SCENES ON SCREEN
The latest releases coming to cinemas and home media
Scenes on the big screen
This year’s FrightFest, running from the 24th to the 28th of August, will once again include a short film showcase, highlighting the international talent in the horror community.
It’s sponsored by CenterFrame, a global community of filmmakers, which is also presenting The Filmmaker Spotlight and will be hosted by CEO and co-founder Bernhard Pucher.
He said: “It’s such a thrill to present the Pigeon Shrine FrightFest short film showcases, which highlights some of 2023’s best horror and fantasy shorts. Getting films to the big screen is what CenterFrame is all about, so we are equally proud to be part of FrightFest’s feature programme, where we have the CenterFrame Filmmaker Spotlight, showing four films created and chosen by our community."
Starting on Friday the 25th in Discovery Screen 3, the shorts programme kicks off with the international premiere of The Critic, directed by Bruce Micallef Eynaud, and produced in Malta. It follows a film critic attending a short film festival, unaware of a nightmarish presence.
It’s followed by two undead shorts Here to Stay, directed by Christopher Sheffield, in which a man bails on a funeral only to come up against the undead, and We Forgot About the Zombies, directed by Chris McInroy, where two friends think they have found a cure for zombie bites.
Chile goes under the spotlight next, with Jordon Bahat’s Café Cicatriz, about a man craving human connection, which is followed by Paul Coleman’s skeletal love story Bone. Imported from New Zealand is Chaz Harris’ You’re Out, in which a closeted gay man is tormented by a masked assailant.
Canadian duo Fugitives brings Old Flames, focused on an addict battling their demons, while Joshua Giuliano’s Tiny Thing is a 16-minute look at how it’s the little things that really mess with us. Spanish director Joesma Roig will showcase Safe, following a US family haunted by bumps in the night and Rosie Geozalian directs Doug Bradley in Mud on My Shoes, a stop-motion adaption of a childhood nightmare.
Rounding out the first day is James Ross’ After Hours, which sees a stealthy predator attack a department store, and Kelsey Bollig’s Kickstart My Heart, following a young woman traversing three stages of hell after a car crash.
Saturday’s showcase takes place on Discovery Screen 1 and focuses on UK and Irish talent, starting with The Lure, directed by Tony Hipwell, in which a fisherman discovers he is not alone. In Rain, Rain, Go Away, directed by Sebastiano Pupino, a woman receives a mysterious call from a long-lost friend, while in The Devil’s Footprints, directed by Dean Puckett, the bodies of a young couple are discovered in Dartmoor.
Dylan Coburn’s Fear Incarnate sees a teenage boy muster up his courage to take on the manifestation of his greatest fear, while Dead Skin, directed by Ciara Lilly O'Rourke, sees a teenage girl struggling with a neverending itch, and Shaun Dunne’s Red Lake features two sisters dealing with grief and resentment in the wake of their father’s death.
Chef Gustav, directed by Luke Frangeskou, sees a proud chef in battle with a mischievous cat, followed by Will Dennies’ Fuse, which pits an electrician against a ghostly presence. Knock, Knock, (Knock) is directed by Brendan Cleaves and sees a man who finds a blood-covered door in his living room.
Closing out Saturday’s programme is Stella Scott’s Virtuoso, which sees Josephine set a curse on herself to self-sabotage an upcoming auction, followed by Stephen Grave’s The Dead of Winter, in which an affluent man deals with a vengeful spirit (or perhaps his own conscious) after leaving a homeless man to die.
On Monday, the shorts programme returns to Discovery Screen 1, kicking off with Inhabit, by Duncan Falconer, in which a man discovers something in the loft of his new home. Hack, directed by Ben Mallaby, looks at the ultimate life hack, followed by The New Girl, directed by Savannah Ayoade-Greaves, where a young girl joins a mysterious after-school club.
Murder, directed by Graham Jock Robertson, sees the attempts to help a visitor put our lead into a precarious position, while Joseph Simmons’ Vestige follows a young boy who discovers a strange fossil on a Yorkshire beach. My Dreams Have Been Dark of Late, directed by Joshua Warren, sees a knight at the mercy of his armour.
John Ferrer’s Trial 22 sees a group of people trapped in an underground experiment, while Jamie Yuan’s Pablo, Honey! sees a woman struggling to resolve her upcoming eviction and issues with the poltergeist she is dating. Up next is Leech, directed by George Coley, in which an elderly blind woman is unaware of a stranger living in her house.
Pareidolia gets its world premiere next, directed by Aaron Truss, which sees a university professor become convinced that she is being stalked by an entity. Finally, rounding out the shorts programme is Nosepicker, directed by Ian Mantgani, about an eight-year-old with a nasty habit.
In addition to the Short Film Programme, the four winning entries from CenterFrame’s Filmmaker Spotlight will be shown ahead of feature films in Discovery Screen 1. These are Charlie Schwan’s Death Snoth, in which a man struggles to deal with excessive mucus; Dani Guzman’s Posit, where a man finds a mysterious post-it note during a power outage; David Yorke’s Foresight, which follows Tessa, who finds a wooden box containing a life-changing item; and finally, Just Us, directed by Alexander Osman, which takes on OCD suffering.
For the full FrightFest listings, click the link below:
Coming to cinemas on the 1st of September from Bingo Films, Mercy Falls is a survival horror starring Lauren Lyle, Layla Kirk, James Watterson, Joe Rising and Eoin Sweeney and directed by Ryan Hendrick.
It follows a group of friends who head into the Scottish Highlands in search of a long-lost family cabin. However, a fatal accident leads to suspicion, betrayal and murder; made worse by the appearance of a mysterious hitchhiker.
Shane Meadows’ revenge drama, Dead Man’s Shoes, will return to cinemas on the 15th of September, courtesy of Blue Finch Film Releasing. It follows screenings on the 12th of September, as part of the BFI Southbank Acting Hard season, with a Q&A with the director.
It sees Paddy Considine as Richard who, after seven years in the army, returns to his hometown to find his brother, Anthony (Toby Kebbell), taken in by a controlling and vicious drug lord (Gary Stretch).
The film has been unavailable in the UK for years and will be available in some locations on 35mm.
Netflix will release Chloe Domont’s upcoming feature Fair Play in select cinemas on the 6th of October before it moves onto the platform on the 13th.
It stars Phoebe Dynevor, Alden Ehrenreich and Eddie Marsan, the film sees an unexpected promotion put pressure on a young couple’s relationship, threatening to unravel more than just their engagement.
Scenes on the small screen
Studiocanal has announced two new additions to its Cult Classics catalogue, both directed by Alberto De Martino and set for release on the 11th of September.
First up is the director’s 1974 exorcism film, The Antichrist, starring Carla Gravina, Mel Ferrer and Arthur Kennedy. After a car accident leaves her paralyzed and her mother dead, a young girl undergoes hypnosis in an attempt to heal her but accidentally wakes the spirit of a witch.
The Antichrist is packaged with audio recollections of the director, a new audio commentary and collectors’ art cards.
The next De Martino film to join the collection is the 1976 cop thriller Blazing Magnum, starring Stuart Whitman, John Saxon, Tisa Farrow and Martin Landau.
It sees Tony Siatta embark on a violent journey to find out who poisoned his sister, uncovering a series of revenge and betrayal. It’s packaged with a featurette with the director, a new interview with film historian Kim Newman and a selection of art cards.
Following its premiere at FrightFest, Blue Finch Film Releasing will release the Norwegian feature Good Boy on digital platforms on the 11th of September.
Brought to the screen by director Viljar Bøe and producer Karl Oskar Åsli, and starring Katrine Lovise Øpstad Fredrikse and Gard Løkke, it sees a young woman begin what seems like the perfect relationship until she meets the man’s roommate - who acts like a pet dog.
Releasing on digital platforms on the 25th of September, writer/director Michael Bafaro’s Don’t Look Away sees a young woman accidentally unleash a curse, leading to her being stalked by a seemingly unstoppable mannequin.
It’s being released by Central City Media and stars Kelly Bastard, in her feature film debut.
Following its premiere at FrightFest, Steven Pierce’s Herd will get a digital and physical home media release on the 23rd of October through High Fliers.
It follows a couple who attempt to save their faltering marriage with a canoe trip to rural Missouri, only to find that their small-town destination has been infected with a virus that has turned the locals into bloodthirsty zombies.
Herd stars Ellen Adair, Jeremy Holm, Timothy V. Murphy, Corbin Bernsen and Mitzi Akaha.
On the 20th of November (for UK customers) and the 21st of November (USA/Canada), Indicator will release The Criminal Acts of Tod Slaughter, bringing together eight films starring Norman Carter 'Tod' Slaughter and produced by George King.
The films included are:
Maria Marten, or The Murder in the Red Barn (1935)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936)
The Crimes of Stephen Hawke (1936)
It’s Never Too Late to Mend (1937)
The Ticket of Leave Man (1937)
Sexton Blake and the Hooded Terror (1938)
The Face at the Window (1939)
Crimes at the Dark House (1940)
Previously only available in compromised versions, these have been restored using materials at the BFI National Archive and are packaged with new audio commentaries, interviews with Tod Slaughter’s great niece Imogen Slaughter and her father, interviews with Ania Goszczyńska and David Tibet, radio plays of both Maria Marten and Sweeney Todd from 1932, a series of short films and a 120-page book with new essays from Jean-Claude Michel, Ania Goszczyńska and David Tibet, Doug Young and Kip-Xool.
In addition to this, Indicator is also offering paperback copies of Mr Murder: The Life and Times of Tod Slaughter - an illustrated biography written by Denis Meikle, Kip Xool, and Doug Young. Customers who preorder the boxset and the book can receive a 10% discount.