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FrightFest · 2023

FrightFest 2023

IMAX

Programme

24 films · 18 reviews

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Cheat

Review preview for Cheat

There’s some beautiful framing in this film, which looks as if it was made on a much bigger budget than was really the case.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
On the surface it's believed to be another urban legend - a supernatural being from the afterlife is violently killing anyone who cheats on their significant other in the small college town of Silvercreek, Pennsylvania. But the town's unusually high suicide rate is finally convincing both locals and college students that a deadly curse is closing in.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Nick Psinakis, Kevin Ignatius; Writer: Nick Psinakis, Kevin Ignatius; Stars: Corin Clay, Mick Thayer, Danielle Grotsky, April Clark)

Full review

Cobweb

Review preview for Cobweb

If there's a key to unlocking the mystery it's pretty clearly signposted, shining even.

Andrew Robertson · 2.5 out of 5
Eight-year-old Peter is plagued by a mysterious, constant tap, tap from inside his bedroom wall – a tapping his parents insist is all in his imagination. His concerned schoolteacher starts making enquiries after Peter shows clear evidence of trouble at home. But as Peter’s fear intensifies, he believes that his parents could be hiding a terrible, dangerous secret.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Samuel Bodin; Writer: Chris Thomas Devlin; Stars: Lizzy Caplan, Anthony Starr, Cleopatra Coleman, Woody Norman)

Full review

Cold Meat

After saving a waitress from her violent ex-husband during a break from driving, a man hits the road again in a dangerous blizzard. One false move behind the wheel has him waking up inside a ravine, in the freezing eye of the storm, with a shadowy beast starts prowling around outside his car.

(Country: UK, Canada; Year: 2023; Director: Sébastien Drouin; Stars: Allen Leech, Nina Bergman, Yan Tual, Sydney Hendricks)

Creeping Death

While trying to enjoy a peaceful Halloween with his mother, Tim is paid a visit by his rambunctious, up-for- anything friends. After reluctantly letting them inside the house he's caught up in their Halloween pranking. It turns out that that has broken a sacred tradition kept between humans and otherworldly deities known as the Aos Si.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Matt Sampere; Stars: Monique Parent, Scott Lea, Matt Sampere, Delian Lincourt)

The Dive

Review preview for The Dive

Erlenwein deserves praise for his lean and lithe set-up that keeps delivering surprises.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Experienced scuba divers May and Drew are two sisters with a close but complex bond who go on a deep sea diving trip to a beautiful but remote beauty spot. During their dive, May is struck by a rock from a landslide above the water, leaving her trapped on the seabed 28 meters below the surface.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2023; Director: Maximilian Erlenwein; Writer: Maximilian Erlenwein; Stars: Sophie Lowe, Louisa Krause)

Full review See: Maximilian Erlenwein on the challenges of shooting The Dive underwater

The Exorcist (Director's Cut) (The Exorcist)

Review preview for The Exorcist (Director's Cut)

At 12, Regan was a helpless child in 1973; in today's world we instinctively grant her more agency so the territory between self and demon becomes more obscure.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A mother fights to save her child, who may be possessed by a demon.

(Country: United States; Year: 1973; Director: William Friedkin; Writer: William Peter Blatty; Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Max Von Sydow, Jason Miller, Lee j Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowran)

Full review

Faceless After Dark

Following her breakout success in a killer clown horror flick, a young actor finds herself held hostage by an unhinged fan determined to recreate the film's fatal plot.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Raymond Wood; Writer: Todd Jacobs, Jenna Kanell; Stars: Jenna Kanell, Danny Kang, Danielle Lynn, Michael Aaron Milligan)

Founders Day

Review preview for Founders Day

Although it falls apart a bit at the end, this is a superior effort from Bloomquist.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A murder mystery surfaces in the midst of a heated mayoral election in a quaint New England town.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Erik Bloomquist; Writer: Erik Bloomquist, Carson Bloomquist; Stars: Devin Druid, Emilia McCarthy, Amy Hargreaves, Catherine Curtin)

Full review

Herd

Review preview for Herd

It has been 38 years since anything has shaken up the genre quite like Herd.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
A couple try to save their failing marriage by taking an isolated canoe trip in rural Missouri. When one of them breaks her leg, they become trapped in a small town affected by a viral outbreak.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Steven Pierce; Writer: James Allerdyce, Steven Pierce; Stars: Ellen Adair, Mitzi Akaha, Jeremy Holm, Corbin Bernsen)

Full review

Home Sweet Home: Where Evil Lives

Review preview for Home Sweet Home: Where Evil Lives

Dark family secrets and a desire to defray guilt at any cost underscore an eerie ghost story which hits harder because everything is so immediate.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A heavily pregnant woman starts readying her fiancé’s rural family estate for bed and breakfast guests. Strange noises start occurring, the electricity keeps failing and she thinks she sees a prowler on the premises. Investigating the cellar she finds a secret room that hints at dark secrets in the Welling family past, linked to the brutal German colonial history of the Herero genocide in 1904.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2023; Director: Thomas Sieben; Writer: Thomas Sieben; Stars: Nilam Farooq, David Kross, Justus von Dohnányi, Olga Von Luckwald)

Full review

It Lives Inside

Review preview for It Lives Inside

A superior quality horror film which amply justifies the hype it has attracted on the festival circuit, It Lives Inside is not to be missed.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Sam, an Indian-American teen, lives in an idyllic suburb with her conservative mother and her assimilated father. Sam’s cultural insecurities grow due to her estranged friend, Tamira, who mysteriously carries around an empty mason jar all the time. In a moment of anger, Sam breaks Tamira’s jar and unleashes an ancient Indian demonic force that kidnaps Tamira.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Bishal Dutta; Writer: Bishal Dutta, Ashish Mehta; Stars: Megan Suri, Neeru Bajwa, Mohana Krishnan, Betty Gabriel, Vik Sahay)

Full review See: Interview with Bishal Dutta about It Lives Inside

Mayhem! (Farang)

Review preview for Mayhem!

Despite the speed of the action and the variety of locations across which the film takes place, not a single shot feels rushed or incidental.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A professional boxer, recently released from prison, is forced to break probation and flee to a faraway island in Thailand. He starts a family there, only to have to deal with blackmail.

(Country: France; Year: 2023; Director: Xavier Gens; Writer: Xavier Gens, Guillaume Lemans, Magali Rossitto; Stars: Nassim Lyes, Kenneth Won, Vithaya Pansringarm, Olivier Gourmet)

Full review See: Interview with Xavier Gens about Farang

Monolith

Review preview for Monolith

Vesely’s camera directs our attention very effectively and makes use of every aspect of the small set.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Recently disgraced and desperate for a story, a young journalist holes herself up in her parents’ luxurious home and gets to work on the only job she can get - hosting a clickbait investigative podcast. Then she discovers a strange artefact and begins to convince herself it is evidence of an alien conspiracy.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2022; Director: Matt Vesely; Writer: Lucy Campbell; Stars: Lily Sullivan)

Full review

My Mother's Eyes

A mother and daughter who achieve love and honesty through imaginary bodies when a futuristic contact lens device, with a built-in camera and VR goggles, changes their lives forever.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2023; Director: Takeshi Kushida; Stars: Akane Ono, Mone Shitara, Takuma Izumi, Shusaku Uchida)

New Life

Review preview for New Life

The use of sparse but spacious landscapes enhances both story and themes, with small farms and towns clinging to the earth in defiance of the elements, humble before distant mountains.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A fixer is sent out to find a mysterious woman on the run, and the stakes of the pursuit rise to apocalyptic proportions.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: John Rosman; Writer: John Rosman; Stars: Sonya Walger, Tony Amendola, Hayley Erin, Ayanna Berkshire, Nick George, Jeb Berrier, Blaine Palmer)

Full review See: Interview with John Rosman about New Life

Pandemonium

A confused traveller refuses to abandon all hope as he enters the gates of Hell.

(Country: France; Year: 2023; Director: Quarxx; Writer: Quarxx; Stars: Arben Bajraktaraj, Ophélia Kolb, Manon Maindivide, Hugo Dillon, Sidwell Weber, Carl Laforêt, Jérôme Paquatte)

Piper

Review preview for Piper

Jenkins is good, doing a lot with what she’s given. The weak link in the film is Hurley.

Jennie Kermode · 2 out of 5
After her mother takes up the position of history teacher at the Hamelin International School in Germany, a teenager finds herself haunted by increasingly disturbing visions of the legendary piper, and a dark secret is revealed.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Anthony Waller; Writer: Anthony Waller, Duncan Kennedy; Stars: Elizabeth Hurley, Mia Jenkins, Jack Stuart, Robert Daws)

Full review See: Interview with Anthony Waller about The Piper

Raging Grace

Review preview for Raging Grace

Raging Grace is a Gothic thriller with the potential to appeal to a wide audience. It’s also a fierce critique of the racism embedded in a culture which still treats it as normal for some perfectly capable people to be waited on by others, and to treat them as less than human in the process.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
An undocumented Filipina immigrant is struggling to do the best she can for her daughter when she secures the perfect job, taking care of an extremely wealthy but terminal old man. The new position pays well and guarantees a roof over their heads but very soon, she realise that something is amiss.

(Country: UK; Year: 2023; Director: Paris Zarcilla; Writer: Paris Zarcilla; Stars: Max Eigenman, Leanne Best, David Hayman)

Full review See: Interview with Paris Zarcilla and Chi Thai about Raging Grace

The Sacrifice Game

Review preview for The Sacrifice Game

Wexler makes a number of interesting directorial choices.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
The story of Samantha and Clara, two students who are staying behind for the holidays at their boarding school, who must survive the night against uninvited visitors.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Jenn Wexler; Writer: Sean Redlitz, Jenn Wexler; Stars: Olivia Scott Welch, Mena Massoud, Chloë Levine, Gus Kenworthy, Madison Baines)

Full review See: Interview with Jenn Wexler about The Ranger, The Sacrifice Game and her career , Interview with Jenn Wexler about The Sacrifice Game

The Seeding

Review preview for The Seeding

It’s the sort of story rarely told in cinema today, and one which seems destined to attract a cult following.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
When a hiker gets lost in the desert, a gang of feral children propelled by haunting legacies traps him in a sadistic battle for survival with a frightening endgame.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Barnaby Clay; Writer: Barnaby Clay; Stars: Scott Haze, Kate Lyn Sheil)

Full review See: Interview with Barnaby Clay about The Seeding , Interview with Scott Haze about The Seeding

Suitable Flesh

Review preview for Suitable Flesh

It feels like a natural successor to Gordon’s work, and a film of which he would have been proud.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A psychiatrist becomes obsessed by a young patient who seems to have multiple personalities.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Joe Lynch; Writer: Dennis Paoli, based on a book by HP Lovecraft; Stars: Heather Graham, Judah Lewis, Barbara Crampton, Bruce Davison, Johnathon Schaech)

Full review See: Interview with Joe Lynch about Suitable Flesh

That's A Wrap

Review preview for That's A Wrap

It promises a lot more than it delivers.

Jennie Kermode · 2 out of 5
When the cast of a recent completed horror film arrives at the studio to celebrate what it just created, it emerges that someone has dressed up as Mistress, the central slasher, and has decided to make the art real by staging personal and highly stylised kill scenes.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Marcel Walz; Writer: Joe Knetter, Robert L Lucas; Stars: Cerina Vincent, Monique Parent, Sarah French, Gigi Gustin)

Full review

Transmission

A story which unfolds on a television screen as we switch between different channels which reveal different aspects of the same horrific narrative.

(Country: US; Year: 2023; Director: Michael J Hurst; Stars: Vernon Wells, Felissa Rose, Dave Sheridan, Sadie Katz)

Where The Devil Roams

Review preview for Where The Devil Roams

A beautifully crafted piece of period Gothic.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A family of murderous sideshow performers travels around the world on the dying carnival circuit.

(Year: 2023; Director: John Adams, Zelda Adams, Toby Poser; Writer: John Adams, Zelda Adams, Toby Poser; Stars: Zelda Adams, Toby Poser, John Adams)

Full review See: Interview with Zelda Adams, John Adams, Lulu Adams and Toby Poser about Where The Devil Roams