FrightFest — A–Z of films

A touching story of commonplace horror wrapped up in the trappings on Tinseltown, this is a thoroughly researched and carefully assembled piece of work that will intrigues fans of the director and newcomers alike.

In a film that sees teabagging used as a combat move, pretty much anything goes.

This is one film that's really going to test the mettle of Wood's mainstream fanbase.

A cheery little romp with the right balance of cuteness, comedy and gore.

Cut-Off is perhaps the best adaptation to date of the work of Sebastian Fitzek.

This is an unusually clever piece of genre cinema which also resonates emotionally.

Schwarzenegger handles his role with a restraint unusual in actors his age, so that even viewers with a strong sense of what's coming will warm to him or wonder how bad he can really be.

Strathie succeeds in capturing a bit of the Spielberg-style magic he's aiming for and in quieter scenes where we're allowed to experience wonder instead of being told what to feel, it's an enchanting experience.

The Dark Red manages impressive stylistic shifts between the calm environment of the therapy room and the giddy atmosphere of the flashbacks.

Lauryn Canny is stunning in the central role, easily adopting the same body language that Mcintosh has used continually to break away from conditioned patterns of movement and take up space.

The tight-knit production unit brings natural chemistry to the film.

At the centre of the film, Breaux is superb, not only capturing the pathos vital to the monster but carrying him through the long, slow process of cognitive development and emotional realisation without ever striking a false note.

Although the film is played straight, there's a soap opera style edge of camp to it which mitigates against anyone taking it too seriously.

With the teenagers full of the ill-considered callousness of youth, it's Goss on whom the film depends for a moral compass. This is his best work to date.

The film feels adrift in time.

On a whole different level from most films of its ilk.

There's not a great deal of strategy involved in Tony D'Aquino's film, which mostly concerns itself with bloody violence, screaming and running about.

Beautifully observed and with a terrific central performance from Bolger, this is a film that takes a simple story and gives it real power.

Held together by three impressive performances, with Tyra the standout, Harpoon deftly plays with audience assumptions and sympathies, exploiting our prejudices as each character gradually reveals hitherto unseen depths.

Perhaps the most entertaining cinematic romp of the year so far.

The real difficulty with a story like this is that until the door is opened it's all just speculation and after it's opened then one way another there won't be much left to say.

This is a world of ballgowns, sequins and lace...but none of that diminishes the ability of its heroes to think clearly or take charge of their own fates.

There's a lot of silliness here altogether but it works surprisingly well, Tezuka somehow managing to coordinate all the moving parts.

The idea of casting a 55-year-old actress as a succubus feels like one whose time has come and Bellucci is more than up to the job.

Not a great film, but more nuanced than it has been given credit for.

Smart, deceptively sophisticated and beautifully crafted, this is artisan cheese.

The scene where a train full of commuters realise there are infected people among them is one of the most riveting depictions of mass panic ever recorded.

Rose has the qualities of an archetypal, folkloric figure, enduring the same events over and over again in different places, in different forms.

Most interesting for its nicely balanced performances.

Satanic Panic is one of those films that's a lot smarter underneath than it looks on the surface.

There's a good supply of bloody violence which will entertain horror fans and any number of people who have limited patience for those selling dubious remedies or telling them to smile more.

Janis Eglitis' exquisite cinematography is beguiling in the proper sense.

Bowyer-Chapman is superb.

A solid little film which delivers well within the scope of its simple ambition.

Unfolding as a cunningly reflexive critique of the Italian giallo, as well as Dario Argento’s own distinct body of work, Tenebrae directly addresses the accusations of misogyny often hurled at the director.

The characters are beautifully drawn and the performances finely balanced in a film with a lot more going on upstairs than its preoccupation with violence might suggest.

Teresa Sutherland's script finds Gothic tensions in a landscape where the imaginary has as much power to harm as the real.

The tropes it uses are old ones but simplicity works in their favour, adding to the sense that there are uncanny powers at work and that nothing is quite what it seems.