Five FrightFest Facts From Josh Stifter director of Greywood’s Plot

2021 has been a strange year and although things may not have completely returned to normality one thing to be thankful for is the return of the Arrow Video FrightFest which takes place for real this year at Cineworld, Leicester Square in central London.

The annual five-day four-screen 50+ film extravaganza runs between 26th and 30th August and after a year online, it is wonderful to have FrightFest back with a hybrid event featuring in-cinema and online components bringing audiences a whole host of truly terrifying and terrific horror films.

Below we feature one of those monstrously amazing movies with our regular exclusive interview feature Five FrightFest Facts From and these five are from Josh Stifter director of Greywood’s Plot:

1. Tell us about your film?
Greywood’s Plot is a black-and-white send up to the creature features I grew up loving. It’s the story of two friends who adventure into the woods after receiving a mysterious video that they believe could be footage of El Chupacabra. Their half baked journey leads to to a plot of land owned by an eccentric recluse named Doug Greywood. And from there… things get weird…

2. How did you get into making horror movies?
I honestly don’t remember a time when I wasn’t filming something. From the first day I stole my dad’s video camera out of the closet when I was 5, I was hooked. The friends I made Greywood’s Plot with are actually the same friends who were in those silly movies! I went to school for animation and have been creating and directing cartoons for a living, but the one thing on my bucket list was to make a feature film. I had made tons of shorts and other videos, but never a feature. For my birthday, I convinced Daniel Degnan and Keith Radichel, to come out to a family members land in northern Minnesota and try filming this crazy concept with me. They showed up with another friend, Nathan Strauss.

We didn’t have a script, we didn’t really know what we were doing, but we just started filming. And failed miserably. However, that failure got more ideas moving through my skull and it started me on the path of writing Greywood’s Plot. There’s actually a lot of footage we filmed that first time in the woods that still made it into the final film.

But Greywood’s Plot didn’t end up being my first feature. I ended up on the Robert Rodriguez reality series, Rebel Without a Crew where I made my first feature The Good Exorcist. But with everything we learned on that project, Daniel and I knew we had to go finish our little doggy monster movie.

3. What film would you love to see screened at FrightFest and why?
Society.
I feel in love with Society after seeing it on The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs and couldn’t believe no one had told me to watch it! I loved it’s offbeat humor, weird choices, very disturbing story, and everything else about it. But there’s never been an opportunity arise for me to be able to see it on the big screen. I would love to see the shunting play out in a theater with a large group of people (especially if some of them had no idea what they were in for).

4. If you could create your own award to give at the FrightFest, what would it be and why?
Cutest Monster Award.
I’m a huge fan of little monster movies. Critters, Gremlins, Ghoulies… if there are creepy, “cute” little things in movies, I’m sold! I would want this award to be a thing simply to get more people in the community making little monster flicks.

5. If your life was made into a horror film, what would it be called and who would play the starring role?
That’s a tough one! I’m gonna’ go with “Getting Graphic in the Midwest”.
I think it would likely be one of those really quirky, fun movies that you have no idea what to expect. Like Come To Daddy. I think Elijah Wood could grow a goofy van dyke beard, slap on a flannel shirt, and run around spraying his friends with blood and it would be a pretty legit interpretation of my life.

Greywood’s Plot plays MONDAY 30TH AUGUST 2021 – 3.45 PM Find our more and book your tickets HERE