Film News

FrightFest 2014 Main Screen Line Up

• 27th Jun 2014

FrightFest 2014 is soon to be upon us!  Tickets go on sale Sat 28th – and as we type this we already understand the sleepy queue on Leicseter Square, London is in double numbers already.

But this is the news everyone has been waiting for – The line up! So without further ado – here is the MAIN SCREEn programme (Discovery screens to post on a separate post!)

PROGRAMME – MAIN SCREENS (5, 6, 7)

THURSDAY AUG 21

OPENING NIGHT FILM – THE GUEST (UK Premiere)

(Times: 18:20 across all three screens)

Director: Adam Wingard. Cast: Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Brendan Meyer, Sheila Kelley, Leland Orser. USA 2014. 99 mins.

A brilliant homage to 1980s action flicks and slasher horror given a sharp twist by YOU’RE NEXT director Adam Wingard, it showcases ex-‘Downtown Abbey’ actor Dan Stevens in an inspired star-making turn. He plays David, a soldier arriving on the bereaved Peterson family’s doorstep, claiming to be the best friend of their son who died in action. Inviting him to stay, at first the charming veteran seems the perfect guest, but then the random killing starts. What’s going on and can the family stop the cold-blooded lethal weapon in their home committing even worse atrocities?

HOUSEBOUND (UK Premiere)

(Times: 21:00, 21:15 & 21:30)

Director: Gerard Johnstone. Cast: Morgana O’Reilly, Rima Te Wiata, Glen-Paul Waru, Cameron Rhodes, Millen Baird. New Zealand 2014. 109 mins.

Kylie Bucknell is forced to return to the family house when the court places her on home detention. Her punishment for a botched ATM raid is made all the more intolerable by the fact she has to live with her over-bearing motor-mouth mother Miriam who’s convinced the house is haunted. But after dismissing Miriam’s superstitions, rebellious Kylie too starts hearing unsettling whispers in the dark, creaking floorboards and strange bumps in the night. Find out in this TALES OF THE CRYPT-style Kiwi comedy chiller sporting a great sense of humour, a very creepy atmosphere and a good deal of splatter mayhem.

ZOMBEAVERS (UK Premiere)

(Times: 23:30, 23:40 & 23:50)

Director: Jordan Rubin. Cast: Chad Anderson, Lexi Atkins, Brent Briscoe, Bill Burr, Cortney Palm. US 2014. 80 mins.

CABIN FEVER goes AMERICAN PIE on a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD as college kids stay at a riverside cabin in the woods for a weekend of debauchery. Little do they know they are right next door to a lodge of beavers mutated by toxic waste into rabid zombie critters. Let the fur fly and the blood flow as sexual shenanigans get hampered by the rampaging rodents on a flesh-eating frenzy. A massive Tribeca hit, this fast, funny and smart high-concept B-movie revels in its horror parody styling, hilarious gore, cute practical creature special effects and self-aware performances.

FRIDAY  AUG 24

SHOCKWAVE DARKSIDE 3D (World Premiere)

(Times: 10:30, 13:00 & 15:45)

Director: Jay Weisman. Cast: Bill Sage, Mei Melançon, Sonequa Martin-Green, Rich Ceraulo, Alexander Cendese. USA 2014. 92 mins.

From THE BANSHEE CHAPTER producers comes a space shocker with gravity. The nano-plague that poisoned Earth’s water supply has reached its 60-year critical mass. The Unlight enemy have launched from Earth and are amassing on the south-west sector of the darkside of the moon. It will be the last Great War and lunar troops are sent into battle for the precious resource. However one squad is shot down and the five surviving soldiers find themselves stranded behind enemy lines, with only 36 hours of oxygen left. As their numbers dwindle, they make an amazing discovery about Earth’s satellite that just might save their lives.

THE GREEN INFERNO (English Premiere)

(Times: 10:45, 13:30 & 15:15)

Director: Eli Roth. Cast: Lorenza Izzo, Ariel Levy, Daryl Sabara, Kirby Bliss Blanton, Sky Ferreira. USA 2013. 103 mins.

From genre guru Eli Roth comes a post-modern celebration of the notoriously lurid and savage Italian cannibal genre as popularised by director Ruggero Deodato, his HOSTEL 2 star. Roth’s long-awaited return to the director’s chair after this six-year absence finds politically attuned NYC university student Justine roped into a campus activist group’s idealistic plan to travel to Peru to halt the annihilation of an endangered tribe by a corrupt construction company. But after a horrific plane crash that leaves half the radicals dead, the survivors are caged by the very tribe they were trying to help. Worse, the mountain clan are cannibals and they are ravenous.

LATE PHASES (UK Premiere)

(Times: 11:00, 12:45 & 15:30)

Director: Adrian Garcia Bogliano. Cast: Nick Damici, Ethan Embry, Tom Noonan, Tina Louise, Rutanya Alda. USA 2014. 97 mins.

From the director of PENUMBRA, COLD SWEAT and HERE COMES THE DEVIL, a freshly horrifying take on the werewolf genre. Crescent Bay is not the best place to live out one’s golden years. Once an idyllic retirement community, the gated hamlet has been beset by mysterious deadly attacks. So when blind, cranky war veteran Ambrose McKinley (the superb Nick Damici) moves in, the residents are put off by his abrasive personality, But it’s his grizzled take-no-prisoners attitude that’s needed to survive the sinister secret the secluded tight-knit neighbourhood is harbouring.

DEAD SNOW 2: RED VS. DEAD (UK Premiere)

(Times: 18:00, 20:50 & 23:30)

Director: Tommy Wirkola. Cast: Stig Frode Henriksen, Martin Starr, Vegar Hoel, Orjan Gamst, Amrita Acharia. Norway 2014. 105 mins.

Director Tommy Wirkola improves on his Nazi zombie original in clever ways that do not betray the core conceit of witty non-stop action, heartfelt emotion and crowd-pleasing carnage. Sole survivor Martin crashes his getaway car in the mountains after fighting SS officer Herzog for control of the vehicle. Waking up in hospital Martin discovers he’s blamed by police for all his friends’ murders and he’s had Herzog’s severed arm attached to his shoulder by mistake and he now has the zombie creating power. Something whoch will come in use when Herzog’s dead army advance towards the small town of Tarvik.

THE LAST SHOWING (European Premiere)

(Times: 18:15, 21:00 & 23:05)

Director: Phil Hawkins. Cast: Robert Englund, Finn Jones, Emily Berrington, Keith Allen, Chris Geere. UK 2014. 85 mins.

Martin and Allie are on a date at their local multiplex, watching the midnight screening of Wes Craven’s THE HILLS HAVE EYES PART II. The movie is in full swing when suddenly the screen goes black and their nightmare begins. For veteran cinema projectionist Stuart Lloyd has other nerve-jangling ideas. Fired that very afternoon from his beloved job, Stuart is determined to shoot his own horror film with the unfortunate Martin and Allie its star attractions. From award-winning commercials director Phil Hawkins and starring horror icon Robert Englund, get ready for a midnight movie massacre.

FILM TO BE ANNOUNCED

(Times: 18:30, 20:35 & 23:15)

SATURDAY AUG 23

ALL CHEERLEADERS DIE (Preview)

(Times: 10:30, 12:45 & 15:45)

Directors: Lucky McKee & Chris Sivertson. Cast: Caitlin Stasey, Sianoa Smit-McPhee, Brooke Butler, Tom Williamson, Chris Petrovski. USA 2013. 90 mins. 

Lucky McKee (THE WOMAN, MAY) and Chris Sivertson (THE LOST, I KNOW WHO KILLED ME) join forces to create a wickedly ghoulish subversion of the sex comedy high school movie. Tragedy has rocked Blackfoot High. Students are mourning the shocking death of Lexi, captain of the cheerleading squad. Enter Maddy who wants to make the cheerleading squad pay for their bullying and wanton ways and her weird loner neighbour Leena who claims to practise the Dark Arts. Before you know it a sect of murderous succubi are born. Let the supernatural vengeance begin…

STARRY EYES (UK Premiere)

(Times: 10:45, 13:30 & 15:45)

Directors: Kevin Kolsch, Dennis Widmyer. Cast: Alex Essoe, Noah Segan, Pat Healy, Amanda Fuller, Shane Coffey. USA 2014. 96 mins.

Determined to make it in Hollywood, reluctant waitress Sarah Walker (Alex Essoe) goes on countless casting calls in hope of getting her big break. After a series of weird auditions at the mysterious Astraeus Pictures, she lands her dream part. But with this opportunity comes bizarre ramifications that will transform her both mentally and physically into something beautiful… and altogether more terrifying. From Travis Stevens, producer of CHEAP THRILLS, an occult tale of ambition, possession and the true cost of fame and fortune.

THE HARVEST (UK Premiere)

(Times: 11:00,13:20 & 15:35)

Director: John McNaughton. Cast: Michael Shannon, Samantha Morton, Peter Fonda, Natasha Calis, Charlie Tahan. US 2013. 98 mins.

HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER director John McNaughton makes a welcome return to the genre with this eerie psychological thriller featuring two dynamite performances from Samantha Morton and Michael Shannon, as married medical professionals Katharine and Richard who keep their sick son Andy isolated from the outside world in their remote countryside house. When young Maryann moves in with her grandparents close by, her attempts to befriend Andy are met with vehement resistance by his over protective parents. Until one day she is forced to hide in the house and discovers the basement…

SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR (Special Preview)

(Times: 18:15, 21:00 & 23:15)

Directors: Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez. Cast: Jessica Alba, Mickey Rourke, Eva Green, Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson. US 2014. ? mins.

Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller reunite to bring the latter’s visually stunning graphic novels back to the screen with a stellar cast. Weaving together classic stories with some new tales, the town’s most hard-boiled citizens cross paths with its more notorious inhabitants. Dwight McCarthy (Josh Brolin) is summoned by his ex-lover Ava Lord (Eva Green) for help to escape her abusive husband, but soon learns her true intentions are far more sinister than they appear. Also starring Mickey Rourke, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jessica Alba and Bruce Willis. It’s booze, broads and bullets business as usual in smoky SIN CITY!

LIFE AFTER BETH (London Preview)

(Times: 18:45, 20:55 & 23:30)

Director: Jeff Baena. Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Dane DeHaan, John C. Reilly, Anna Kendrick, Molly Shannon. USA 2014. 90 mins.

Called one of the most emotionally credible zom-rom-coms since SHAUN OF THE DEAD after its Sundance Film Festival premiere earlier this year, director Jeff Baena’s stunning debut feature is a delightfully demented screwball slapstick shocker. Zach is devastated by the unexpected death of his girlfriend Beth. But when she miraculously comes back to life, he’s overjoyed.. However the newly returned Beth isn’t quite how he remembered her, especially her signature rotting corpse aroma and habit of chewing up his car upholstery, and before long Zach’s whole world takes a turn for the worse.

THE BABADOOK (UK Premiere)

(Times: 18:30, 20:40 & 23:00)

Director: Jennifer Kent. Cast: Essie Davis, Daniel Henshall, Noah Wiseman, Hayley McElhinny, Benjamin Winspear.  Australia 2014. 92 mins. 

REPULSION meets ‘The Gruffalo’ in writer/director Jennifer Kent’s Sundance acclaimed debut feature as the unresolved traumas of a conflicted mother and disturbed son manifest as a malevolent entity threatening to consume them both. Amelia (Essie Davis) and her son, Sam (Daniel Henshall), have had a raw deal in life. Her husband Oskar died six years prior while driving her to the hospital pregnant with Sam, and his birthday is a particularly painful reminder. But now things worsen dramatically. Samuel’s been having nightmares, and when a mysterious pop-up children’s book appears on his shelf titled ‘Mister Babadook’, he is finally able to put a name to the terror.

SUNDAY AUG 24

AMONG THE LIVING (UK Premiere)

(Times: 10:45, 13:15 & 15:40)

Directors: Julien Maury & Alexandre Bustillo. Cast: Beatrice Dalle, Théo Fernandez, Damien Ferdel, Zacharie Chasseriaud, Fabien Jegoudez. France 2014. 90 mins.

First they gave us INSIDE, next came LIVID, and now French fear directors Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo offer their most intense nightmare to date. It’s the last day of school before summer vacation and 14 year-old troublemakers Victor, Tom and Dan leave early to explore the countryside and commit some petty crimes. Ending up on the scenery-strewn back-lot of an abandoned Film Studio, they witness a masked figure dragging a kidnapped woman into an underground lair. Back home no one believes their crazy story. But the mysterious maniac has followed them and plans to silence them forever

FAULTS (EUROPEAN PREMIRE)

(Times: 11:00, 13:30 & 15:30)

Director: Riley Stearns. Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Leland Orser, Beth Grant,

Chris Ellis, Jon Gries, Lance Reddick. USA/ 2014. 89 mins

A subversive, psychologically disturbing back comedy marking the feature film debut of director/writer Riley Stearns, who cleverly employs the considerable talents of his wife Mary Elizabeth Winstead to play Claire – a young woman who appears to be under the grip of a mysterious new cult called ‘Faults’. After a divorce that has left him without any money, cult expert Ansel (Leland Orser) is on tour giving seminars about brainwashing. Approached by Claire’s distraught parents, he agrees to help them, and their daughter’s de-programming seems to run smoothly enough. However, the more Ansel spends with Claire, the more the question is raised, just who is being deprogrammed?

OPEN WINDOWS (UK Premiere)

(Times: 11:15, 12:45 & 15:15)

Director: Nacho Vigalondo. Cast: Elijah Wood, Neil Maskell, Sasha Grey, Ivan Gonzalez, Nacho Vigalondo. US 2014. 100 mins

Computer chills, tablet terror and smartphone shocks are the emerging genre trends as multi-screen technology moves swiftly into even more unknown and baffling areas. Leader of the pack in presenting multi-platform storytelling as dizzying style is Nacho Vigalondo’s quite brilliant OPEN WINDOWS, in which Elijah Wood plays Nick Chambers, the webmaster of a site devoted to movie star Jill Goddard (Sasha Grey) in FantasticFest Austin to promote her new fantasy as winner of an online competition. Unfortunately his prize is a hoax; it’s all an elaborate scam set up by mysterious superfan.

HOME (UK Premiere)

(Times: 18:10, 20:45 & 23:15)

Director: Nicolas McCarthy. Cast: Catalina Sandino Moreno, Naya Rivera, Ashley Ricklands, Ava Acres, Wyatt Russell. US 2014. 93 mins.

From Nicholas McCarthy, director of THE PACT. comes a starkly suspenseful, grippingly atmospheric demonic horror. When real estate agent Leigh goes to asses a new property in the highly sought after Greenville area, little does she know the appalling impact it will have on her entire existence. For the house was once connected to a series of mysterious incidents ending in teenage tearaway Hannah White committing suicide unwittingly welcomed the devil into her life The problem is, Satan is still looking for a new home in this twisting tale of nerve-jangling and bone-shivering terror.

THE SAMURAI (UK Premiere)

(Times: 18:20, 20:30 & 23:00)

Director: Till Kleinert. Cast: Michel Diercks, Pit Bukowski, Uwe Preuss, Kaja Blachnik, Christopher Kane. Germany 2014. 80 mins.

A unique delve into German small-town mores and sexual funny games, THE SAMURAI is the fantasy festival discovery of 2014. A package arrives at the home of young police officer Jakob (a remarkable Michel Diercks) addressed to Lone Wolf. The phone rings, it’s a guy asking if his package is there, and could it be delivered immediately. Intrigued, Jakob goes to a house in the woods and finds a man wearing a dress waiting for the ancient samurai sword hidden in the parcel so he can cut a bloody swathe through the local village population. Who is this debauched maniac and what does he want? Pit Bukowski’s incredible performance as the wild-eyed psycho a revelation.

STAGE FRIGHT (UK Premiere)

(Times: 18:30, 21:00 & 22:45)

Director: Jerome Sable. Cast: Minnie Driver, Meat Loaf, Allie MacDonald, Douglas Smith, Kent Nolan. Canada 2014. 89 mins.

If you loved director Jerome Sable’s singalonga short THE LEGEND OF BEAVER DAM, you’ll adore this hilarious musical combo of FRIDAY THE 13th and ‘Glee’ as Kylie Swanson (Minnie Driver) is brutally murdered after her star-making performance in the Broadway-bound musical ‘The Haunting of the Opera’. Ten years later, her producer Roger McCall (Meat Loaf) is running a musical theatre summer camp where Kylie’s twins, Camilla and Buddy help out. When Roger decides to revive ‘The Haunting of the Opera’ kabuki style for the end of term entertainment, the masked Opera Ghost returns…

MONDAY AUG 25

X MOOR (World Premiere)

(Times: 10:45, 13:15 & 16:00)

Director: Luke Hyams. Cast: Melia Kreiling, Nick Blood, Mark Bonnar, Olivia Popica, James Lecky. UK 2014. 76 mins.

With their sights set on a £25,000 reward promoted by a local newspaper, American documentarians Georgia and Matt head to Exmoor in North Devon to film the fabled beast supposedly slinking through the remote terrain. Setting up a forest camp with an old acquaintance, the trio fix cameras to the trees and rocks, linked back to a computer nerve centre where nothing should go unnoticed. But then they discover some putrefying body parts all neatly tied up and before long they realise they are in the lair of a beast right enough, but certainly not one of the four-legged variety.

NYMPH (UK Premiere)

(Times: 11:00, 13:30 & 15:30)

Director: Milan Todorovic. Cast: Kristina Klebe, Franco Nero, Natalie Burn, Dragan Micanovic, Miodrag Krstovic. Serbia 2014. 90 mins.

This is a Serbian film from celebrated ZONE OF THE DEAD director Milan Todorovic. Featuring Franco Nero, the original Italian DJANGO, as Niko, a fisherman with a haunted past and HALLOWEEN and PROXY star Kristine Klebe, who is on vacation in Montenegro with a group of friends. They decide to visit an abandoned military fortress on the remote island of Mamula. But what they discover there goes beyond all frightening insanity. For it’s the home of a Siren, a mermaid creature of Greek myth, lying in wait to lure men to their death with her enchanting beauty, entrancing song and razor-sharp teeth.

ALLELUIA (UK Premiere)

(Times: 11:15, 13:00 & 15:45)

Director: Fabrice du Welz. Cast: Lola Duenas, Laurent Lucas, Anne-Marie Loop, Edit Lemerdy, Helena Noguerra. Belgium/France 2014. 92 mins.

Fabrice du Welz makes an arresting return to the genre with the second opus in his Ardennes trilogy, which began with CALVAIRE. Deeply rooted in the hostile Belgian landscapes of his childhood, this serial killer chiller is a quirky take on the real exploits of Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez (dubbed ‘The Honeymoon Killers’). Crazy crook Michel (Laurent Lucas) meets his murderous match when he hooks up with damaged single mother Gloria. (Lola Duenas). Duenas shines as needy Gloria who will stop at nothing to get what she wants and there is an equally stunning turn from CALVAIRE’s Laurent Lucas.

I SURVIVED A ZOMBIE HOLOCAUST (UK Premiere)

(Times: 18:00, 18:15, 18:30)

Director: Guy Pigden. Cast: Harley Neville, Jocelyn Christian, Ben Baker, Mike Edward, Andrew Laing. New Zealand 2014. 100 mins.

From the land of early Peter Jackson comes another Braindead movie in bad taste. It’s the third day of shooting the low budget horror ‘Tonight They Come’ on location in the wilds of New Zealand and a new runner joins the set – wannabe screenwriter Wesley Pennington, who falls head over heels for Susan, the set caterer. But something nasty has entered the local water supply and suddenly the zombie extras start acting like genuine members of the living dead, gore stunts looks even more authentic and actual severed limbs fly. Reel life turns real as Wesley attempts to save the day while ensuring his latest script will get made.

CLOSING NIGHT FILM  – THE SIGNAL (UK Premiere)

(Times: 21:00 across all three screens)

Director: William Eubank. Cast: Brenton Thwaites, Olivia Cooke, Laurence Fishburne, Beau Knapp, Lin Shaye. US 2014. 96 mins.

Get ready for the cult movie of the year with this inventive and stylish sci-fi fantasy head-trip, ensuring director William Eubank’s step up to stardom. Nic and Jonah are MIT students engaged in an online altercation with the mysterious hacker ‘Nomad’. They get a lead on Nomad’s whereabouts and, with Nic’s girlfriend Haley, investigate, an abandoned desert shack. Suddenly everyone loses consciousness, and Nic awakes in what seems a secret hospital, What’s going on? Where are Jonah and Haley? And what is this ‘Extraterrestrial Biological Entity’ he’s being told about?

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