Horror festival Arrow Video FrightFest is back! Taking place at London’s Cineworld Leicester Square and the Prince Charles Cinema from Thursday August 25 – Monday 29 August, there are some exciting genre goodies on offer from the festival’s impressive line-up.
From horror comedies, to sci-fi scarers, to z-movies, giallos, gore-fests and splatter action movies, there’s something for everyone at this year’s FrightFest. Check out some of our top picks here…
Thursday 25 August
The Lair
This year’s Arrow Video FrightFest opens with Neil Marshall’s The Lair. The film follows RAF pilot Kate Sinclair who, on her final combat mission in Afghanistan, is shot down over a main rebel stronghold. Chased by insurgents she finds refuge in an abandoned bunker, where Russians once experimented crossing human organs with alien DNA to create a deadly biological weapon. Set free from their giant test tubes, the ‘ravagers’ invade a local US army outpost where the squad must fight the mutant monsters to the bitter end.
Director: Neil Marshall
Stars: Charlotte Kirk, Jamie Bamber, Jonathan Howard, Hadi Khanjanpour
When: Arrow Screen at 5.30pm and Shudder Screen at 6pm
Scare Package II: Rad Chad’s Revenge
The sequel to 2020’s fun anthology Scare Package (read our review here), Scare Package II: Rad Chad’s Revenge (which you can see more of in our main image) finds horror guru ‘Rad’ Chad Buckley’s funeral turning into an elaborate series of hilarious death traps, so the guests must band together and use the rules of horror to survive the bloody diversions. From a New Year’s Eve massacre to Final Girls turning into Soon To Die Girls and the Swarm attack to driving Miss Daisy crazy, the genre references fly as thick and fast as the bone chilling splatter.
Directors: Aaron B. Koontz, Alexandra Barreto, Anthony Cousins, Jed Shepherd, Rachele Wiggins.
With: Jeremy King, Zoe Graham, Rich Sommer, Graham Skipper.
When: Arrow Screen at 10.25pm and Shudder Screen at 10.55pm
Friday 26 August
Next Exit
The widespread acceptance of ghosts has led to ‘Life Beyond’, a radical scientific study based in San Francisco through which volunteers can commit pain-free suicide. After all, what’s left to fear about the afterlife? In New York City, two ready-to-die strangers randomly end up sharing a rental car for a cross-country trip to their respective appointments. Initial friction leads to an emotional connection as their dates with death loom in.
Director: Mali Elfman.
With: Katie Parker, Rahul Kohli, Karen Gillan, Rose McIver.
When: Arrow Screen at 10.30am and Shudder Screen at 11am
Daughter
The feature film debut for writer/director/producer Corey Deshon and starring Starship Troopers’ Casper Van Dien, this dark and surrealistic indie thriller follows a young woman who is inducted by a strange man into a bizarre family to live as their new surrogate sibling. Navigating through a twisted family dynamic while coping with the loss of her own freedom, dark secrets about the past are revealed, leading to even more shocking implications about the future.
Director: Corey Deshon.
With: Casper Van Dien, Elyse Dinh, Vivien Ngô, Ian Alexander.
When: 101 Films Discovery Screen Three at 1pm
The Harbinger
Monique leaves her family quarantine bubble to assist a good friend who’s suffering from terrible nightmares in The Harbinger. But she learns too late that her friend’s bad dreams are contagious, along with the demonic presence behind them…
Director: Andy Mitton.
With: Gabby Beans, Emily Davis, Raymond Anthony Thomas, Cody Braverman.
When: Arrow Screen at 1pm and Shudder Screen at 1.30pm
Orchestrator of Storms
The life and work of Eurocult director Jean Rollin are put under the spotlight in this documentary. From struggling artist with an unconventional upbringing to the purveyor of New Wave surrealist fantastique via distinctive and unique films – friends, critics and actors tell all.
Directors: Dima Ballin, Kat Ellinger.
With: Brigitte Lahaie, Francoise Pascal, Virginie Selavy, Kier-La Janisse.
When: 101 Films Discovery Screen two at 3.50pm.
A Wounded Fawn
Meredith Tanning is a local museum curator who is dipping her toe back into the dating pool. But unsuspecting Meredith is being targeted by a charming serial killer. When a fateful romantic getaway between the two becomes a tense game of cat and mouse, both must confront the madness within him.
Director: Travis Stevens.
With: Sarah Lind, Josh Ruben, Malin Barr, Katie Kuang.
When: Arrow Screen at 3.15pm and Shudder Screen at 3.45pm
Night Sky
From the director of The Signal and Synchronicity, Jacob Gentry, this Indie sci-fi fantasy stars cult favourites AJ Bowen, Brea Grant and Scott Poythress as a ne’er do well petty thief trying to escape his mysterious past, a celestial vagabond trying to rediscover hers, and the ruthless killer who is following them both…
Director: Jacob Gentry.
With: Brea Grant, AJ Bowen, Scott Poythress, Sandra Benton.
When: Arrow Screen at 6pm and Shudder Screen at 6.30pm
Final Cut
A French remake of One Cut Of The Dead, Final Cut opened the Cannes Film Festival this year. From Michael Hazanavicius (The Artist), this movie takes us back to its inception and shows all the gory tricks of the Z-movie trade needed to get it on screen in the first place…
Director: Michael Hazanavicius.
With: Romain Duris, Berenice Bejo, Finnegan Oldfield, Gregory Gadebois.
When: Arrow Screen at 8.30pm and Shudder Screen at 9pm
Saturday 27 August
Something In The Dirt
From Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (The Endless, Synchronic) comes a fusion of DIY science fiction, extreme character drama, dark comedy, pre-apocalyptic vibes and overwhelming paranoia with Something In The Dirt. The pair star as neighbours John and Levi, who witness supernatural events in their Los Angeles apartment building. Realising documenting the paranormal could inject some fame and fortune into their wasted lives, they open up an ever deeper, pitch-black rabbit hole…
Directors: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead.
With: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Sarah Adina Smith, Ariel Vida.
When: Arrow Screen at 10.30am and Shudder Screen at 11am.
Dark Glasses
From horror icon Dario Argento, Dark Glass is set in Rome, where a serial killer has garrotted three high-class sex worker girls with cello strings, and up-market escort Diana is next on the list. Pursuing her one night in a white van, the maniac causes her car to crash, leaving her blind, and a young Chinese boy, Chin, in the other vehicle, an orphan. Together they must face the incandescent wrath of the snubbed murderer who continues to relentlessly stalk them.
Director: Dario Argento.
With: Ilenia Pastorelli, Asia Argento, Andrea Gherpelli, Mario Pirrello.
When: Arrow Screen at 6.30pm and Shudder Screen at 7pm.
Walking Against The Rain
Two strangers, Blair and Tommy are navigating their way across a barren landscape in a desperate attempt to find each other in Walking Against The Rain. With their only form of communication being two soon-to-die battery operated radio microphones and with a new evil in the shape of ‘The Forsaken’ tracking them down, they must learn to confront loss and rediscover a trust in humanity.
Director: Scott Lyus.
With: Sophia Eleni, Reese Douglas, James Swanton, Johnny Vivash.
When: 101 Films Discovery Screen Two at 6pm
Swallowed
From Carter Smith (The Ruins), comes a pulse-pounding tale of two best friends on what might be their final night together in a queer shocker full of chilling violations. Benjamin is celebrating moving to Los Angeles to become a gay porn actor. His concerned best friend Dom has a plan to make some fast cash for his buddy. But what Dom believes is a simple drug run turns out to be much worse as they are forced to swallow bags of illicit goods and body horror shifts to full-on sexual predator and survival horror.
Director: Carter Smith.
With: Jena Malone, Cooper Koch, Will Patton, Jose Colon.
When: 101 Films Discovery Screen One at 9.15pm
Sunday 28 August
Incredible But True
Incredible But True is a a quirky comedy fantasy about middle-aged house hunters who find more in a suburban bargain buy than anyone could have dreamed. For what Alain and Marie discover in their new basement could well change their lives forever. An absurdist meditation on the cruelties of ageing? A droll Buñuelian satire on the world of bourgeois property ownership? Or a giddy time travel metaphysical wonder?
Director: Quentin Dupieux.
With: Alain Chabat, Léa Drucker, Benoît Magimel, Anaïs Demoustier.
When: Arrow Screen at 1.30pm and Shudder Screen at 2pm.
Torn Hearts
From genre favourite Brea Grant (12 Hour Shift) comes Torn Heart which follows Jordan and Leigh who are up-and-coming Nashville stars with their band ‘Torn Hearts’. They hear Harper Dutch, the reclusive surviving sister of the iconic country duo ‘The Dutchess Sisters’, is searching for the right comeback project. So they decide to turn up on Harper’s doorstep with a plan to record a chart-topper together. The faded megastar invites them into her private mansion, locks the doors and pours what could be the last drink of Torn Hearts’ career. For their idol puts them through a series of twisted horrors that forces them to confront the limits they’d go to for their dreams.
Director: Brea Grant.
With: Katey Sagal, Abby Quinn, Alexxis Lemire, Joshua Leonard.
When: 101 Films Discovery Screen Two at 6.30pm
Wolf Manor
Director Dominic Brunt (Before Dawn, Bait) is back with a splatter horror comedy about the shooting of a low-budget vampire movie in an old abandoned house deep in darkest Shropshire. The tight production should have worked like a dream. However, with the full moon bright in the night sky, the nightmare begins. The body count rises as the cast and crew encounter the mansion’s resident werewolf. And there’s a bad moon rising indeed!
Director: Dominic Brunt.
With: James Fleet, Jay Taylor, Nicky Evans, Rupert Proctor.
When: Arrow Screen at 6.30pm and Shudder Screen at 7pm.
Monday 29 August
Piggy
Not everyone loves the summertime. For overweight teen Sara it means dealing with a constant barrage of mockery, judgment and abuse from the cool girls. But today is different. A mysterious man arrives in the village and kidnaps her tormentors. Someone has finally stood up for her. Sara sees it all and the unknown man has seen her too. It’s a wordless pact that neither will betray as a series of crimes rock the village and the fingers of suspicion are pointed in every direction.
Director: Carlota Pereda.
With: Claudia Salas, Pilar Castro, Carmen Machi, Fernando Delgado-Hierro.
When: Arrow Screen at 10.15am and Shudder Screen at 10.45am.
Burial
Set in the last days of World War II, the new thriller from Ben Parker (The Chamber), tells the tall story of a small band of Russian soldiers, led by intelligence officer Brana Vasilyeva, tasked with trafficking the discovered remains of Adolf Hitler back to Stalin in Moscow. En route, the unit is attacked by German ‘Werwolf’ partisans and picked off one-by-one. Brana leads her surviving comrades in a last stand to ensure their ‘cargo’ doesn’t fall into the hands of those who would see it buried, in order to hide the truth forever.
Director: Ben Parker.
With: Harriet Walter, Tom Felton, Charlotte Vega, Bill Milner.
When: Arrow Screen at 4pm and Shudder Screen at 4.30pm.
Barbarian
Arriving in Detroit for a job interview, a young woman books a rental home. But when she arrives late at night, she discovers that the house is double booked and a strange man is already staying there. Against her better judgement, she decides to spend the evening, but soon discovers that there’s a lot more to fear than just an unexpected house guest…
Director: Zach Cregger.
With: Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, Justin Long, Kurt Braunohler.
When: Arrow Screen at 6.15pm and Shudder Screen at 6.45pm.
Fall
Arrow Video FrightFest will be closing with Scott Mann’s Fall, a pulse-pounding, vertigo-inducing experience as two best friends, stranded at the top of a remote, abandoned 2000-feet high radio tower, fight for survival. After the tragic death of her husband in a climbing accident, avid rock climber Becky has withdrawn from the world. In an effort to help Becky heal from her past trauma, best friend Hunter suggests an exhilarating climb to the top of a remote, abandoned 2000-feet high radio tower where they will scatter her husband’s ashes. But when sections of the mast’s rickety ladder break off, the girls are stranded.
Director: Scott Mann.
With: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Grace Fulton, Virginia Gardner, Mason Gooding.
When: Arrow Screen at 9pm and Shudder Screen at 9.30pm.
Arrow Video FrightFest is taking place from Thursday August 25 – Monday 29 August. Passes will be sale from 12pm on Saturday 16 July and single tickets on sale from 12pm on Saturday 23 July.
