Frightfest 2023 Discovery Screen 1 Programme

Frightfest 2023 is fast approaching and there may be some of you that haven’t yet picked up your tickets for this epic horror-fest.

What better way to help you decide on what you should see, than us giving you the full details on what will screen throughout the event.

In this first post, we’re focusing on Discovery Screen 1 which will be hosting some fantastic, hotly anticipated new releases, plus some classic restored horrors that shouldn’t be missed on the big screen.

Frightfest 2023 Discovery Screen 1

Cineworld Leicester Square
Super Screen (375)

Empire Studios Discovery Screen 1

Thursday August 24

20:15 Punch (World Premiere)

Director: Andy Edwards. With: Alina Allison, Kierston Wareing, Jamie Lomas, Faye Campbell. UK 2023. 80 mins.

From multi-tasker Andy Edwards, writer, director and/or producer of Ibiza Undead, Midnight Peepshow, The Ghosts of Monday and Grindsploitation. Before returning to university, Frankie wants one last night out in her coastal hometown. But it’s not just friends, family and ex-boyfriends that don’t want to see her leave… Local bogeyman Mr. Punch is stalking the town, and he knows just the Way To Do It. As the carnage escalates, Frankie and friends must fight to stay alive in this seaside-gothic, end-of-the-pier slasher, the first instalment in what Edwards hopes will become the first UK horror franchise in the Jason/Michael/Freddie/Jigsaw tradition.

22:40 Lore (World Premiere)

Directors: James Bushe, Patrick Ryder, Greig Johnson. With: Ben Crompton, Bill Fellowes, Richard Brake, Andrew Lee Potts. UK 2023. 87 mins.

On a weekend trip to Scotland, four ‘scare’ loving friends book a ghostly horror-themed camping excursion. That night around the campfire, Darwin, their strange and creepy guide encourages them to tell the most twisted stories that they fear and to burn a totem that will help feed the evil that lives there. Tales of sinister spirits, demons lurking in the shadows and the truest forms of malevolence emerge. Little do they know the stories they relate will have major consequences for them all. For some of the most unbelievable stories might be based on fact and should never be told.

Friday August 25

13:00 A Million Days (World premiere)

Director: Mitch Jenkins. With: Simon Merells, Kemi-Bo Jacobs, Hermione Corfield, Darrell D’Silva. UK 2023. 83 mins.

2041: Earth is in ecological collapse. The continued existence of humanity rests on becoming an interplanetary civilisation. The Seed programme has been created to settle new worlds in the Cosmos from our moon to the Jupiter moon, Europa. Its mission has been made possible by a single entity, an Artificial Intelligence system known as Jay, which has been calculating the odds of success, survival and resilience. Now over the course of one night an astronaut must decide between pursuing his life’s work or sabotaging it for the greatest cause in the entire universe.

15:20 Trim Season (International Premiere)

Director: Ariel Vida. With: Alex Esoe, Bethlehem Million, Ally Ioannides, Marc Senter. USA 2023. 100 mins.

A group of young people from Los Angeles go to a remote marijuana farm hoping to make some quick cash. Completely cut off from the outside world, the small crew of trimmers discover the stalks there have disturbingly deep roots in ancient blood-soaked traditions. Now they must fight to escape the final harvest and the mountain on which they are trapped in this stylized and twisted tale of the Emerald Triangle. Directed by Ariel Vida, veteran production designer on films such as Synchronic and She Dies Tomorrow, and inspired by the true story of missing women from Humboldt County, California.

18:10 How to Kill Monsters (World Premiere)

Director: Stewart Sparke. With: Lyndsey Crain, Arron Dennis, Fenfen Huang, Daniel Thrace. UK 2023. 95 mins.

Jamie Lancaster is the sole survivor of a bloody massacre at a remote cabin in the woods. Claiming her friends were torn apart and eaten by a horrific monster, she’s arrested and locked up for a crime she didn’t commit. But Jamie’s assertion of innocence was real because, suddenly, the entire police station is ripped from reality and thrown into a nightmarish dimension of Lovecraftian monsters hungry for human flesh. To survive the night, Jamie must team up with rookie cops and lawbreakers to slash their way through a monster army and find a way to get back home.

20:45 Doctor Jekyll (World Premiere)

Director: Joe Stephenson. With: Eddie Izzard, Scott Chambers, Lindsay Duncan, Simon Callow. UK 2023. 90 mins.

An isolated mansion, a mysterious locked room, creepy corridors, a dusty cellar and a mad doctor… Be ready for a modern reimagining of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 novella ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’. When ex-convict Rob takes up the position of carer to the infamous Nina Jekyll, little does he know he’s part of an evil master plan devised by her alter ego Rachel Hyde. But to what lengths will Rob go to satisfy his client’s weird wishes and his own ambitions for the daughter he has never even seen.

23:10 Here for Blood (English Premiere)

Director: Daniel Turres. With: Shawn Roberts, Maya Misaljevic, Joelle Farrow, Dee Snider. Canada 2022. 100 mins.

It’s the tongue-in-cheek, extreme splatter, campy comedy horror shocker that was a huge hit at FrightFest Glasgow! When his girlfriend is swamped with college exams, struggling pro-wrestler Tom O’Bannon agrees to fill in as a last-minute replacement for her well-paying babysitting job. Tom arrives at an isolated family home where he meets the precocious 10-year-old Grace. But what starts off as a quiet night of pizza and video games quickly spirals into bloody, violent, demonic chaos as Tom and Grace find themselves fighting for their lives when an otherworldly cult of masked intruders descend on the home.

Saturday August 26

10:30 Short Film Showcase 2 (Line-up to be announced on Aug 8)

13:00 The Conjuring

Warner Bros 100th Anniversary Celebration Screening

Director: James Wan. With: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston, Lili Taylor. USA 2013. 112 mins.

Ten years ago Saw and Insidious director James Wan created a sensationally entertaining old-school freak-out launching an entire shocker-verse in the process that included The Nun and Annabelle franchises. So welcome true-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren back to the Big Screen in one of the smartest, most viscerally effective supernatural chillers in recent memory as they help a family terrorized by a dark demonic presence in their remote farmhouse. Handsomely shot, with a sense of permanent dread, this expertly button-pushing scare-fest had the polish and the ace cast to mastermind a classic genre revival.

15:40 The Moor (World Premiere) *Part of the First Blood Strand

Director: Chris Cronin. With: Sophia La Porta, David Edward Robertson, Bernard Hill, Elizabeth Dormer-Phillips. UK 2023. 122 mins.

Claire was just a child when her best friend was abducted and murdered. Twenty-five years later, Bill, the dead boy’s father, has a plan to learn the truth about what really happened. With the help of psychic Eleanor, they venture deep into a haunted moor to find his son’s supposed resting place. But they find more than just the ghosts of dead children, for something dark and evil stirs at their presence and beneath their feet. What happens when so much grief and guilt are left unresolved in the aftermath of a terrible crime that affects lives and relationships?

18:30 Isaac (World Premiere) *Part of the First Blood Strand

Director: Tariq Sayed. With: Johnny Vivash, Catriona MacColl, Bosco Hogan, Kathryn Louise. UK 2023. 87 mins.

After losing their first child to a genetic disease, grief-stricken parents Nicholas and Sarah become one of ten couples to enrol into unique clinical trials launched by the Geo Group; an established cellular meat company using its technology to create GM babies. The plan is to overcome the cruelty of nature. But are the experiments the single greatest scientific event in the history of mankind, or the beginning of an unimaginable epic nightmare? Featuring Catriona MacColl, star of the Lucio Fulci horror classics The Beyond, City of the Living Dead and The House by the Cemetery.

20:45 The Glenarma Tapes (International Premiere) *Part of the First Blood Strand

Director: Tony Devlin. With: Warren McCook, Emily Lamey, Ryan Early, Sophie Hill. UK 2023. 78 mins.

In spring 2020, five art students and two lecturers went missing in a remote forest in Ireland. What happened to them has remained unknown – until now. Their last movements are pieced together from found footage recovered from a police operation almost two years later, where it becomes clear that what started out as an innocent prank went badly wrong and became a horrific fight for survival in the cold darkness of Glenarma Forest. Let the deadly race to escape begin… The Glenarma Tapes is the latest film to be produced through Northern Ireland Screen’s New Talent Focus initiative.

23:05 Haunted Ulster Live (World Premiere) *Part of the First Blood Strand

Director: Dominic O’Neill. With: Aimee Richardson, Mark Claney, Antoinette Morelli. UK 2023. 78 mins.

Inspired by the iconic BBC series ‘Ghostwatch’, think Ulster TV meets The Blair Witch Project in Dominic O’Neill’s fusion of traditional Irish storytelling and folk horror suffused in an atmosphere of 1960s British and American horror. On Halloween night 1998, TV veteran Gerry Burns, teams up with popular children’s presenter Michelle Kelly to investigate poltergeist activity in a haunted house on the Castlereagh Road in Belfast. A séance causes the broadcast to descend into chaos when the youngest child is mysteriously abducted by an unseen force and the two presenters must face their greatest fears on live TV.

Sunday August 27

13:30 [REC] Terror Without Pause (UK Premiere)

Director: Diego López. With: Jaume Balaguero, Paco Plaza, Javier Botet, Manuela Velasco. Spain 2022. 85 mins.

Fifteen years after the release of the seminal Spanish horror classic [REC], the main protagonists, directors, stars, producers, fans and critics analyze the keys to the film’s global success. Back at the famous Barcelona apartment building where the virus shocker began life, co-directors Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza discuss all aspects of its origin and gestation and the impact of the shocker phenomenon that became an unprecedented franchise leading to three sequels and the American remake Quarantine. Includes backstage secrets, never-before-seen footage and contributions from Nacho Vigalondo, Sitges Festival spokesperson Angel Sala and Filmax head Julio Fernández.

16:00 Enter the Clones of Bruce (European Premiere)

Director: David Gregory. With: Bruce Li, Bruce Le, Bruce Lo, Bruce Liang. US 2023. 93 mins.

Get ready to play a game of death … and another … and another! When martial arts superstar Bruce Lee died in 1973, the world went into shock. Despite Lee’s short filmography he broke down international barriers and became an icon. So, what happens when an actor at the height of their career can no longer fill the vast demand for his talents? Enter the crazy Bruceploitation world as every Asian film industry got Kung Fu Fighting with their own pretenders to the Lee throne starring in cash-in titles using variations of the words Enter, Dragon, Fist, Fury and Boss.

18:25 The Blue Rose (World Premiere)

Director: George Baron. With: George Baron, Olivia Scott Welch, Ray Wise, Logan Miller. USA 2023. 105 mins

The feature debut from 18 year-old writer/director George Baron, is a genre-bending, surrealist pastel noir inspired by the Golden Age of Hollywood and the sinister mysteries that lie in the underbelly of Tinseltown. Set in the 1950s, Baron plays Detective Dalton and Olivia Scott Welch (‘Fear Street’) Detective Lilly, two rookie cops determined to solve a seemingly clear-cut homicide, only to find themselves in an alternate reality of their worst nightmares. Inspired by David Lynch (Blue Velvet, ‘Twin Peaks’), Ann Biller (The Love Witch), Leslie Gore, Bobby Vinton and Bernard Herrmann.

21:00 Sympathy for the Devil (European Premiere)

Director: Yuval Adler. With: Nicolas Cage, Joel Kinnaman, Kaiwi Lyman, Nancy Good. USA 2023. 90 mins.

Revenge is a Hell of a ride. Yuval Adler, the acclaimed director of Bethlehem, gives new meaning to ‘cruise control’ one fateful night in Sin City. Taken captive by a mysterious passenger (Nicolas Cage) at gunpoint, a man (Joel Kinnaman) on his way to hospital where his wife is in labour, enters a high-stakes game of cat and mouse. Soon it becomes clear to survive the night he will need to uncover the truth behind this red satin-dressed stranger’s motives. As a modern-day morality tale, Sympathy for the Devil cleverly unravels a meticulous plot to reveal an unbelievable diabolical truth!

Monday August 28

10:45 Failure! (World Premiere)

Director: Alex Kahuam. With: Ted Raimi, Merrick McCartha , Noel Douglas Orput, Melissa Diaz. Mexico 2023. 87 mins.
Remember director Alex Kahaum at the FrightFest 2021 launch of his Forgiveness? He said he’d be back with his new film and here it is! Failure! features a tour-de-force performance from cult superstar Ted Raimi as 56 year-old James caught between a rock and a hard place. Due to a massive debt with his bank, James is given one hour to choose between financial ruin or murder to protect his family. Shot in one single take with no cuts, no tricks and no excuses, Failure! is a smart genre-bending thriller from an exciting new voice on the Mexican scene.

13:00 Otto Baxter: Not a F**king Horror Story + The Puppet Asylum (London Premiere)

Directors: Otto Baxter, Bruce Fletcher. With: Paul Kaye, Adeel Akhtar, Myanna Buring, Dexter Fletcher. UK 2023. 31 mins + 83 mins

An unpredictable allegorical biopic from a filmmaker with Down Syndrome charts the life of a horned baby through years in captivity and ultimate revenge. Fusing horror, dark comedy, an evocative soundtrack and a foul-mouthed monster, a macabre story of a misunderstood child on a path to controlling their own life. Plus a documentary on how 35 year-old director Otto Baxter uses his short film to explore his birth, adoption and epic battles. During the filmmaking process Otto’s birth mother died and he found himself confronting life in the real world, including his future role in society.

16:00 Short Film Showcase 3 (Line-up to be announced)

18:30 It Follows: 4K Restorative World Premiere

Directed by David Robert Mitchell. With Maika Monroe, Mike Lanier, Jake Weary, Keir Gilchrist, Lily Sepe, Ruby Harris. USA 2014, 100 mins.

Lauded by critics and audiences alike as a modern horror classic, It Follows, now looking better than ever, is about to creep up on you and shock you again in 4K. For 19-year-old Jay, Autumn should be about school, boys and weekends out at the lake. But after a seemingly innocent sexual encounter, she is plagued by strange visions and the inescapable sense that someone, or something, is following her. With this burden, Jay and her teenage friends must find a way to escape the horrors that seem to be only a few steps behind.

Thanks to Icon Film Distribution, along with Second Sight Films.

For information and tickets to Frightfest 2023 visit: Frightfest 2023 tickets