 2005, a growing group have congregated in person to buy tickets for the festival. The start time of this queue has been earlier each year earning it the nickname "The Sleepy Queue".
References
External links
Official website
FrightFest Originals Poster Website
Review of FrightFest 2004 at Eatmybrains.com
Kinoeye Review of FF 2002