On Saturday, November 3rd, Arrow Video FrightFest will unleash an intoxicating six-pack of horror, sci-fi and fantasy for their popular Halloween all-day event, now at the Cineworld Leicester Square. The 12-hour monstrous marathon embraces four continents and includes two world premieres and four UK premieres.
The day kicks off with Julian Richards’ latest chiller Reborn, a Carrie for the Z Generation, starring the First Lady of FrightFest, Barbara Crampton, and featuring a stunning performance from rising newcomer Kayleigh Gilbert. Richards, famous for The Last Horror Movie, is with us for this World Premiere screening.
Next up is the UK premiere of Parallel, director Isaac Ezban’s first English language horror fantasy after The Incident and The Similars. Be prepared for an ingenious killer alternate-universe concept, pitch-black thrills and a top-notch cast including Brit-star Georgia King.
You’ll definitely keep your eyes wide open for the UK premiere of Mara, Clive Tonge’s intensely tormenting psychological thriller about Sleep Paralysis, This demonic jolter stars the dazzling Olga Kurylenko, with sterling support from Craig Conway. Olga is planning to attend.
Technology has no boundaries in our next presentation – the world premiere of Paul Hyett’s sinister and unsettling Peripheral. Hyett’s latest sci-fi horror fantasy boasts an astonishing performance from Hannah Arterton and both Hannah and Paul will be present, alongside co-star Elliot James Langridge.
This is followed by the UK Premiere of Swedish blockbuster The Unthinkable, a nail-biting disaster epic reminiscent of The Mist and the Cloverfield franchise, with jaw-dropping action sequences, a gripping plot and punchy performances that will leave you breathless.
Last but definitely not least, is the UK premiere of The Onetti Brothers’ Abrakadabra, the final installment of their fantastic giallo trilogy after Sonno Profondo and Francesca. This is definitely their wackiest, wildest and most twisted thriller yet, complete with film stock grain, a trippy Suspiria colour scheme and black-gloved maniacs!
Plus, they’ll be showing two fantastic shorts, the London premiere of comedy horror Deep Clean, starring Paul Kaye, and the world premiere of Zombie romance The Predicament, And of course there will be intros, Q & A’s, give-aways and a few special surprises…
Alan Jones, FrightFest co-director, said today: “After a hugely successful Arrow Video FrightFest at the Cineworld Empire Leicester Square this August, we are thrilled to be returning to such an auspicious venue for our annual sort-of-Halloween, all-screaming, all-entrancing Shriek Saturday. Team FrightFest searched long and hard for the most trenchant, traumatizing and trend-setting movies, which we hope you’ll remember for a long time to come”.
Day passes (£45) and single tickets (£15) go on sale at noon on Saturday October 6th. To book: http://www.frightfest.co.uk/tickets.html (Online booking only)
FULL LINE UP:
REBORN (World Premiere)
Director: Julian Richards. Cast: Kayleigh Gilbert, Barbara Crampton, Michael Paré, Rae Dawn Chong, Chaz Bono. USA 2018. 80 mins.
Synopsis: A stillborn baby girl is abducted by a deranged morgue attendant and brought back to life by electro-kinetic power. On her sixteenth birthday, traumatized Tess escapes captivity and sets out to find her birth mother leaving a trail of horrifying violent destruction and chilling chaos behind her.
PARALLEL (UK Premiere)
Director: Isaac Ezban. Cast: Kathleen Quinlan, Carrie Genzel, Georgia King, Martin Wallström, Ami Ameen. Canada 2018. 104 mins.
Synopsis: Four friends living and working together in Seattle developing apps discover a mirror portal to parallel universes in their house. Faced with an impossible time crunch to improve a new parking app, they use the portal to get the job done. But while each alternate universe looks the same, there are small differences as they learn to their cost when each tries to take advantage of the time shifts.
PLUS….DEEP CLEAN (London Premiere)
Director: Matt Harlock Cast: Paul Kaye, Tony Way, Joshua Glenister. UK 2018. 15 mins.
A troubled kid forced into boring work experience on his Uncle’s road crew discovers it is hiding an amazing secret…
MARA (UK Premiere)
Director: Clive Tonge. Cast: Olga Kurylenko, Craig Conway, Javier Botet, Rosie Fellner, Lance E. Nichols. UK 2018. 98 mins.
Synopsis: Sleep Paralysis: a comatose state somewhere between sleeping and being awake and experiencing horrific nightmares while unable to move a single muscle. Criminal psychologist Kate Fuller is assigned to the murder of a man who has seemingly been strangled in his sleep by his wife and the only witness is their eight-year-old daughter, Sophie. As Kate digs into the mystery of an ancient demon which kills people as they lie in slumber, she experiences the same petrifying symptoms as all previous victims and spirals through a chilling nightmare to save herself and Sophie before she dares fall asleep again.
PERIPHERAL (World Premiere)
Director: Paul Hyett. Cast: Hannah Arterton, Tom Conti, Elliot James Langridge, Rosie Day, Jenny Seagrove. UK 2018. 89 mins.
Synopsis: Bobbi Johnson (Hannah Arterton), a young literary sensation, is struggling with her difficult second novel. While dealing with a crazed stalker and a junkie ex-boyfriend, Bobbi’s publisher convinces her to use new smart editing software. But soon the A.I. programme starts manipulating her work to suit its nefarious ends leaving Bobbi to suspect she’s being controlled by sinister forces. Fighting possible hallucinations as her deadline looms, is she just a hapless cog in a monstrous machine?
THE UNTHINKABLE (UK Premiere)
Directors: The Crazy Pictures Collective – Hannes Krantz, Albin Pettersson, Olle Tholén, Rasmus Råsmark, Victor Danell. Cast: Christoffer Nordenrot, Lisa Henni, Jesper Barkselius, Pia Halvorsen, Magnus Sundberg. Sweden 2018. 129 mins.
Synopsis: Midsummer in Sweden and the country wakes up to a high security warning. The TV, Internet and telephone signals are all down and a series of unexplained events take place without anyone knowing their source. As the shock and disorientation sets in, celebrated musician Alex is forced back to his hometown where he must reconcile with his estranged father and team up with his first love, Anna, in their struggle to survive the chemical rain and ominous military attacks.
ABRAKADABRA (UK Premiere)
Directors: Luciano Onetti, Nicolás Onetti. Cast: Germán Baudino, María Eugenia Rigón, Clara Kovacic, Ivi Brickell, Raúl Gederlini. Argentina/New Zealand 2018. 70 mins
Synopsis: Dante the Great, a prestigious magician accidentally dies during one of his riskiest illusions. Thirty-five years later his protégé son Lorenzo presents a magic show in one of the most important theatres in the city. But a series of violent murders begins to take place that seems to incriminate him. Will Lorenzo discover who and why before it is too late?
PLUS….THE PREDICAMENT (World Premiere)
Director: Steve Baker. Cast: Coben Storer Goto, Carlee Baker, Harley Neville. New Zealand 2017. 15 min.
Three survivors are trapped in a car surrounded by zombies and one of them has leveraged his supposed inexperience to lose the keys on purpose, in order to win the heart of his unrequited love.