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Festival coverage

Dead By Dawn

2007

What is known as Scotland's International Horror Film Festival (posh title for superior nasties) opens at on April 26 for three days of blood letting and supernatural monstrousness. The originator and queen of the dark, Adele Hartley (adele@deadbydawn.co.uk), is once more in charge of your sleepless nights and fearful days.

The world premiere of Southern Gothic, with writer/director Mark Young in attendance - he's the gentleman at the back with a pallid complexion and unusual teeth - will open the first vein. UK premieres of Mulberry Street, Shutter, Gruesome (called Salvage in the States - imagine Groundhog Day and getting murdered over and over), The Hamiltons from San Francisco, The Abandoned from Spain, the impressive End Of The Line from Quebec, La Hora Fria (The Dark Hour) from Spain and Flight Of The Living Dead (zombies, not snakes, on a plane) with writer/director Scott Thomas on hand for a Q&A - if his parachute opens.

There is an all night screamfest and other chilling treats for scareophiles and gore junkies, with guest of honour Alex de la Iglesia (Day Of The Beast, Perdita Durango, Accion Mutante) from Spain presiding over the (blood) red carpet. "I wouldn't want the kind of movies I do to become trendy," he is reported to have uttered. "I've always hated trends and I would feel quite uncomfortable creating one." Perhaps it will happen in Edinburgh, between the full moon and the Day of Judgment.

View complete schedule

Other years (2)

Latest reviews

  • The Hitcher
    Review preview for The Hitcher

    For all that the Hitcher is an ambiguous horror film it is also a spectacular piece of Eighties action cinema.

    Donald Munro · 4.5 out of 5
    A thriller about a hitch-hiker with murderous intent.
  • Shutter
    Review preview for Shutter

    The latest in the line of hairy hauntings, Shutter, for the most part conforms to expectations, although it has a pay off which lifts it above the pack.

    Amber Wilkinson · 3 out of 5
    A man and his girlfriend become haunted by the spirit of a girl after a road accident.
  • Zombie Virus On Mulberry Street
    Review preview for Zombie Virus On Mulberry Street

    The important thing is, thanks to a smart and involving script, we care about whether they make it until morning.

    Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
    Manhattan gets ratty.
  • End Of The Line
    Review preview for End Of The Line

    You know you can’t be certain of anything. And that’s disturbing.

    Angus Wolfe Murray · 4 out of 5
    Armageddon on the subway.
  • Southern Gothic
    Review preview for Southern Gothic

    The horror/vampire elements fundamentally feel like something of an afterthought.

    Keith Hennessey Brown · 3 out of 5
    Vampires in church.
  • Flight Of The Living Dead
    Review preview for Flight Of The Living Dead

    This has everything you could want from a film set in the air. Except originality.

    Martin Gray · 3 out of 5
    Zombies on a plane.
  • The Backwoods
    Review preview for The Backwoods

    It is as though all the moral ambiguity and mean-spiritedness of 1970s cinema had never died.

    Anton Bitel · 3.5 out of 5
    A British couple's Spanish holiday turns to horror after a disturbing discovery on a hunting trip.