FrightFest Halloween Line-Up

• 1st Oct 2010

It only seems like, well a month since FrightFest was with us and they are back already for a one night Halloween extravaganza!

Yes those hard working FrightFest partners Greg Day, Alan Jones, Paul McEvoy & Ian Rattray have summoned up some bone chilling features for the Halloween all-nighter. There is a mix of new and old features in the seven titles they have selected. Here is a preview:

Confessions (UK Premiere)
106 mins Director: Tetsuya Nakashima Japan 2010

A teacher attempts to wreak a terrible revenge on the students she blames for the death of her 4 year-old daughter in Kamikaze Girls and Memories Of Matsuko director Tetsuya Nakashima’s ethereal and sinister shocker, selected as Japan’s official entry for the 2010 Oscars. Through the most twisted retaliations, a stunning operatic style, fabulous cinematic flourishes and a theme song by Radiohead, you’ll be blown away by this intensely savage masterpiece throbbing with the darkest of emotions. Shot in the cool greys and blues of a world permanently drained of colour by collective trauma, the heroes and villains of Nakashima’s universe inflict constant pain, the only sure-fire means of communicating their own suffering. An unforgettable experience.

Altitude (UK Premiere)
90 mins Director: Kaare Andrews Canada 2010

Having lost her mother in a tragic plane accident, rookie aviator Addie’s father has forbidden her to fly. Nevertheless, determined to follow in her mother’s footsteps, she defiantly makes her debut flight. But disaster strikes. A freak mechanical failure sends the tiny aircraft climbing through a storm to an impossible height, and then plummeting through a terrifying inexplicable mist. After regaining control Addie and her friends are lost in a mysterious cloudbank and are confronted with a horrifying realization – the ground beneath them has vanished and a malevolent supernatural force lurking in the clouds wants them dead. Directed by Kaare Andrews, an award-winning artist and filmmaker, who in the comic world has written and drawn Spider-Man and The X-Men and provided acclaimed covers for The Incredible Hulk.

The Silent House (UK Premiere)
79 mins Director: Gustavo Hernandez Uruguay 2010

Are you ready to face real fear in real time? Then here’s this year’s Cannes sensation that’s a technical, visual and atmospheric achievement unlike any other in horror history. For director Gustavo Hernandez shot his haunted house shocker on a professional Canon DSLR camera in one full, non-stop, unedited take to put you in the picture like never before. Laura and her father arrive at a remote cottage on the eve before their contract to renovate it begins. Dank, dark, gloomy and bereft of electricity – forcing the pair to rely on battery lanterns and candles – they sit and wait alone while the house owner heads out for food. He leaves them with only one instruction: don’t go upstairs. When her father does just that to investigate some strange noises, Laura’s stark staring fright night commences… Strong, compelling and mesmerising, The Silent House is a remarkable exercise in spine-chilling terror.

Midnight – Choose (World Premiere)
90 mins. USA 2010

Move over Jigsaw – Scarlip is the new games master on the shock block. For even though you choose, you lose and you must pick till it makes you sick! A girl awakes to find her parents tied and gagged in their bedroom. She is told: “Do what I say or die”. Then the deformed maniac Scarlip turns over an hour glass filled with his own blood and issues an order: “I’m going to kill your mother or your father. You have sixty seconds to decide which one”. Both will be horrifically slaughtered if she doesn’t choose – and this unnatural selection scenario is about to be played over and over again. Only Fiona (rising star Katheryn Winnick) knows the deep-rooted answer to the Scarlip conundrum. For the dark past catches up with everyone sooner or later.

The Reef (Preview)
89 mins Director: Andrew Traucki Australia 2010

There’s grief on The Reef in the scariest shark chiller since Jaws. For four old friends it seemed like a dream come true – a week cruising the world’s most beautiful coral reef on their own yacht. But when the vessel capsizes, leaving them stranded on the over-turned hull, that dream turns into a nightmare. What should they do? Stay with the damaged boat that could sink at any moment? Or take their chances and swim for land they hope lies 12 miles away? Deciding on the latter option they take to the open water – only to learn too late they are being stalked by a deadly great white shark. Taking a high place in the sub-genre of wilderness survival horrors, Black Water director Andrew Traucki’s true-life shocker puts ordinary people in an all-too believable extreme situation and milks the suspense to screaming point when small actions become epic tragedies.

The FrightFest Retro Shocker
Cannibal Girls
84 mins Director: Ivan Reitman Canada 1973

They do exactly what you think they do! Before he produced David Cronenberg’s classic chillers Shivers and The Brood and helmed Meatballs and Ghostbusters, Ivan Reitman directed this low-budget, mainly improvised, purposely trashy and surreal shocker with Canadian Second City TV cult comedians including future stars Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin. When a young couple’s car breaks down in the remote town of Farnhamville, they learn the local legend of the Cannibal Girls and visit the diner where they supposedly lived. But why are they the only customers and who are the strange waitresses serving at table for their host, the Reverend Alex St. John? For the first time since its cinema release in 1973, FrightFest presents live and re-mastered ‘The Picture with the WARNING BELL! When it rings – close your eyes if you’re squeamish!’ in all its gruesome gimmick and gag glory.

Rare Exports:A Christmas Tale(Preview)
85 mins Director: Jalmari Helander Finland 2010

From Finnish filmmaker Jalmari Helander comes the true story behind the legend of Santa Claus, a horned ancient demon known as the Yule Goat who terrorized the children of Lapland by spanking them to hell and back. When an American drilling team unearth Saint Nick’s tomb in the Korvatunturi Mountains, it’s up to a canny local child and a trio of reindeer herders to prevent the festive evil from being released to cause havoc upon the world. Or could Santa’s Little Helpers be the key to reviving the deprived area’s economic fortunes? In the fun fantasy horror tradition of Gremlins, Helander’s cult movie is a playful, heart-felt black comedy filled with unnerving images and visual treats using the frozen expanse of northern Scandinavia to paint stunning otherworldly tableaux. Slay bells ring – are you listening?

Tickets cost £50 and go on sale on Saturday October 2. To book call 08 714 714 714 or go online to: www.empirecinemas.co.uk. For full programme & timetable log onto www.frightfest.co.uk.

The event takes place this year at the Empire Cinema 2, Leicester Square on Saturday 30th October, 2010