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FrightFest · 2015

FrightFest 2015

Main Screen

Programme

24 films · 13 reviews

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Cherry Tree

A teenage girl makes a fateful pact with a coven of witches in an attempt to save her dying father.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2015; Director: David Keating; Stars: Anna Walton, Naomi Battrick, Sam Hazeldine, Patrick Gibson, Minnie Phipps)

A Christmas Horror Story

Review preview for A Christmas Horror Story

It's properly scary in places and it's also lots of fun.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
An anthology of fearsome festive tales.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2015; Director: Grant Harvey, Steven Hoban, Brett Sullivan; Writer: Jason Filiatrault, James Kee, Sarah Larsen, Doug Taylor, Pascal Trottier; Stars: William Shatner, George Buza, Zoé De Grand Maison, Caprice Bauer, Rob Archer)

Full review

Curve

After she deliberately crashes her car to escape a dangerous hitchhiker, a woman must make her way through the mountains, knowing he's on her trail.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Iain Softley; Stars: Julianne Hough, Teddy Sears, Madalyn Horcher, Penelope Mitchell, Drew Rausch)

Deathgasm

A thrash metal band accidentally summons a a demon which turns family and friends into murderous psychopaths.

(Country: New Zealand; Year: 2015; Director: Jason Lei Howden; Stars: Milo Cawthorne, James Blake, Kimberley Crossman, Sam Berkley, Daniel Cresswell)

Demonic (James Wan's Demonic)

Review preview for Demonic

Bello makes a strong impression, making a lot of a role that could easily have been played by numbers.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
In the aftermath of a horrific massacre where five college students were brutally murdered inside an abandoned home, Detective Mark Lewis and psychologist Dr. Elizabeth Klein question the lone survivor of a ghost-hunting excursion that seemingly went horribly wrong.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Will Canon; Writer: Max La Bella, Will Canon, Max La Bella, Doug Simon; Stars: Maria Bello, Frank Grillo, Cody Horn, Dustin Milligan. Megan Park)

Full review

The Diabolical

When she and her children suffer due to a strange presence in their house, young woman seeks help from her scientist boyfriend.But does he know more than he's letting on?

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Alistair Legrand; Stars: Ali Larter, Patrick Fischler, Arjun Gupta, Tom Wright, Chloe Perrin)

Emelie

Review preview for Emelie

It's likely to be most appealing to people just too young to be officially allowed to see it.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A replacement babysitter seems to have sinister intentions towards her young charges.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Michael Thelin; Writer: Richard Raymond, Harry Herbeck; Stars: Sarah Bolger, Susan Pourfar, Ryan Monolopolus, Elizabeth Jayne, Dante Hoagland, Robert Bozek, Randi Langdon, Brian Mysliwy, Daniel James, Sara Kow-Falcone, Christopher Srock, Carly Adams, Carl Bailey, Michael Joseph Dugan, Daniel James)

Full review

Frankenstein

Adam is artificially created with a revolutionary 3D printer by married research scientists. But when bodily malfunctions relegate him to the scrapheap, Adam faces nothing but aggression and violence from the world around him as he discovers the true nature of humanity.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Bernard Rose; Stars: Xavier Samuel, Danny Huston, Carrie-Anne Moss, Tony Todd, Maya Erskine)

Hellions

Review preview for Hellions

There isn’t anything particularly wrong with the direction, which is solid horror fare, but it’s trying to animate a cadaver of a script.

Luke Shaw · 1 out of 5
A young pregnant woman is threatened by malignant children.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2014; Director: Bruce McDonald; Writer: Pascal Trottier; Stars: Robert Patrick, Rossif Sutherland, Luke Bilyk, Rachel Wilson, Peter DaCunha, Chloe Rose, Sydney Cross, Adelaide Humphreys, Joe Silvaggio, Karlo William, Nicholas Craig, Stephanie Fonceca, Aliyah Jhirad, Emir Hirad Mokhtarieh)

Full review

Inner Demon

A teenager abducted by a serial killing couple escapes only to stumble into a house of horrors.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2015; Director: Ursula Dabrowsky; Stars: Sarah Jeavons, Kerry Ann Reid, Andreas Sobik)

Jeruzalem

Review preview for Jeruzalem

A gorgeous palimpsest of a film.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Three Americans visiting Jerusalem are caught up in the Day of Judgement.

(Country: Israel; Year: 2015; Director: Doron Paz, Yoav Paz; Writer: Doron Paz, Yoav Paz; Stars: Yael Grobglas, Danielle Jadelyn, Tom Graziani, Yon Tumarkin, Itsko Yampulski, Yoav Koresh)

Full review See: Interview with Doron Paz and Yael Grobglas about JeruZalem

Landmine Goes Click

Review preview for Landmine Goes Click

The spectre of the war looms large in a film that explores the origins of violence, feuding, and the enactment of men's aggression toward one another on the bodies of women.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
When a young American steps on a landmine in the remote Georgian countryside, he knows that if he takes his weight of it, he'll die.

(Year: 2015; Director: Levan Bakhia; Writer: Levan Bakhia, Adrian Colussi, Lloyd S Wagner; Stars: Sterling Knight, Spencer Locke, Kote Tolordava, Dean Geyer, Nana Kiknadze)

Full review

Night Fare

After Chris and Luc dodge a taxi fare, the ruthless driver hunts them down, killing anyone who gets in the way.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Julien Seri; Stars: Fanny Valette, Jonathan Howard, Jonathan Demurger, Jess Liaudin)

Nina Forever

Review preview for Nina Forever

A challenging take on human sexuality and the shared language of sometimes erroneous assumptions that enables us to navigate relationships.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A checkout girl fascinated by death hooks up with a suicidal bereaved man - but his dead girlfriend isn't ready to let go of her man.

(Country: UK; Year: 2015; Director: Ben Blaine, Chris Blaine; Writer: Ben Blaine, Chris Blaine; Stars: Fiona O'Shaughnessy, Abigail Hardingham, Cian Barry, David Troughton, Elizabeth Elvin)

Full review See: Interview with Chris Blaine and Ben Blaine about Nina Forever

Rabid Dogs

A new take on Mario Bava's story of a bank job gone wrong and three desperate criminals fighting for survival.

(Country: France; Year: 2015; Director: Éric Hannezo; Stars: François Arnaud, Franck Gastambide, Guillaume Gouix. Lambert Wilson, Virginie Ledoyen)

Road Games (Fausse Route)

Review preview for Road Games

Though its tendency to whimsy means it’s not quite as tightly plotted as it needs to be, this charismatic little thriller still manages to punch above its weight.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Two strangers travelling together in rural France find themselves in a dangerous situation after agreeing to stay in an older couple's mansion.

(Country: UK, France; Year: 2015; Director: Abner Pastoll; Writer: Abner Pastoll; Stars: Barbara Crampton, Andrew Simpson, Joséphine de La Baume, Frédéric Pierrot, Lou Castel)

Full review

Scherzo Diabolico

Armed with a fine-tuned chokehold and penchant for piano sonatas, a wearied accountant breaks his mild-mannered routine when he kidnaps a young woman. What starts as a carefully calculated plan soon crescendos into his worst nightmare.

(Country: Mexico, US; Year: 2015; Director: Adrián García Bogliano; Writer: Adrián García Bogliano; Stars: Francisco Barreiro, Daniela Soto Vell, Jorge Molina, Milena Pezzi, Vita Vargas, Pablo Guisa Koestinger, Evan Alducin, Tito Guillén, Pau Alva)

Shut In

Two women who dream of opening their own café go to the wrong person for a loan, but they're not willing to go down without a fight.

(Country: UK; Year: 2015; Director: Dominic Brunt; Stars: Victoria Smurfit, Joanne Mitchell, Jonathan Slinger, Rula Lenska, Adam Fogerty)

Slumlord

Fractious newlyweds move into a house where the lascivious landlord has installed secret cameras.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Victor Zarcoff; Stars: PJ McCabe, Sean Carrigan, Sarah Baldwin, Brianne Moncrief, Neville Archambault)

Some Kind Of Hate

Review preview for Some Kind Of Hate

The character of Moira is woefully underwritten, wasting a lot of interesting potential, but McCormick gives her humanity, showing us the pain we need to see to understand her.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A bullied boy summons the spirit of a girl who killed herself after facing the same problem, and she sets out to wreak bloods vengeance on his tormentors.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Adam Egypt Mortimer; Writer: Brian DeLeeuw, Adam Egypt Mortimer; Stars: Ronen Rubinstein, Grace Phipps, Spencer Breslin, Maestro Harrell, Sierra McCormick)

Full review

Stung

Review preview for Stung

We are thrown headlong into a remake of Aliens, only with a mansion instead of a space colony and caterers instead of marines. The surprise is that it works.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Parasitic wasps party on down.

(Country: Germany, US; Year: 2015; Director: Benni Diez; Writer: Adam Aresty, Adam Aresty; Stars: Lance Henriksen, Clifton Collins Jr., Matt O'Leary, Jessica Cook, Florentine Lahme, Daniele Rizzo, David Masterson, Cecilia Pillado, Kathleen Renish, Eve Slatner, Tony de Maeyer)

Full review

Tales Of Halloween

Review preview for Tales Of Halloween

A great film to watch with horror-loving friends, to see who you can spot.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
An anthology of short horror tales set in a sleepy American suburb one Halloween night.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Darren Lynn Bousman, Axelle Carolyn, Adam Gierasch, Andrew Kasch, Neil Marshall, Lucky McKee, Mike Mendez, Dave Parker, Ryan Schifrin, John Skipp , Paul Solet; Writer: Axelle Carolyn, Andrew Kasch, Neil Marshall, Lucky McKee, Mike Mendez, Dave Parker, Ryan Schifrin, Clint Sears, John Skipp; Stars: Lin Shaye, Pollyanna McIntosh, John Landis, Adrienne Barbeau, Greg Grunberg)

Full review See: Interview with Pollyanna McIntosh about Tales Of Halloween

Turbo Kid

Review preview for Turbo Kid

A preposterously gory exercise in nostalgia.

Luke Shaw · 3 out of 5
In a post-Apocalyptic wasteland, a scavenger trades scraps for food and comics, until a new friendship and a new weapon change his life.

(Country: New Zealand, Canada; Year: 2015; Director: François Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell; Writer: François Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell; Stars: Munro Chambers, Michael Ironside, Romano Orzari, Laurence Leboeuf, Aaron Jeffery, Patrick Kerton, Edwin Wright, Marcello Bezina, Jean-François Ferland, Evan Manoukian, Maxime Lapointe)

Full review

We Are Still Here

Review preview for We Are Still Here

Ted Geoghegan's darkly witty, stunningly beautiful film is the kind of horror we don't see much these days.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A couple grieving the death of their son move into an old house were they find themselves tormented by vengeful spirits.

(Country: US; Year: 2015; Director: Ted Geoghegan; Writer: Ted Geoghegan; Stars: Barbara Crampton, Andrew Sensenig, Lisa Marie, Larry Fessenden, Monte Markham)

Full review See: Interview with Ted Geoghegan about We Are Stiill Here