FrightFest — A–Z of films

When it comes to action, the physical abilities of the cheerleaders make them genuinely scary predators.

Jennifer Kent's film creates something original, even frightening

The film is rarely actually scary but it contains enough gore to please the average genre fan.

Smart, witty and genuinely scary in places, Digging Up The Marrow delivers much more than you'd expect.

It's not quite as comprehensive as might have been hoped, but it still has a lot to say and a lot of fun doing it.

Alien invasion aficionados would do well to avoid but if you're a fan of the comedy of discomfort with a slacker vibe and a hint of romance, Extraterrestrial certainly has charms.

The characterisation of this verdant terra incognito is decidedly old-fashioned, like a racist grandpa who insists on holding the door for ladies.

Slick, tense, darkly funny and very genre-aware.

Shows how tension can be mounted on a budget.

It will revolt some viewers, who won't see what's funny about it at all, but others will love it.

The whole, torn between routine slasher film and otherworldly creepfest, struggles to find a clear voice.

Late Phases contains one of the best portrayals of a blind person ever put on screen.

Feels less experimental and alternative than, well, the zombie genre demands.

A Nightmare On Elm Street remains an atmospheric and genuinely unsettling film with a chilling, universally relatable central motif: sleep gets everyone in the end.

Pretentious? Maybe. Confusion? Certainly.

Considerably more enjoyable than it ought to be.

The film gaily sets about asking a number of questions it has no intention of answering.

You don't venture into this steaming snake pit without balls of steel

A masterpiece of horror cinema, it features a bleak atmosphere, striking visuals, frenzied performances, and an utterly unshakable, creeping sense of dread.

It takes real skill to make a film this stupid this effectively.

John Jarrett dominates every scene in which he appears and quite a few in which he doesn't.

Simply aping horror films of yesteryear, layering on the piles of intestines, and putting self-aware performances on screen, isn’t enough on its own in today’s crowded field of horror parodies.