USA 2018. 90 mins.

Director: Jon Knautz. With: Alexis Kendra, Stelio Savante, Rachel Alig, Elizabeth Sandy, JoAnne McGrath.

As a means to distract herself from an affair with a married man, love-addicted beautician Alice befriends her soft-spoken, reclusive cleaning lady Shelley, facially scarred by burns from a traumatic childhood incident. Soon everyone caught in Alice's infidelity trap learns to their dread that Shelley's scars run much deeper than they ever suspected. Jon Knautz directed the past FrightFest favourites JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER, THE SHRINE and GODDESS OF LOVE. Now he returns with his darkest, creepiest, nastiest, most twisted and intense psychological horror yet, one bound to win him even more FrightFest fans. Something very fierce this way comes.

USA 2018. 82 mins.

Director: Mitzi Peirone. With: Madeline Brewer, Scott Cohen, Sarah Hay, Imogen Waterhouse, Jill Dalton.

Lifelong best friends Petula and Tilda make ends meet by dealing drugs in Manhattan. Then a random bust leaves them with no choice but to flee town. Their hideout? The mansion of childhood friend Daphne, an agoraphobic heiress who teeters on the edge of sanity. At first, entertaining Daphne's playful world of make-believe is a breeze. However, they soon realize Daphne's mental state is more wildly disturbed. And what begins with innocent role-playing and dress-up quickly devolves into torture, madness, and bloodshed. A Gothic fairytale with an uncompromising feminist edge, Mitzi Peirone's feature debut is a bold, visually lavish dazzler.

USA 2018. 84 mins.

Directors: Sonny Laguna, Tommy Wiklund. With: Thomas Lennon, Michael Pare, Nelson Franklin, Barbara Crampton, Udo Kier.

Those murderous marionettes are back to deliver slashings of bonkers gore and bad taste humour. Recently divorced and reeling, Edgar returns to his childhood home to regroup. Finding a nefarious-looking puppet in his deceased brother's room, he decides to sell the doll for quick cash at a small-town convention celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the infamous Andre Toulon murders. Girl-next-door Ashley and his comic book shop boss, Markowitz, join Edgar for the doomed road trip; where all hell breaks loose, a strange force animates other puppets at the convention and a bloody killing spree begins motivated by ancient evil.

Belgium/UK 2018. 102 mins.

Director: Franck Ribiere. With: Andre Wilms, Anna Mouglalis, Jean-Michel Balthazar, Michel Fau, Niels Schneider.

Paula Maxa was the most assassinated woman in the world. During her 1930s heyday the celebrated headline star of the Grand Guignol Theatre in the Pigalle district of Paris was graphically murdered more than 10,000 times in over 60 different ways. In this evocative, atmospheric, suspenseful and informative mystery inspired by historical events, the French icon is about to relive a past trauma on stage, one that will unlock family secrets and expose if the infamous landmark is involved with a series of gruesome killings for real. Perfect entertainment for fans of THE PRESTIGE and THE ILLUSIONIST.

France/Canada 2018. 91 mins.

Director: Pascal Laugier. With: Crystal Reed, Anastasia Phillips, Emilia Jones, Taylor Hickson, Mylene Farmer.

Get ready for maximum stomach-churning tension as Pascal Laugier, director of MARTYRS, triumphantly returns with a violently twisting take on the extreme home invasion genre. Pauline (French pop icon Mylene Farmer) and her two daughters Beth and Vera inherit a house in the countryside. On the first night in their new home the family are confronted by murderous intruders and Pauline fights for her daughters lives. Sixteen years later, Beth has become a successful fantasy author in the H.P. Lovecraft tradition, and with trepidation finally returns to the same house... only to find she will never forget the trauma.

Australia 2018. 96 mins.

Director: Chris Sun. With: Chris Haywood, Bill Moseley, Steve Bisley, John Jarratt, Simone Buchanan

Move over RAZORBACK, there's an even bigger beast in Ozploitation Land. One of staggering size, with a ruthless driving need for blood and destruction. It cares for none, defends its outback territory with brutal force, and kills with a raw savagery unlike anything seen before. City slickers with no respect for nature, drunken sheep-farming locals and the collective casts of the original MAD MAX and WOLF CREEK may try to go up against it. But what chance do they have against a giant predator with an insatiable appetite? A creature feature with splatterific tusk appeal. So run for your lives!

Canada 2018. 90 mins.

Director: Anthony Scott Burns. With: Nicola Peltz, Thomas Mann, Percy Hynes White, John Ralston, Christine Horne.

After his parents are killed in a car accident, Ethan is left dealing with enormous guilt caring for his younger siblings. Quitting a promising future in technology he devotes all his energy on a revolutionary experiment to bring his parents back to life. After several attempts with an electro-magnetic device, he finally breaches the wall between the living and the dead. But where exactly is that crossed line? And could he have brought something else back from a dark netherworld instead? Based on the 2010 movie GHOST FROM THE MACHINE, a sci-fi shocker combining heart, mystery and the supernatural.

France 2018. 85 mins.

Director: Jeremie Guez. With: Roland Moller, Lubna Azabal, Veerle Baetens, Lola Le Lann.

Based on Dannie M. Martin's book 'The Dishwasher', the title borrowed from a Charles Bukowski poem, a surprisingly touching neo-noir thriller about a lost man wrestling with fate. Hardened convict Danny leaves prison looking for a fresh start at a shabby hotel run by a single mother and her rebellious daughter Clara. Working as dishwasher in a Chinese restaurant, all Danny wants to do is keep his head down. Then Clara is assaulted and the safe peace he found disappears as cracks in his armour emerge, he’s forced to face his old demons and blood drips through his hands.

International shorts abound in our first showcase. Strange things are lurking in dark corners and in the wilderness, in We Summoned a Demon, TiCK, and Devil Woman. There are monsters around every corner in Milk and 42 Counts. Women seem to have strange powers, in My Monster, Pie, and BFF Girls. And watch out for Who's That at the Back of the Bus, check your ceiling in Secretion, and be sure to lock The Front Door.

We Summoned a Demon
Director: Chris McInroy. Cast: Kirk C. Johnson, Carlos Larotta. USA 2017. 6 min.
They just wanted to be cool. Instead, they got a demon.

Secretion
Director: Sarah Talbot. Cast: Jordan Hunter, R G Parker. UK 2018. 8 min.
An unhappily married couple tries to ignore the grotesque, dripping stain that is growing on their ceiling.

Pie
Director: Adria Tennor. Cast: Jessica Pare, Adria Tennor. USA 2018. 11 min.
Carol invites Annette over for homemade pie and after much prodding divulges her special secret ingredient.

Devil Woman
Director: Heidi Lee Douglas. Cast: Marigold Pazar, Flame Kimball. Australia 2018. 12 min.
While searching for an endangered animal, Eddy gets bitten, and that bite is more infectious than it looks.

TiCK
Director: Ashlea Wessel. Cast: Ava Close, Alexander De Jordy. Canada 2018. 13 min.
In a post-pandemic society, a vampire in hiding is forced to make a stand when confronted with the oppressive regime.

Milk
Director: Santiago Menghini. Cast: Cameron Brodeur, Cameron Brodeur. Canada 2018. 9 min.
Upon encountering his sleepless mother, a young teen quickly realizes things are not as they seem.

The Front Door
Director: Andrew Rutter. Cast: Brad Ash, Chris Butler. UK 2018. 7 min.
Upon going to lock his front door late at night, Steven discovers some rather odd intruders.

42 Counts
Director: Jill Gevargizian. Cast: Andrea Dover, Najarrra Townsend. USA 2018. 8 min.
Two friends spend their night off watching scary movies until they uncover something much more sinister than what they're watching on screen.

My Monster
Director: Izzy Lee. Cast: Brea Grant, Adam Egypt Mortimer. USA 2018. 7 min.
Christmas is coming, and Lily has to contend not only with a clueless partner, but also an unexpected, inter-dimensional holiday guest.

BFF Girls
Director: Brian Lonano. Cast: Allison Maier, Jessica Shipp, Sydney Thomas. USA 2018. 13 min.
Three dorky American girls magically transform into beautiful Japanese Superheroes and fight the tampon monster.

Who's That at the Back of the Bus
Director: Philip Hardy. Cast: Susan Barham. UK 2018. 5 min.
Alone on the top deck of the night bus, Joyce is haunted by an unlikely apparition.

Australia 2018. 90 mins.

Director: David Barker. With: Ella Scott Lynch. Benedict Samuel, Heather Mitchell, Lewis Fitzgerald, Robin Goldsworthy.

A modern transgressive thriller in the style of Brian De Palma, this Hitchcocktail of elevated suspense and shock begins when Sarah Montrose meets the philosophical, smooth-talking Lewis Blake. Handsome and captivating, Lewis is the bait in a sick and twisted game conjured up with his low-life-rich-kid house mate, Kenneth. When the men's sexual game backfires with wild abandon. Sarah is forced into an unlikely and bloodied alliance, her fragile psyche threatened by a monster, she calls on all her strength and cunning to do battle with a psychopath, and her own inner demon.

USA 2017. 86 mins.

Director: Brad Baruh. With: Barbara Crampton, AJ Bowen, Brea Grant, Elise Luthman, Joshua Hoffman.

Everything and anything goes in an ambitiously quirky delight oozing eeriness and evil featuring a stellar cast of genre favourites. James, his wife Casey, their two kids Jessica and Jason, and sick friend Becky head to a remote cabin in Oregon for a weekend trip. When James ventures into the dark forest looking for firewood, he encounters an enigmatic woman passed out in the snow. Bringing her back to the cabin for help, the family has no way of knowing that her wicked presence will be the catalyst for a series of horrifying events that will change their lives forever.

Argentina 2017. 82 mins.

Directors: Ezequiel Endelman, Leandro Montejano. With: Silvia Montanari, Anahi Politi, Erika Boveri, Claudio Armesto, Valeria Giorcelli.

Buenos Aires, 1985, the first anniversary of the death of Alexis Carpenter, the unstable supermodel who died tragically in a horrendous catwalk fire. Fashion editor Lucia L'uccello wants to honour Alexis in a commemorative issue of her magazine. But the night before the cover photo shoot, Alexis' original dresses are stolen and staff members begin to disappear at the hands of a sinister silhouette in a long black leather raincoat. Is someone seeking revenge? Or has Alexis returned from the grave? Mario Bava, Dario Argento and SUSPIRIA fans, here's the sumptuous neo-Giallo you've all been waiting for!

UK 2018. 88 mins.

Director Chris Collier. With: Gareth Edwards, Eli Roth, Adam Green, Robert Englund, Joe Lynch.

Everything you ever wanted to know about FrightFest... but were afraid to ask! From its humble beginnings at the Prince Charles cinema to the world-class London West End event it is today, go behind the scenes of the UK's biggest and best genre festival for a complete understanding of what it takes to prepare such a monumental communal experience. Alongside amusing, moving and amazing revelations by the core organisers, celebrity guests and FrightFesters themselves, an insightful array of photos, film clips and archive footage highlight the trials and tribulations of forging horror history that's been nineteen years in the making.

Germany 2018. 85 mins.

Director: Linus de Paoli. With: Adam Ild Rohweder, Paulina Galazka, Amanda Plummer, Pit Bukowski, Vania Bajdarova.

Millennial angst impacts the Internet age with shocking ramifications in this superbly written and directed psychological thriller from wunderkind all-round talent Linus de Paoli. Brilliant computer science student Piet is as inexperienced sexually as he is intelligent. Finding out his feelings for Klara, the beautiful new fellow student he's coaching, are not really reciprocated, he's deeply hurt. After trying out sleeping pills on himself, he drugs Klara with unexpected consequences. What follows is a very long and horrifying night, in which Piet loses his innocence in each sense and has to confront every one of his anxieties.

USA 2018. 90 mins.

Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman. With: Sabrina Kern, Carolyn Hennesy, Courtney Halverson, Hannah Fierman, Seth Michaels, Trin Miller

From SAW franchise expert Darren Lynn Bousman, atone for your sins in a transgressive mix of HOUSE OF WHIPCORD and THE MAGDALENE SISTERS. A pregnant con woman is on the run and seeks refuge in a small-town Georgia convent. But what first starts out as the perfect place to have a love child turns into a dark nightmare where fear eats the soul. For the sadistic Mother Superior enforces silence and ghastly secrets are masked by pious lies before the reluctant novitiate learns the sick and twisted truth behind the strange people that lurk inside its hallowed halls.

Japan 2017. 96 mins.

Director: Shin'ichiro Ueda, With: Yuzuki Akiyama, Takuya Fujimura, Ayana Goda, Takayuki Hamatsu, Manabu Hosoi.

A cast of relative unknowns, a brilliantly disguised low budget and an epic, 37-minute opening single take makes Shin'ichiro Ueda's feature debut a bright, breezy and laugh-out-loud hilarious zombie comedy. A film crew is shooting a zombie horror flick in an abandoned water filtration plant, allegedly used for human experiments by the military. Just as the director browbeats his actors and demands more special effects blood, a real zombie apocalypse erupts, much to his auteur delight. Packed with meta-movie references as mocking as they are loving, this relentless takedown of the Living Dead genre is a total blast.

USA 1978. 94 mins.

Director: Jeff Leiberman. With: Zalman King, Deborah Winters, Robert Walden, Mark Goddard, Alice Ghostley.

From the director of SQUIRM and JUST BEFORE DAWN, a harrowing combination of quirky pulp fiction, gross-out horror, and Cronenbergian sci-fi, a truly memorable and effective condemnation of warped American middle-class values. People are turning into psychotic murderers as a result of bad LSD ingested ten years before when Stanford University students. Lone avenger Zipkin (Zalman King) is determined to capture a living Blue Sunshiner and end the epidemic of psychedelic psychosis created by a now-celebrated politician. A cult classic directed with genuine flair keeping the audience off balance by alternating funny passages with unforgettable moments of sheer horror.

USA 2018. 90 mins.

Director: Owen Long. With: Trevor Long, Andrea Chen, Garr Long, Kevin Breznahan, Chris McGarry

Are you sitting uncomfortably? Then let us tell you a dark-as-night story of temptation and monsters. When his increasingly depraved behaviour spirals out of control, Marcus retreats to his family home along the New England coast. But instead of finding solace, Marcus is haunted by his darkest fears and deepest desires. Could something be underneath the bed, lurking? Is he losing his mind or has something terrible burrowed deep within him? Incubating. Waiting until the climate is right. Marcus must fight to save his crumbling sanity and protect Lily, his beloved niece from a monster that lies in wait.

UK 2018. 7 mins

Writer/Director: Roxanne Benjamin. With: Phoebe Tonkin, Casey Adams.

For your ears only! In a first for FrightFest, Writer/Director Roxanne Benjamin (XX, SOUTHBOUND, V/H/S) presents an exclusive screening of FINAL STOP, a must-hear horror short produced by Sennheiser and Soapbox Films. Shot entirely on smart phone, and recorded in full binaural audio using the AMBEO Smart Headset, the film is designed to be watched with headphones (which will be supplied), so audiences can immerse themselves in the story and its terrifying 3D sound scape. FINAL STOP will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker and a discussion on the power of 3D sound.

USA 2018. 81 mins.

Director: Nicolas Pesce. With: Christopher Abbott, Mia Wasikowska, Olivia Bond, Laia Costa, Wendell Pierce.

A psychosexual horror with a seam of black comedy lying under its artfully glittering surface, this sadomasochistic sensation dares viewers into a thrilling cat-and-mouse conundrum. Based on a novel by Ryu Murakami, who wrote Takashi Miike's AUDITION, a new father decides to ease his parental stress by killing an anonymous prostitute, but the flaky escort he chooses has her own chilling agenda. With Argento and De Palma homage in plentiful supply, all underscored by vintage Goblin, Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai soundtracks, join THE EYES OF MY MOTHER director Nicolas Pesce on a sleazy voyage through his neo-Giallo fearscape.

USA 2018. 77 mins

Director: Trevor Stevens. With: Heston Horwin, Diamond White, Isaac Alisma, Jordan Allen, Marcus Blake.

In a future world where society has collapsed, tuition has sky rocketed, cruel fraternities have taken over and bicycles dominate the campus economy, one ingenious freshman is on a mission to retrieve his stolen bicycle. Watch in awe as debut director Trevor Stevens plays with genre conventions and audience expectations in this woozily twisting YOJIMBO meets ROAD WARRIOR mash-up with push bikes. Can freshman Leroy break the trade in black market bikes with the help of his investigative journalist roommate Piper? Think TURBO KID, HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN and all manner of quirky Dystopian B-movies to find out.

Canada 2018. 84 mins.

Director: Justin McConnell. With: Lora Burke, Jack Foley, Elitsa Bako, Steve Kasan, Sam James White.

A murderous shape-shifter sets out on a blood-soaked mission to make things right with the woman he loves but had to leave behind for her own safety's sake. But zipping between ever-faster body snatches is becoming confusing, mind-bending and more debilitating by the minute. Something has got to give. Like dark romance, feral natural instincts and fractured sanity. Time to take a dive into the deep aliveness that comes from following your broken heart, in acting on what you love despite the monstrous circumstances, alien limitations, hidden emotions or fears of the shocking unknown

UK 2018. 90 mins

Director: Bernhard Pucher. With: Natasha Henstridge, Georgia Hirst, Eve Connolly, Dave Johns, Orson Chaplin

Murder on the dance floor in a witty, bloody horror about madness, mayhem and mutants. When a manufacturing accident drastically increases the potency of the beverage Regenerize, a worker drinks a bottle and goes berserk, butchering his colleagues. A month later, Becky, a germaphobic, trainee journalist, reluctantly goes to an illegal rave inside the now abandoned factory where the organiser discovers a stash of the contaminated drink, which gets into the hands of every raver there. Trapped in the mutating crowd as the party descends into carnage, Becky must overcome her fears to make it out of the party alive.

UK 2018. 86mins

Director: Paul Hyett. With: Hannah Arterton, Clare Higgins, Michael Ironside, Rosie Day, Ania Marson.

In the early 17th century, innocent young Persephone is falsely accused and put on trial for her life. Her fate seems sealed except for the timely intervention of the mysterious Reverend Mother offering her not just sanctuary, but hope. For the Reverend Mother is the self appointed leader of a small religious retreat, a secluded Priory, where her fellow Sisters devote their lives to the Lord and seek atonement for their pasts. But upon arrival, Persephone is plagued with terrifying visions and soon realises that it's not salvation that awaits but a battle for her very soul itself.

UK 2018. 85 mins.

Director: Michael Mort: With: Paul Whitehouse, Samantha Coughlan, Lauren Harris, Michael Mort, Sam Roe.

FrightFest has been tracking the creative development of CHUCK STEEL ever since it began life as a 2013 animated short and we have been delighted to follow director Michael Mort's progress. So we're absolutely thrilled the project is now finished and we can show you the complete movie in all its hilariously superlative glory. It's not 1985 anymore... it's 1986! And Chuck Steel is the maverick, lone wolf cop on the edge, who doesn't play by the rules and must prevent the worst plague ever to hit Los Angeles - a scourge of deadly Trampires, mutant hybrids of vampires and bums.

Canada 2018. 98 mins.

Director: Colin Minihan. With Brittany Allen, Hannah Emily Anderson, Martha MacIsaac, Joey Klein, Charlotte Lindsay Marron.

On the eve of their one-year wedding anniversary, Jules and Jackie become embroiled in a merciless fight for their lives when they find themselves pitted against the most unexpected of adversaries. As violence reigns down upon their idyllic forest getaway, the two women engage in a frenzied psychological and vicious battle that will test the very limits of their instinct to survive. Another suspenseful knife to the throat of 21st Century genre cinema from the deliciously warped mind of Colin Minihan, director of IT STAINS THE SANDS RED, get ready to gasp in total shock and abject terror.

USA 2018. 100 mins.

Director: Leigh Whannell. With: Logan Marshall-Green, Richard Anastasios, Melanie Vallejo, Richard Cawthorne, Harrison Gilbertson.

From SAW and INSIDIOUS creator Leigh Whannell, a fast-paced, inventive, sci-fi thrill-ride, swirling together ROBOCOP, DEATH WISH, THE TERMINATOR and numerous Cronenberg body horror influences. Set in the near future, technology controls nearly all aspects of life. But when self-identified technophobe Grey Trace is made quadriplegic in a car accident his world is turned upside down. His only hope for closure and possible revenge is an experimental computer chip implant called STEM that allows him to achieve miraculous feats of mind and strength. But then STEM starts to take full control of his body and the true nano nightmares begin.

USA 2018. 90 mins.

Director: Ante Novakovic. With: Dylan Walsh, Madison McKinley, Romeo Miller, Luke Baines, Kresh Novakovic.

It had to happen. Someone was bound to use FRIGHT FEST for a slasher movie title eventually and here it is in all its splatter glory. Blood runs rampant on Halloween night when the Mayor of Sommerton decides to mount a live Fright Fest event within the walls of a long abandoned lunatic asylum. Only problem is a van of criminally insane prisoners crashes just outside and the trick or treaters think their murderous acts are part of the performance. Enter if you dare, and we expect resounding cheers every time you hear or see Fright Fest mentioned, got it?

Spain 2017. 92 mins.

Directors: Caye Casas, Albert Pinto. With: Boris Ruiz, David Pareja, Eduardo Antuna, Emilio Gavira, Itziar Castro.

A remote country house in a mountainous region sounds like the perfect place for a cosy New Year's Eve family dinner, right? But the existing family tensions get ramped up further when an uninvited guest shows up. For the homeless midget who suddenly appears from nowhere says he's God and that when the sun rises all humanity will be wiped out. Then he tells them they can choose two people to survive. Is he really who he says? Is the impending apocalypse true? And which two should live? A pitch black, emotional horror comedy where all hell breaks loose!

Join Sam Ashurst and Dan Martin as they record their hugely popular bi-weekly film discussion show, The Arrow Video Podcast live. Joined by special guests they will be discussing past, present and future Arrow titles, as well as all their favourite rare and obscure movies, Arrow news, exclusives. Come along and see how this must-listen for film fans and cult collectors is put together.

Italy 2017. 105 mins.

Director: Giordano Giulivi. With: Silvano Bertolin, Ferdinando D'Urbano, Duccio Giulivi, Carlotta Mazzoncini, Simone Moscato

The mathematical theory of the Laplace demon supposes that if someone knows the precise location and momentum of every atom in the universe, they could predict everything down to the smallest detail. Thus prepared, welcome to this visually thrilling chiaroscuro mind-meld of Agatha Christie, Rod Serling and Mario Bava-style Italo-noir. A group of scientists who believe they have cracked the code are invited to the mysterious island home of reclusive Professor Cornelius. Introducing himself via videotape, he tells them they are now literal pawns in a twisted experiment causing them to disappear one by one unless they work it out.

USA 2017. 66 mins.

Directors: Matt Mercer, Mike Testin. With: Matt Mercer, Suzanne Voss, Najarra Townsend, Graham Skipper, Stacy Snyder.

Made in a month from pre-production to world premiere as a Cinepocalypse challenge, this tongue-in-cheek sequel to DEMENTIA (2015) is a trippy, dippy mind-blowing Midnight Movie. Co-directed by Mike Testin and star Matt Mercer, it follows the latter as an ex-convict who has become an oddjob repairman and ends up in a house with a frightening old woman with dementia. Shot in black and white, the nightmare escalates as the woman shoves $100 bills in the hapless handyman's pocket, stringing him along for a truly terrifying ride echoing the Sam Raimi handbook, especially EVIL DEAD and DRAG ME TO HELL.

The Good Samaritans
Director: Christopher Goodman. Cast: Abraham Buckoke, Dom Kinnaird, Sophia Kounoupias. UK 2018. 6 min.
Two opportunistic highwaymen seek to take advantage of a young woman who is stranded alone in 16th century Romania.

USA 2018. 90 mins.

Director: Owen Long. With: Trevor Long, Andrea Chen, Garr Long, Kevin Breznahan, Chris McGarry

Are you sitting uncomfortably? Then let us tell you a dark-as-night story of temptation and monsters. When his increasingly depraved behaviour spirals out of control, Marcus retreats to his family home along the New England coast. But instead of finding solace, Marcus is haunted by his darkest fears and deepest desires. Could something be underneath the bed, lurking? Is he losing his mind or has something terrible burrowed deep within him? Incubating. Waiting until the climate is right. Marcus must fight to save his crumbling sanity and protect Lily, his beloved niece from a monster that lies in wait.

To be confirmed...

UK 2018. 84 mins

Director: Stewart Sparke. With: Lyndsey Craine, Michaela Longden, Lizzie Stanton, Daniel Thrace, Nicholas Vince.

Sophie's 18th birthday party becomes a bloodbath when six terrifying monsters descend upon her house, intent on devouring the party guests and killing anyone who tries to leave. As her school friends are torn apart and eaten, Sophie must rally a band of misfits and take up arms to send their party crashers back to hell. To survive the night, Sophie will face her destiny; monsters are real - and she's the only one who can stop them. BOOK OF MONSTERS brings old-school practical creature effects and a dark comedic edge to make for a deeply entertaining monster movie.

UK 2018. 80 mins

Director: Harry Lindley. With: Hainsley Lloyd Bennett, Saabeah Theos, Julian Mack.

Lex arrives at her reclusive brother Leo's apartment for a long-overdue reconciliation with her new boyfriend Dru, who is eager to impress. Unfortunately, Leo is far more interested in his creation "DAISY" - an evolving computer virus. As the siblings reconnect and rediscover an unsettling familiarity, Dru is increasingly sidelined and in a situation that he can't control. CTRL is the assured first feature film from Harry Lindley

The Lonely
Director: Anneke Cullen. Cast: Tom Lyons . UK 2018. 7 min.
A man escapes to the countryside to be alone.

UK 2018. 76 mins

Director: Aislinn Clarke. With: Lalor Roddy, Ciaran Flynn, Helena Bereen.

In the Autumn of 1960, Fathers Thomas Riley and John Thornton were sent by the Vatican to investigate a miraculous event in an Irish home for 'fallen women'. When the Fathers' attention turns to a 16-year-old pregnant girl exhibiting signs of demonic possession, they soon discover that some doors are not meant to be opened. The Devil's Doorway the first feature film to have been written and directed by a woman in Northern Ireland stars Lalor Roddy (Game of Thrones), Ciaran Flynn (Robin Hood) and Helena Bereen (Hunger)

UK 2018. 85 mins

Director: Ben Kent. With: Mark Heap, Sean Verey, Danny Kirrane, Perry Fitzpatrick, Ewen MacIntosh.

Ben Kent (LOVE BUG) returns to FrightFest with his first feature F.U.B.A.R. which may or may not be based on a true story. Sam is getting married and his best man decides to take him on a zombie apocalypse paint ball weekend. He couldn't be happier, after all, what better way to spend your last few days of freedom than shooting paint balls in the woods with your best mates? What could possibly go wrong?

Fran & The Moth
Director: Malcolm Rumbles. Cast: Jack Bannon, Holly Woodhouse. UK 2017. 6 min.
A woman enters into a surreal battle with a moth and her sanity.

UK 2018. 110 mins.

Director: Kevin Chicken. With: Richard Brake, Natalia Kostrzewa, Jo Woodcock

Katia, a young Polish woman, is adrift in London and meets Bob, an American tattoo artist with a reverence for his craft. Slowly she is drawn to his mysterious world and the taboo culture of body modification. Bob has a dark secret desire to leave his mark on the world. Combining the style of CELL with the sizzling tension and unexpected turns of THE SKIN I LIVE IN and featuring music from Liam Howlett of The Prodigy.

Continuing the tradition of even-we-have-forgotten-how-many-years - The Duke is back at the FrightFest to cause as much filmic havoc as possible. What to expect? At this stage, anything goes! - From weird training videos to public safety announcements, from the latest sneak previews to favourite trailers, from music videos to God-knows-what - The Duke will fill the FrightFest screen with all manner of madness guaranteed to kick off your Saturday late night in style. As always The Duke has invited all his friends too so who knows who might turn up?
Come and join everyone in a screening so wild you will doubt your senses afterwards. Come and see The Duke.

South Africa 2018. 91 mins.

Director: Jerome Pikwane. With: Petronella Tshuma, Coco Merckel. Leiden Colbet, Ramunasi Fhathwani, Natasja Jacobs.

Raw South African horror comes of age. Busi, a destitute woman with dangerously repressed emotions, lands a job as a cleaner at a run down hospital in the heart of Johannesburg. Desperate for money so she can also relocate her younger sister, she learns to cope despite the predatory and corrupt hospital manager. But when Busi discovers an abandoned girl in the hospital, one who believes she's tormented by supernatural forces, she must also face her own past demons in order to save the child from the abusive and insatiable monster that pursues them both relentlessly.

Japan 2017. 96 mins.

Director: Shin'ichiro Ueda, With: Yuzuki Akiyama, Takuya Fujimura, Ayana Goda, Takayuki Hamatsu, Manabu Hosoi.

A cast of relative unknowns, a brilliantly disguised low budget and an epic, 37-minute opening single take makes Shin'ichiro Ueda's feature debut a bright, breezy and laugh-out-loud hilarious zombie comedy. A film crew is shooting a zombie horror flick in an abandoned water filtration plant, allegedly used for human experiments by the military. Just as the director browbeats his actors and demands more special effects blood, a real zombie apocalypse erupts, much to his auteur delight. Packed with meta-movie references as mocking as they are loving, this relentless takedown of the Living Dead genre is a total blast.

USA 1978. 90 mins.

Director: John Carpenter. With: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, P.J. Soles, Nancy Loomis, Nick Castle.

The terror trailblazer is back on the big screen! A new Michael Myers slasher is being released in October. So the perfect time to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the original cult classic with a pristine restoration of The Shape's first outing. You know the story. It's a timeless masterpiece that minted shock after shock. You know the John Carpenter score. It's now a standard of the genre. And you know that Jamie Lee Curtis made her Laurie Strode heroine the most beloved final girl. One of the most successful horror films ever - as you've always wanted to see it.

USA 2018. 107 mins.

Director: Dean Devlin. With: David Tennant, Robert Sheehan, Kerry Condon, Lisa Brenner, Jacqueline Byers.

A small-time crook who runs a valet parking scam, robbing rich client's houses while they dine at a fancy Italian restaurant, inadvertently stumbles upon a far more dangerous criminal - a sadistic serial killer played 'Doctor Who' star David Tennant - earning a chance to redeem himself in this down-and-dirty, armrest-clutching shocker. Directed by Dean (GEOSTORM) Devlin as an audacious throwback to such 90s thrillers as AMERICAN PSYCHO, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, CAPE FEAR and THE VANISHING, this crazy and outrageous jump-scare exploiter piles on the suspense and rips along at a nonstop pace to mine chilling contemporary paranoia.

USA 2017. 95 mins.

Director: Lisa Downs, With: Sam J Jones, Brian Blessed, Brian May

FLASH! Life proves, once again, to be even more outrageous than art and the story behind the story, revealed here for the first time gives us what happened to THE man behind the sparkly suit. Stuffed to the gills with interviews from the entire cast (Brian Blessed on top form), the musicians (with Brian May delivering KILLER stories), the producers and the fans, 'LIFE AFTER FLASH' is a true discovery: a look at how film can change lives for good and bad and still have the power after all these years! Both a celebration and a revelation, 'LIFE AFTER FLASH' is a brilliant moment in time: a reclamation and a celebration rolled into a brilliant big screen experience.

USA 2017. 97 mins.

Director: Evan Cecil. With: Sean Patrick Flanery, Lindsey Morgan, Andrew Jacobs, Karen Grassle, Heather Mignon

Bloodthirsty cowboys rodeo human livestock in a splatter romp beyond your wildest western dreams. When a coach party of vacationing senior citizens decide to take in a good ole' boy rodeo in the backwoods, little do they realise the showcase events they witness like branding, bullfighting, steer wrestling and tie-down roping will soon be carried out on hapless kidnap victims after hours with even nastier results. For the cow-punching ranch hands are using potent horse tranquilisers on themselves for sadistic human hog-killing kicks - and only scared tour guides Kit and Simon can save the bloody Buckaroo day.

USA 2018. 88 mins.

Director: Orson Oblowitz. With: Angela Trimbur, Zach Avery, Janel Parrish, Jonathan Howard, Fairuza Balk.

Two dysfunctional couples rent a modern luxury desert home for the weekend hoping to sort out their messed-up lives. Just as they are about to settle in for a fun night, a neighbour turns up at their front door saying she has car trouble. And that's when the murderous trouble really starts. Because without knowing it, the four friends have landed slap-bang in the wrong violent place at precisely the wrong bloody time. Hopefully your nerves of steel will hold for one of the most stylish, atmospheric and terror-filled home invasion horrors of them all.

USA 2018. 97 mins.

Director: Robert D. Krzykowski. With: Sam Elliott, Aidan Turner, Ron Livingston, Caitlin FitzGerald, Larry Miller

Decades after ending World War II by assassinating Adolf Hitler in an undercover operation so covert it never existed, unsung American hero Calvin Barr is called upon by the secret services to save the day again. Now he must hunt down the fabled Bigfoot, carrier of a deadly plague that could destroy mankind, hidden deep in the Canadian wilderness. Last time he left behind the love of his life. This time his legend, as the ageing veteran confronts the mythological beast as well as his own mythic past. Starring Hollywood royalty Sam Elliott and Aidan (Poldark) Turner as Barr

USA 2018. 86 mins.

Director: Quinn Lasher. With: Yvonne Strahovski, Justin Bruening, Abigail Pniowsky, Anna Pniowsky, Julian Bailey.

On holiday at a remote Canadian lake house, a mother and her two young daughters must fight for survival after falling into a terrifying and bizarre nightmare conceived by a psychopath. For 'John' has been lurking in the shadows for years every time the family took a holiday and even left a children's picture book to help them cope with the terrifying scenario he has meticulously planned. Will husband Shawn manage to make it to the house in time to stop the carnage? Can local handyman Owen put a stop to the madness? Watch, and learn the stark truth!

Argentina 2017. 90 mins.

Director: Demian Rugna. With: Agustin Rittano, Elvira Onetto, George Lewis, Julieta Vallina, Maxi Ghione.

Argentina has enrolled a new master into the Fright Club. Prepare to jump out of your skin as a husband returns home to find his wife terrified to enter the bathroom because there are voices coming from the pipes. Voices promising to kill her... As she turns into a bloody human pinball, their entire neighbourhood turns into a giant paranormal freak show. Faced with these unearthly incidents and short on answers, a policeman calls upon two paranormal researchers to investigate. And what they discover is so terrifying it will be the source of FrightFesters' nightmares for years to come.

UK 2017. 107 mins.

Director: John McPhail. With: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Mark Benton, Paul Kaye.

SHAUN OF THE DEAD gets FOOTLOOSE with HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL in a pure gore delight with a toe-tapping beat. Anna is looking forward to the end of high school. But while her widowed father dreams of university, she has other plans – jet-setting around the world to experience life before settling down. Suddenly a zombie apocalypse threatens her sleepy Scottish town, forcing Anna and friends to struggle, slash and sing their way to survival, facing the living dead in a desperate race to reach their loved ones. A holiday horror show stopper with a mental, maniacal and magical musical edge.

France 2017. 93 mins

Director: Dominique Rocher. With: Anders Danielsen Lie, Golshifteh Farahani, Denis Lavant, Sigrid Bouaziz, David Kammenos.

Richard Matheson meets George A. Romero in a stripped-down, existential zombie chiller based on the acclaimed French novel by Pit Agarmen. After waking up in an apartment where only the night before a party was raging, Sam is forced to come to grips with a stark and horrifying reality. He is now totally alone and a plague of the living dead have invaded the streets of Paris. Petrified with fear, Sam is going to have to barricade himself inside the building and organize his day-to-day, hand-to-mouth survival. But is he really the sole survivor of the zombie apocalypse?

Argentina 2018. 114 mins.

Director: Gonzalo Calzada. With: Desiree Salgueiro, Malena Sanchez, Pedro Merlo, Marta Lubos, Sofia del Tuffo

Two years after directing RESURRECTION, the most watched horror movie in Argentina history, Gonzalo Calzada returns with the first entry in what will become his 'Virgin Trilogy' of terror. Cursed with mystical powers, nineteen-year-old Natalia takes refuge in a remote convent where she is desperate to renounce the pleasures of the flesh. But when her mother commits suicide, she returns home to face her unbalanced sister who insists they embark on a voyage of discovery and self-awareness together. Soon ancestral drugs, pagan rites and a perverted version of the eternal battle between Good and Evil unleash the demons within them.

USA 2018. 101 mins.

Director: Marcus Hearn. With: Veronica Carlson, John Carson, Madeline Smith, Nadja Rejin, Caroline Munro.

Just when you thought you knew everything about the Hammer House of Horror, along comes this terrific and insightful documentary covering those underrated Warner Bros. co-productions like DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE, DRACULA A.D. 1972, THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA, FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED, CRESCENDO and THE LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES. With rare production stills, unseen footage, access to previously unpublished archives and a guide to the original locations, the key actors, directors (Peter Sasdy, Joe Dante) and historians (Christopher Frayling, Jonathan Rigby, Denis Meikle) reveal all about this beloved British horror brand's least explored period.

Sweden 2018. 93 mins.

Director: Kristian A. Soderstrom. With: Stefan Sauk, Lena Nilsson, Morgan Alling, Martin Wallstrom, Sven Wollter.

A Giallo obsessed VHS collector with a drinking problem finds a valuable video movie that could save him from eviction. When it gets stolen he starts a desperate hunt for the black-gloved perpetrator, meeting an alcoholic woman in love with all things 80s and a victim of work place bullying in the process. Can these two outsiders joined by nostalgia and broken dreams find redemption in each other? Dario Argento meets Mike Leigh in Soderstrom's sly and playfully moving celebration of Italian genre cinema and social realities. Fulci, Fenech and Freda fans will find this feature debut an absolute blast.

USA 2018. 88 mins.

Directors: Abiel Bruhn, John Rocco. With: Elyse Dufour, Jack Champion, Jermaine Rivers, Amber Neukum, Joe Walz.

One thief. Two kids. Three witches. No mercy. A scheming con artist Amber (Elyse Dufour, 'The Walking Dead') poses as an innocent babysitter to steal from a wealthy occult enthusiast with a reclusive son named Kevin. Her crew arrives to clean out the house just as Kevin stumbles upon his father's most prized artefact and unwittingly summons up a trio of witches known as The Three Mothers. As the playful, sadistic witches start picking people off, Amber and Kevin form an unlikely bond to try to survive the night together. A horror comedy from the executive producer of FINAL DESTINATION.

UK shorts take us from the strange to the beautiful. Watch strange nuns transform in Madder Isle, and a woman become stranger in Wrong Number. Home is not necessarily where the heart is, in The Blue Door starring Gemma Whelan, and Salt, starring Alice Lowe. And time is not on the side of some unfortunate souls in Be Uncertain and There are No Dividends. In international shorts, we go from the New Zealand elements in Fire in Cardboard City, to unhappy homes in Lebanon in Reprisal, to dangerous Irish streets in Catcalls, to a serial-killer-in-training in Marta.

Catcalls
Director: Kate Dolan. Cast: Sarah Kinlen, Edel Murphy, Martin O'Sullivan. Ireland 2017. 8 min.
A man cruises around late at night looking for something. Unfortunately, he has picked the wrong girls.

Madder Isle
Director: Laura Spark. UK 2017. 8 min.
In a poisoned sea, on a forsaken rock, a holy sect seek to bring about a new era, but Morgan discovers their intentions are not wholly pure.

Wrong Number
Director: Tiago Teixeira. Cast: Nicholas Anscombe, Ellie Woodruff-Bryant. UK 2018. 13 min.
When a woman has a foreboding dream, she must find out its meaning before it is too late.

There are No Dividends
Director: Joe Haughey. Cast: Rebecca Gethings, Marc Pickering, Toby Williams. UK 2018. 9 min.
Darren has a great new invention and wants to recruit the best and brightest. Unfortunately, the hotel wants money for the room he has 'rented'.

Be Uncertain
Director: Jack Carrivick. Cast: Aisling Bea, Stephen Wight. UK 2018. 15 min.
Stuck in a stagnant routine, JD finally does the unexpected, only to wish he hadn't.

The Blue Door
Director: Paul Taylor. Cast: Janie Booth, Annie McGrath, Gemma Whelan . UK 2017. 9 min.
A district nurse is assigned a new patient, and she discovers that the patient, and the home she inhabits, are hiding a dark secret.

Marta
Director: Lucia Forner. Cast: Thais Blume, Daniel Perez Prada. Spain 2017. 15 min.
Marta's dream profession is to be a serial killer, and she wants Carlos to be her first victim.

Reprisal
Director: Mike Malajalian. Cast: Lisa Debs, Anatole Saadeh. Lebanon 2017. 10 min.
A young woman becomes anxious at the news of the return of her husband who disappeared 30 years ago during the civil war.

Salt
Director: Rob Savage. Cast: Beau Gadsdon, Alice Lowe. UK 2017. 2 min.
A woman protects her dying child from a demonic force with a single weakness - a ring of salt.

Fire in Cardboard City
Director: Phil Brough. Cast: Julian Brough, Leigh Hart, Ella Wilkes. New Zealand 2018. 9 min.
A fire has broken out, and it's up to the firefighters to save the day! But what other disasters might befall them?

UK 2018. 89 mins.

Director Paul Raschid. With: Amrita Acharia, Nicholas Farrell, Oded Fehr, Sharon Maughan, Shauna Macdonald.

Near future Britain is at civil war and the State battles rebel militia for power. A woman wakes up in a blindingly white square room. An outside voice demands information, but she claims to have none. To gain answers, her captor utilizes the gruesome functionality of the White Chamber as an instrument of torture. The temperature within the space shifts between the extremes; water, acid and electricity fire out of the floor and ceiling. The woman's mind, body and soul are pushed to their limit and she begins to talk... but is she just surviving or does she know more?

USA 2017. 120 mins.

Director: Joseph Kahn. With: Calum Worthy, Jackie Long, Rory Uphold, Jonathan Park, Walter Perez.

FrightFest is delighted to welcome back rock video genius Joseph Kahn with his latest game-changing dynamo after the brilliant DETENTION. A progressive graduate student finds success and sparks outrage when his interest in battle rap as a thesis subject becomes a competitive obsession in this witty and energetic rise-of-the-underdog story, written by Kahn and Toronto rhymer Alex Larsen (aka Kid Twist). Featuring a superb cast of pretend and real-life battlers duking it out in a thrilling series of pugilistic verbal bouts, electric performances, countless cultural memes and a hip-hop–heavy soundtrack keep the buzz at a premium.

UK 2018. 90 mins.

Director: Johnny Kevorkian. With: Sam Gittins, David Bradley, Grant Masters, Abigail Cruttenden, Holly Weston

It's Christmas Day and the dysfunctional Milgram family wake to find a mysterious black substance surrounding their house. Something monumental is clearly happening right outside their door, but what exactly - an industrial accident, a terrorist attack, a nuclear war? All their limited information now comes from the television. But as the ominous gogglebox exerts an ever more sinister grip on their psyches, their terrified paranoia escalates into bloody carnage. A powder keg of throat-grabbing suspense, Cronenbergian intensity and mind-bending body horror from Johnny Kevorkian, the director of THE DISAPPEARED, and BAFTA-nominated Jack Tarling, the producer of GOD'S OWN COUNTRY.

Mexico 2017. 83 mins.

Director: Issa Lopez. With: Paola Lara, Hanssel Casillas, Rodrigo Cortes, Tenoch Huerta, Juan Ramon Lopez.

By overwhelming demand we are bringing our acclaimed FrightFest Glasgow masterpiece to London. Thousands have been murdered or gone missing in Mexico's ongoing violent drug war. The result is many orphaned children living on the streets caught in the unceasing cartel crossfire. In her third work of immense beauty, pain, fear and joy, writer/director Issa Lopez tells the magical story of five such urchins making the best of their daily struggle to survive. Perfectly balanced between harsh reality and the fantastic, this unflinching cautionary fable is part PAN'S LABYRINTH, part CITY OF GOD, all innovative South of the Border fairytale.

Canada 2018. 84 mins.

Director: Justin McConnell. With: Lora Burke, Jack Foley, Elitsa Bako, Steve Kasan, Sam James White.

A murderous shape-shifter sets out on a blood-soaked mission to make things right with the woman he loves but had to leave behind for her own safety's sake. But zipping between ever-faster body snatches is becoming confusing, mind-bending and more debilitating by the minute. Something has got to give. Like dark romance, feral natural instincts and fractured sanity. Time to take a dive into the deep aliveness that comes from following your broken heart, in acting on what you love despite the monstrous circumstances, alien limitations, hidden emotions or fears of the shocking unknown

UK 2017. 98 mins.

Directors: Andy Nyman & Jeremy Dyson. With: Martin Freeman, Paul Whitehouse, Alex Lawther, Andy Nyman, Paul Warren.

SPECIAL EVENT - We know you loved GHOST STORIES when it was on release earlier this year. Now you can learn even more about the banner British production as co-directors/co-writers Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson host a live commentary on their mega-successful stage show-turned-major movie in which a renowned sceptic of the supernatural and clairvoyant (played by Nyman) is given the opportunity to investigate three case histories of baffling paranormal activity. Get ready for many fun facts, loads of gossip and lots of behind-the-scenes secrets to be revealed by the two genre gurus and, of course, questions from the audience will be encouraged.

South Korea/Japan 2018. 81 mins.

Director: Takeshi Sone With: Yurika Akane, Lee Yuha, Yurisa, Choi Yona, Miya Sakimoto, Lee Eun-woo, Sou Hirosawa.

Plastic surgery horror features in many brilliant genre movies - EYES WITHOUT A FACE, CIRCUS OF HORRORS, THE SKIN I LIVE IN to name a few. Now add this eye-scorcher to the nerve-shredding list as director Takeshi Sone touches the diverse bases of romantic comedy, emotional melodrama, LGBQT heart breaker and gory shocker with his lyrical look at identity, family tragedy and warped revenge. When Miyu goes to Seoul to study and look for her missing sister, little does she know meeting famous plastic surgeon Hana will change her life forever and plunge her into a dark abyss of amoral choices.

USA 2018. 81 mins.

Director: Nicolas Pesce. With: Christopher Abbott, Mia Wasikowska, Olivia Bond, Laia Costa, Wendell Pierce.

A psychosexual horror with a seam of black comedy lying under its artfully glittering surface, this sadomasochistic sensation dares viewers into a thrilling cat-and-mouse conundrum. Based on a novel by Ryu Murakami, who wrote Takashi Miike's AUDITION, a new father decides to ease his parental stress by killing an anonymous prostitute, but the flaky escort he chooses has her own chilling agenda. With Argento and De Palma homage in plentiful supply, all underscored by vintage Goblin, Ennio Morricone and Bruno Nicolai soundtracks, join THE EYES OF MY MOTHER director Nicolas Pesce on a sleazy voyage through his neo-Giallo fearscape.

Argentina 2017. 114 mins.

Director: Gustavo Leonel Mendoza. With: Narciso Ibanez Serrador, Robert Englund, Paul Naschy, Barbara Crampton, Dario Argento.

Fear is an art form, an adrenaline trip with a rock spirit. Why is it that our attraction for the morbid, the sinister and the horrific can create the greatest of monsters, the greatest of tensions? From director Gustavo Leonel Mendoza, a fascinating documentary that takes you inside the global horror festival circuit to uncover and explore the fanaticism of those who love the fantasy genre. With spooky audiovisual sequences, and insight from genre specialists (including FrightFest's Alan Jones), filmmakers, stars and writers who are passionate about the subject, this shows us how much fun it is to be scared.

USA 2018. 97 mins

Director: Padraig Reynolds. With: Vanessa Grasse, Brendan Fletcher, Cole Vigue, Emily Tennant, Daniel O'Meara

A paranoid delusional woman, Mary White (Vanessa Grasse), has just been released from a mental hospital for setting her serial killer boyfriend on fire. Her boyfriend, James Lincoln Fields is brutal serial killer known as The Rain Ripper. After being released from the Hospital, Mary's vulnerable demeanor aids her in obtaining employment at an all night petrol station. However, left alone to her own devices, her paranoia and hallucinations return with furious consequences. Customers and friends suddenly start turning up dead, mutilated, all around her. Is The Rain Ripper back to finish her off?

USA/New Zealand 2018. 117 mins.

Directors: Yannis Veslemes, Ashim Ahluwalia, Can Evrenol, Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz, Katrin Gebbe, Calvin Reeder, Agnieszka Smoczynska, Peter Strickland. With: Sarah Navratil, Birgit Minichmayr, Jilon VanOver, Claude Duhame, Niharika Singh

The curse of forbidden love from Austria, a childbirth Djinn from Turkey, devoured heart power Polish-style, American cannibal mutants, Greek Goblins, an Indian palace of horrors, possession in the German mountains, a vicious Hungarian fairytale of a princess and her two jealous suitors - eight unusual tales of folklore, legend and myth that laid the fear foundations for the vast scope of the international horror genre. From the acclaimed directors of GOODNIGHT MOMMY, IN FABRIC, BASKIN, THE RAMBLER, THE LURE, NORWAY, DADDY and NOTHING BAD CAN HAPPEN, an avant-garde anthology of the glorious, the gory and the mystifying.

Austria 2018. 94 mins.

Director: Justin P. Lange. With: Nadia Alexander, Toby Nichols, Karl Markovics, Margarete Tiesel, Dylan Trowbridge

Mina is an undead flesh-eating ghoul, cursed to haunt her childhood woodland home where she was murdered. Nobody invading her territory gets out alive. That is, until she comes across Alex, an abused blind boy, discovered in a car trunk. After killing his obnoxious companion, Mina lets Alex live, an action that throws her very existence into upheaval. For through his trauma she starts experiencing some old human feelings resurfacing, such as empathy and love. Could be Mina is more alive than she thought. A transfixing, unnerving masterpiece from newcomer Lange, featuring a stunning central performance by Nadia Alexander.

USA 2018. 95 mins.

Directors: Doron & Yoav Paz. With: Hani Furstenberg, Ishai Golan, Brynie Furstenberg, Lenny Ravich, Alex Tritenko

The first original movie for 'Dread Central Presents' is a stunning reimagining of the mystical Jewish legend and the second feature from the JERUZALEM directing duo, the Paz brothers. Set in Lithuania, 1673, conflicted Hanna (superb Hani Furstenberg) conjures up a dangerous entity using Kabbalah magic to protect her isolated, tight-knit community under attack from both the plague and deadly evil invaders. But the creature she moulds out of mud echoes her tragic past and becomes so connected to its creator that she can't see what a heartless monster has been fashioned from abject fear and desperate loathing.

France 2018. 95 mins.

Director: Gaspar Noe. With: Sofia Boutella, Romain Guillermic, Souheila Yacoub, Kiddy Smile, Giselle Palmer.

The Cannes Director's Fortnight 2018 sensation, which the entertainment bible Variety called "FAME directed by the Marquis de Sade with a Steadicam", finds French extreme cinema's incorrigible wild child Gaspar Noe at the peak of his confrontational and hypnotically mesmerising powers. A young dance troupe rehearse for an upcoming American tour in a dingy school assembly hall. But someone spikes the mid-session break drinks with LSD and soon A Chorus Line Heaven becomes nightclubbed Hell in an escalating nightmare of intense emotions and apocalyptic actions. Based on true events, this throbbing whirling dervish is IRREVERSIBLE Noe's Disco Inferno via Dante's.

USA 2017. 89 mins.

Director: Adam Marcus. With: Michelle Renee Allaire, Petra Areskoug, Scott Burkett, Drew Lynch, Ryan Leigh Seaton.

A Christmas Eve dinner goes horribly and hilariously wrong in director Adam (JASON GOES TO HELL) Marcus' savvy seasonal shocker that's smartly scripted, wonderfully acted, viciously paced and fiendishly funny from snowglobed get-go to Silent Night climax. Someone has put something in the party punch causing everyone to tell the unvarnished truth at the already dysfunctional Pope family's holiday reunion. When the head of the household psychopathically freaks-out, the scene is set for murderous mayhem and splatterific revenge as the deviant relatives reveal their long-buried hatreds and festering loathings. A frighteningly cheeky and tense slayride. Yule love it!

USA 2018. 77 mins

Director: Andy Mitton. With: Arija Bareikis, Charlie Tacker, Greg Naughton, Alex Draper, Carol Stanzione.

Andy Mitton, co-writer and co-director of WE GO ON and YELLOWBRICKROAD, goes solo with a staggeringly effective, character-driven supernatural horror. Stunningly scripted and performed, this gripping paranormal chiller tells the spooky tale of divorced father Simon taking his 12-year-old son, Finn, to rural Vermont to help him property flip an old farmhouse. As they start to fix the place up they soon realise that no matter how deceased Lydia, the previous owner was, it doesn't look like she ever left the premises. And with every repair they make, her malicious spirit seems to be getting stronger.

UK 2018. 91 mins.

Director: Sam Ashurst. With: James Swanton.

Theatre comes to FrightFest! James Swanton's acclaimed play is a Shakespearean retelling of Mary Shelley's masterpiece from the monster's perspective, and former FrightFest 'Best Scare' Award winner Sam Ashurst has combined theatre and cinema to bring it to FrightFesters. Shot on the 200th anniversary of the novel's publication, featuring visuals director Simon Rumley (FASHIONISTA) called "Hypnotic", a performance critic Anton Bitel (Sight & Sound) called "a tour de force" and a soundtrack by Johnny Jewel (Twin Peaks: The Return). Imagine if David Lynch made plays instead of films, that's FRANKENSTEIN'S CREATURE. You've never seen anything like it.

Who will follow in the bloody footsteps of last year's winner Danny Morgan? Now in its third year, the Screen Genre Rising Star award once again celebrates the work of an emerging UK genre talent, Hosted by film writer and Screen International contributing editor Nikki Baughan, this year's five short listed nominees are Aislinn Clarke, Mike Mort, Marcia Do Vales, Sam Gittins, and Ella Hunt.

USA 2018. 91 mins.

Director: Andre Gower. With: Fred Dekker, Seth Green, Shane Black, Adam Green, Joe Lynch.

A heartfelt love letter to the entire history of Fred Dekker's 1987 cult classic THE MONSTER SQUAD, from the cast and crew members who brought the faux Universal creatures to life, to the obsessed fans and horror filmmakers who wouldn't be where they are today without it. Dekker's family frightener initially tanked at the box office but found a second life on VHS and cable TV. For years the creators were unaware of the phenomenon growing on the genre fan fringes and this superb documentary details how it happened and why decades later an entire community refuse to let go.

Jealousy rears its head with deadly consequences in two UK shorts, Envy and Baghead. The cost of rent is almost too much for one couple in The Cost of Living, while a bride has surprising second thoughts in NeckFace. Maisie Williams fights to protect the birds she loves from local bullies in Corvidae, while Adam Buxton and Asa Butterfield run in circles in Right Place, Wrong Tim. In international shorts, it might not end up being a Special Day for one teenager, while a man tries to beat the devil in Payment. One woman finds her senses betray her in The Lady from 406, while another succombs to a man's strange obsessions in Puppet Master.

Envy
Director: Sam Hoggarth. Cast: Pippa Harrison, Danielle Love. UK 2017. 6 min.
At an after-school drama lesson, Emma finds out that her best friend Jess has thrown their long-term plans out the window, causing Emma to see red. And green.

Special Day
Director: Teal Greyhavens. Cast: Maya Bowman, Caesar James, Laura Wernette. USA 2018. 7 min.
Birthdays are a time for the whole family to come together.

The Lady from 406
Director: Lee Kyoung-mi. Cast: Lee Yeong-ae. Republic of Korea, 2014. 14 min.
The lady who lives in room 406 hates the cigarette smoke from downstairs, but when she goes to complain, the neighbour says something odd.

The Cost of Living
Director: Tom Nicoll. Cast: Jonathan Coote, Liam Harkins, Lorna Nickson Brown. UK 2018. 4 min.
In the city of exorbitant costs, how far would you go to pay your rent?

Payment
Director: Ben Larned. Cast: Jamal Douglas, Thomas McNamara. USA 2018. 8 min.
After 10 years of hiding, Stephen confronts the Salesman to whom he sold his soul, unaware that the demon has fallen in love with him.

Baghead
Director: Alberto Corredor. Cast: Natalie Oliver, Julian Seager, Oliver Walker. UK 2017. 15 min.
Kevin is haunted by grief and has questions that only the recently deceased can answer.

Puppet Master
Director: Hanna Bergholm. Cast: Merja Poyhonen, Jari Virman. Finland, 2018. 15 min.
A lonely woman succumbs to the desires of a mysterious man, who wants to possess her in more ways than one.

Right Place Wrong Tim
Director: Eros Vlahos. Cast: Asa Butterfield, Adam Buxton, Ella Purnell. UK 2018. 7 min.
Our favourite clockmaking family is back again. And again. And again. And again.

Corvidae
Director: Tom de Ville. Cast: Maisie Williams. UK 2018. 11 min.
A dark fairy tale about a young girl who loves birds, and the very strange thing that happens when she tries to protect a wounded crow.

NeckFace
Director: Llanbobl Vision. Cast: Sian Harries, Isy Suttie. UK 2018. 11 min.
Having dreamed of the perfect wedding, Laney wakes up with the world's most unwelcome guest in her bed.

UK 2018. 90 mins.

Director: Matthew Holness. With: Sean Harris, Alun Armstrong, Simon Bubb, Andy Blythe, Joe Galluci.

After returning to his childhood home, a disgraced children's puppeteer is forced to confront his wicked stepfather and the dark secrets that have tortured his entire life. A supernatural horror combining the stark psychodrama of George A. Romero's MARTIN with the uncanny terror of DEAD OF NIGHT, Sean Harris gives a tour-de-force performance as Philip in this bleak and understated exercise in creeping dread. Informed as much by silent cinema expressionism, the British classics THE INNOCENTS and DON'T LOOK NOW, and the claustrophobic suburban Gothic atmosphere of Pete Walker's FRIGHTMARE, POSSUM will terrify in the best shock corridor tradition.

UK 2018. 91 mins.

Director: Tom Paton. With: Jessica-Jane Stafford, Lauren Ashley Carter, Sophia Del Pizzo, Mike Beckingham, Angela Dixon.

THE RAID meets H. P. Lovecraft-style Cosmic Horror in a 1980s inspired slice of John Carpenter-esque action with a 'Stranger Things' vibe. A young woman is forced to push past her worst fears and battle to deport an ancient entity back to the nightmare darkness from where it came. Set inside a single location building known as The Artemis Black Site, director Tom (REDWOOD) Paton mixes a thrilling survival story in the ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK mode with shocking horror elements and a villain cut from the same mould as Hannibal Lecter from THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.

USA 2018. 77 mins

Director: Trevor Stevens. With: Heston Horwin, Diamond White, Isaac Alisma, Jordan Allen, Marcus Blake.

In a future world where society has collapsed, tuition has sky rocketed, cruel fraternities have taken over and bicycles dominate the campus economy, one ingenious freshman is on a mission to retrieve his stolen bicycle. Watch in awe as debut director Trevor Stevens plays with genre conventions and audience expectations in this woozily twisting YOJIMBO meets ROAD WARRIOR mash-up with push bikes. Can freshman Leroy break the trade in black market bikes with the help of his investigative journalist roommate Piper? Think TURBO KID, HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN and all manner of quirky Dystopian B-movies to find out.

Argentina 2017. 82 mins.

Directors: Ezequiel Endelman, Leandro Montejano. With: Silvia Montanari, Anahi Politi, Erika Boveri, Claudio Armesto, Valeria Giorcelli.

Buenos Aires, 1985, the first anniversary of the death of Alexis Carpenter, the unstable supermodel who died tragically in a horrendous catwalk fire. Fashion editor Lucia L'uccello wants to honour Alexis in a commemorative issue of her magazine. But the night before the cover photo shoot, Alexis' original dresses are stolen and staff members begin to disappear at the hands of a sinister silhouette in a long black leather raincoat. Is someone seeking revenge? Or has Alexis returned from the grave? Mario Bava, Dario Argento and SUSPIRIA fans, here's the sumptuous neo-Giallo you've all been waiting for!

South Africa 2018. 91 mins.

Director: Jerome Pikwane. With: Petronella Tshuma, Coco Merckel. Leiden Colbet, Ramunasi Fhathwani, Natasja Jacobs.

Raw South African horror comes of age. Busi, a destitute woman with dangerously repressed emotions, lands a job as a cleaner at a run down hospital in the heart of Johannesburg. Desperate for money so she can also relocate her younger sister, she learns to cope despite the predatory and corrupt hospital manager. But when Busi discovers an abandoned girl in the hospital, one who believes she's tormented by supernatural forces, she must also face her own past demons in order to save the child from the abusive and insatiable monster that pursues them both relentlessly.