SCENES ON SCREEN
The latest releases coming to cinemas and home media
Scenes on the big screen
Ahead of its release on the 21st of July, Universal Pictures has unveiled two featurettes for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Shot in IMAX, the thriller will explore the enigmatic J. Robert Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy, who had a key role in the Manhattan Project and the creation of the atomic bomb.
The film boasts a stacked cast including Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Benny Safdie, Michael Angarano, Josh Hartnett, Rami Malek and Kenneth Branagh and more, and is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.
FrightFest, the UK’s biggest horror and fantasy film festival, will return to Cineworld Leicester Square this August with Pigeon Shrine as its headline sponsor.
Running from Thursday the 24th of August until Monday the 28th, the festival will feature seventy different features, including 25 world premieres, 23 European premieres and 12 UK premieres.
Starting with the IMAX Screen programme. Opening the festival is Joe Lynch’s Suitable Flesh, making its European premiere. This love letter to Stuart Gordon stars Heather Graham and Barbara Crampton and follows a successful psychiatrist who ends up in a psych ward after the murder of a young, male patient.
Making its UK premiere is The Dive, from Maximillian Erlenwein, based on the 2020 Swedish thriller Breaking Surface, which sees two experienced scuba divers trapped on the seabed. Rounding out Thursday night is the world premiere of Cheat, directed by Nick Psinakis, which sees a violent supernatural being take revenge on anyone who cheats on their partner.
Friday kicks off with the European premiere of It Lives Inside, the directorial debut from Bishal Dutta and a chilling allegory for identity crises as an Indian-American teenager tackles an ancient demon. Matt Sampere’s Creeping Death has its world premiere next, where a rowdy group of teens accidentally wake up a mythical evil on Halloween.
Following their success with 2021’s Hellbender, John Adams, Zelda Adams and Toby Poser return with the European premiere of Where the Devil Roams, a dark Depression-era tale of murderous sideshow performers. New Life, directed by John Rosman is another European premiere, as a brilliant ‘fixer’ engages in a deadly cat-and-mouse game with a mysterious woman.
The day closes with two features that focus on the film industry and fame. The world premiere of Faceless After Dark, from Raymond Wood, follows a successful actress who is taken hostage by a fan dressed as the slasher from her breakout movie. That’s A Wrap, from Marcel Walz, which makes its international premiere, sees a wrap party turn bloody when the cast is killed off one by one.
A UK premiere, shown in collaboration with the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival, Monolith kicks off Saturday’s line-up. Directed by Mark Vesely and starring Evil Dead Rise star Lily Sullivan, it follows a disgraced journalist who may have stumbled across a government cover-up. Samuel Bodin’s Cobweb makes its international premiere next, starring Lizzy Caplan and Anthony Starr and inspired by The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe.
Artist Quarxx brings their latest project to FrightFest for its UK premiere. Pandemonium sees two men wake at the scene of a car cash, only to find out that they are dead and will be judged on their previous actions. The world premiere of Herd, from Stephen Pierce, sees a couple try and save their marriage with an isolated canoe trip, only to find themselves trapped when a pandemic turns people into ‘Heps’.
Xavier Gens brings his latest thriller to the festival, with Farang making its UK premiere. It follows an ex-con who is drawn back into a life of crime and forced to take revenge when his family are attacked. Closing out Saturday is Michael J. Hurst’s Transmission. This world premiere is said to be the first channel-surfing horror film, as we watch a TV screen flick between several channels to reveal one terrifying narrative.
Sunday kicks off with the UK premiere of Piper, directed by Anthony Waller and starring Elizabeth Hurley, wherein a single mother is haunted by nightmarish visions of the Piper, which administers cruel justice on the guilty. Barnaby Clay’s The Seeding makes its European premiere next, as a hiker finds themselves trapped with a mysterious woman and hunted by feral boys.
Cold Meat has its world premiere and is the feature debut of Sébastien Drouin, which sees a man trapped in a ravine in the Colorado Rockies. Can he survive the cold, or the shadowy beast stalking his car? Paris Zarcilla’s Raging Grace makes its English premiere next, following an undocumented Filipina immigrant who discovers that all is not as it seems when she secures the perfect job. At present, the closing film for Sunday is still to be announced.
The last day in the IMAX Screen starts with the international premiere of Takeshi Kushida’s My Mother’s Eyes, following the director’s success with 2020’s Woman of the Photographs. It follows a mother and daughter whose lives are changed forever by a futuristic contact lens. Founders Day, from Erik Bloomquist, has its international premiere next, following in the footsteps of Scream and Saw with a contemporary murder mystery.
Home Sweet Home: Where Evil Lives has its world premiere next. Directed by Thomas Sieben, it follows a heavily pregnant woman who discovers a secret room in the cellar of her husband’s estate. This will be followed by a special 50th anniversary screening of William Friedkin’s classic horror film, The Exorcist, hosted by Mark Kermode.
The closing film in the IMAX Screen is Jenn Wexler’s The Sacrifice Game, which will make its European Premiere. It follows two students at an elite boarding school who must spend the Christmas period trying to survive a murderous cult intent on summoning a demon.
Thursday night in Discovery Screen 1 kicks off with two world premieres. Andy Edward’s Punch sees a young woman trying to enjoy her last night in her hometown, but local bogeyman Mr Punch has other ideas. Straight after this, Lore from directing team James Bushe, Patrick Ryder and Greig Johnson, sees a group of friends on a weekend trip to Scotland tell a series of twisted stories.
A Million Days kicks off Friday’s programme. Mitch Jenkins’ science fiction feature makes its world premiere and follows an astronaut who choose whether to sabotage his life’s work for the greater good. Inspired by a true story, Ariel Vida’s Trim Season has its international premiere and sees a group from LA get more than they bargained for when they try to make some quick cash at a remote marijuana farm.
The world premiere of How to Kill Monsters, directed by Stewart Sparke, follows the sole survivor of a bloody massacre tackle disbelieving police and Lovecraftian monsters in the wake of the attack. This followed by Joe Stephenson’s modern retelling of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Starring Eddie Izzard, Doctor Jekyll will have its world premiere at the event.
Closing out Friday is the English premiere of Here for Blood, directed by Daniel Turres. Having already found success at FrightFest Glasgow, this tongue-in-cheek splatter horror film sees struggling pro-wrestler Tom O’Bannon take on a well-paying babysitting job which quickly devolves into violent chaos.
Saturday starts with a Short Film Showcase (line-up to be announced) before a special 10th-anniversary screening of James Wan’s The Conjuring. The rest of the day is dedicated to the First Blood Strand, which celebrates first-time directors from the UK and Ireland.
Chris Cronin kicks things off with the world premiere of The Moor, which sees a young woman and a grieving father go in search of the resting place of a boy murdered 25 years earlier. Isaac, directed by Tariq Sayed, has its world premiere next, with a star performance from Lucio Fulci actress Catriona MacColl. It follows grief-stricken parents who take part in an experimental trial to create GM babies.
The latest film to be produced through Northern Ireland Screen’s New Talent Focus initiative, The Glenarma Tapes makes its world premiere. Directed by Tony Devlin, this found-footage horror follows five art students and two lecturers who go missing in a remote forest. Dominic O’Neill’s Haunted Ulster Live is the final world premiere on Saturday, taking clear inspiration from Ghostwatch, it follows a veteran TV star investigating poltergeist activity in Belfast.
Three documentaries take centre stage on Sunday, starting with the European premiere of David Gregory’s Enter the Clones of Bruce Lee. After the tragic death of the martial arts superstar, a series of actors and directors tried to fill the gap with a series of cash-in titles. Sarah Appleton and Jaspar Sharp explore the world of J-horror in the world premiere of The J-Horror Virus next, exploring the origins and evolution of the genre.
Returning to the same apartment where the franchise-starting film was set, [REC]: Terror Without Pause brings together the original cast and crew, critics and fans to explore the influence and global success of [REC]. It’s directed by Diego López and has its UK premiere at the festival.
The feature debut of 18-year-old writer/director George Baron, Blue Rose has its world premiere next. Influenced by the Golden Age of Hollywood and the various mysteries in the town’s underbelly, it sees two rookie cops drawn into an alternate reality during a routine murder case. A final documentary closes out Sunday, from director and festival favourite Jake West. Mancunian Man: The Legendary Life of Cliff Twemlow is another world premiere and follows the life of bouncer, novelist, composer, singer, screenwriter, producing and actor Twemlow, who was one of the most prolific indie filmmakers in the UK.
Monday kicks off with a star performance from Ted Raimi in the world premiere of Failure!, directed by Alex Kahuam. Raimi plays James, whose crippling debt forces him to choose between financial ruin and murder. It’s followed by the short The Puppet Asylum from Otto Baxter, who has Down Syndrome, and the documentary Otto Baxter: Not a Fucking Horror Story, directed by Bruce Fletcher and Peter Beard, which follows Baxter as he explores his life through the making of his film.
Another Short Film Showcase follows this (lineup to be announced) before Second Sight Films and Icon Distribution showcase the world premiere of the 4K restoration of David Robert Mitchell’s 2014 horror film It Follows, which closes the Discovery Screen 1.
Discovery Screen 2 starts on Friday with the international premiere of Black Mold, directed by John Pata, exploring the pitfalls of urban exploration when two friends sneak into an abandoned facility haunted by a volatile threat. Following this, there’s a Short Film Showcase, with the lineup to be announced closer to the time.
The European premiere of Nicolas Tomnay’s horror noir What You Wish For, with a starring role for Nick Stahl, is next. In it, a chef with a gambling problem flees to Latin America and assumes another man’s identity. The international premiere of Poundcake is next. Directed by Onur Tukel, this slasher satire follows a hulking brute who is murdering straight white men, attacks which are constantly framed against other socio-political issues.
The world premiere Werewolf Santa, directed by Airell Anthony Hayles, closes Friday night with roles for Emily Booth and Joe Bob Briggs. A vlogger spends her time hunting for evidence of monsters and gets the scoop of a lifetime when she catches Santa getting bitten by a werewolf.
Saturday kicks off with the UK premiere of River, directed by Juna Yamaguchi, which sees the staff and guests at a Japanese inn thrown into a time loop. It’s followed by the world premiere of Spookt, from Tony Reames, in which two paranormal investigators uncover the dark secrets behind the disappearance of a young girl. Headline sponsor Pigeon Shrine will then make its presentation, with more details to be announced.
Paying homage to the UK’s long history of supernatural TV, Sean Hogan’s mini-feature To Fire You Come at Last will have its European premiere. In 17th century England, a group of men gather to carry a coffin on the long walk for burial when local folklore and superstition start to get the better of them.
Starring Hellraiser alumni Doug Bradley, Thorns has its world premiere next, directed by Douglas Schulze and following an ex-priest who discovers an intergalactic portal that has unleashed a terrifying monster. Richard Somes’ Topaak/Trigger has its UK premiere to close out Saturday night, focused on an ex-special forces operative who must confront his inner demons when he becomes engaged in urban warfare against a corrupt police squad.
Another Hellraiser star is the focus of the first world premiere on Sunday. Nick Vance, who played the Chatterer in the 1987 horror classic is the director and star of I Am Monsters!, a one-man show that explores his love for horror and his life as a young gay man in Thatcherian Britain. It’s followed by The Black Mass, directed by Devanny Pinn, which makes its international premiere and is a true crime tale about a serial killer in 1978 Florida.
Lewis Teague’s 1980 monster movie Alligator gets a retrospective screening next, followed by the European premiere of Alice Maio Mackay’s T Blockers. Mackay is an 18-year-old trans and neurodivergent woman who shot the film with a primarily queer, non-binary and trans cast. It follows a small town which is fed upon by parasites which crave hatred.
Closing out Sunday night is David Redmon’s documentary Kim’s Video, making its international premiere at the festival. It follows Yongman Kim, who amassed 55,000 rental titles while running his Manhattan video store, but when he donated his collection to a Sicilian village, the collection mysteriously disappeared.
Two films are being shown on Discovery Screen 2 on Monday. The UK premiere of Viljar Bøe’s Good Boy sees Sigrid start a relationship with Christian, whose dog Frank isn’t exactly what she expects. Then there’s the world premiere of Departing Seniors, directed by Clare Cooney, which sees a bullied teen start to have psychic visions that unveil a serial killer in their town.
Perhaps best known for creating and producing The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs, Austin Jenning brings his feature Eight Eyes to kick off proceedings in Discovery Screen 3. This international premiere follows a young couple, whose holiday through the former Yugoslavia is taken down a dark path when they meet a mysterious local.
Zach Passero’s The Weird Kidz is next, making its European premiere, which sees three 12-year-old boys hearing tales of The Night Child. After this, it’s the UK premiere of Joonas Pajunen and Max Seeck’s The Knocking, in which three grown-up siblings uncover past traumas while deciding what to do with their childhood home.
Friday night closes with the UK premiere of Yong-ki Jeong’s The Ghost Station, based on the notorious webtoon that inspired the Oksu Station ghost syndrome. It follows a public service worker who witnesses a shocking incident and must uncover the truth behind the station’s mysterious goings on.
On Saturday, there’s a closed caption screening of Samuel Bodin’s Cobweb, before the world premiere of Hostile Dimensions, directed by Graham Hughes, and following two documentary makers who traverse alternate dimensions in search of a missing graffiti artist. It’s followed by the European premiere of Minore, the first Greek film to play at Frightfest. Directed by Konstantinos Koutsoliotas, it sees a seaside town attacked by strange creatures that appear in the mist.
Saturday night closes with the UK premiere of 1982: The Greatest Geek Year Ever!, directed by Roger Lay Jr. Filled with exclusive interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, this time machine walks through the year that gave us Blade Runner, E.T., Star Trek II, The Thing, Poltergeist and more.
Sunday in Discovery Screen 3 will give ticket holders the chance to see repeats of The Weird Kidz, The Knocking, The Ghost Station and Eight Eyes, and Monday afternoon is another chance to see Hostile Dimensions and Minore before the screen closes with the world premiere of The Darkside of Society, Larry Wade Carrell’s documentary about the shocking true story that influenced Brian Yuzna’s Society.
Ahead of its nationwide release on the 30th of August, Takehiko Inoue’s sports drama The First Slam Dunk will receive its UK premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival, running from the 18th to the 23rd of August.
Produced by Toei Animation and distributed in the UK by Anime Ltd, it is based on the original Slam Dunk manga and follows the Shohoku High School basketball team as they face their rivals in a national tournament.
Scenes on the small screen
Releasing today, the BFI has put together a limited edition release of Andrew Kötting’s Gallivant, which follows the director, his 85-year-old grandmother and his seven-year-old daughter as they travel 6,000 miles around Britain’s coastline.
The film has been newly remastered to 2K and is presented alongside 11 of the director’s short films, three collaborations between Andrew and Eden Kötting, and a special short film commissioned by HOME in Manchester about Derek Jarman. The first 1,000 copies will also feature a 44-page booklet with writing from the director.
The BFI has announced the Blu-ray, BFI Player and digital releases of Dionne Edward’s Pretty Red Dress. Releasing on the 7th of August, it follows Travis, who has just been released from prison and is struggling with his family and partner. When he buys his girlfriend a new dress, secrets and desires come to the surface.
It’s presented in high definition, with an audio commentary from Edwards and producer Georgia Goggin; a Q&A with the cast and crew; behind-the-scenes featurettes about the making of the film; Edwards’ award-winning short We Love Moses and, included in the first pressing, an illustrated booklet with a director’s statement, dairy extracts from Goggin and the Sight and Sound review by Ben Walters.
Also releasing on the 7th of August is a remastered edition of Isaac Julien’s Young Soul Rebels; a ground-breaking inner-city murder mystery exploring the various subcultures of the 1970s.
The release has been newly remastered to 2K, with the director’s approval, and features a new audio commentary with Julien and the director of photography Nina Kellgren, as well as a first pressing illustrated booklet with new writing from Alex Ramon, archival pieces and more.
On the 14th of August, Second Run will release Geoffrey Smith’s 2007 documentary The English Surgeon on Blu-ray. Following the work of Henry Marsh, who pioneered new neurosurgical techniques and created a viable clinic in post-Soviet Kyiv.
Scored by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, the film follows Marsh’s triumphs and failures. It’s presented in a new high definition transfer, with new interviews with Marsh and the director, as well as a booklet with writing from film writer and critic Trevor Johnston.
On the 21st of August, Vertigo Releasing will put out Mother, May I? on digital platforms. It follows Emmett, who goes into therapy with his wife Anya only for her to take on the persona of estranged and recently deceased mother.
Mother, May I? is directed by Laurence Vannicelli and stars Holland Roden and Kyle Gallner.
Cauldron Films has announced two special edition releases for September. Up first is Giuliano Carnimeo’s 1988 Italian horror flick Rat Man, which follows a young woman who flies to a tropical island to investigate her sister’s murder.
The film has been restored to 4K from the original negative and is presented with new interviews, commentary from film historians Eugenio Ercolani, Troy Howarth, and Nathaniel Thompson and the trailer. Limited edition copies also feature new artwork from Justin Coffee, a double-sided poster and a soundtrack CD from composer Stefano Mainetti.
Another September release from Cauldron is Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs - a prime example of the pinky violence exploitation films made by Toei Studios in the 19760s. It stars Miki Sugimoto as a renegade cop who must rescue a politician’s daughter or face life in prison.
Directed by Yukio Noda, this has been restored to 4K with extras including an audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan, an exploration of the pinky violence genre by TokyoScope author Patrick Macias and an image galley. Limited editions receive a full-colour booklet with writing from Chris D. and a limited slipcover with artwork from Justin Coffee.
Radiance Films has announced its October line-up, adding to the previously announced limited edition release of Messiah of Evil, from writing/directing team Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz.
Ann Hui’s horror-comedy, Visible Secret, gets the special edition treatment. Infatuated with an enigmatic amnesiac, Peter finds himself in a world where he has one foot in the past and one in the present.
This high-definition digital transfer is presented with extras including a new conversation with the director, a visual essay from Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and an archival making-of featurette. It also features new artwork from Time Tomorrow and a limited edition booklet with new writing on the film.
Made under the influence of Hammer Horror, Italian director Riccardo Freda's The Horrible Dr Hichcock, follows the titular doctor who will go to extreme lengths to reanimate his wife’s body.
The film has been restored to 2K and is presented in three cuts: the 87-minute export version, the re-ordered 76-minute North American version; and the English dub of the complete 87-minute Italian cut. Extras include an audio commentary, new interviews, a reversible sleeve with designs based on the original posters and a limited edition booklet with new writing from critics and experts.
Finally, Radiance has announced a distribution deal with Raro Video, the first release of which will be Giorgio Ferroni’s The Night of the Devils, presented in high-definition with archival interviews, a new audio commentary and a limited edition booklet.