Skip to main content

FrightFest · 2025

FrightFest 2025

Discovery Screen 3

Programme

7 films · 4 reviews

Jump to a film

Daughters Of Darkness (Les Lèvres Rouges)

Review preview for Daughters Of Darkness

The story is told more through symbols, the expressionist, the surreal, rather that through the harsh binary abstractions of language.

Donald Munro · 4.5 out of 5
While passing through a vacation resort, a newlywed couple encounters a mysterious, strikingly beautiful countess and her aide.

(Country: Belgium, France, West Germany; Year: 1971; Director: Harry Kümel; Writer: Pierre Drouot, Jean Ferry, Harry Kümel; Stars: Delphine Seyrig, John Karlen, Danielle Ouimet, Andrea Rau, Paul Esser, Georges Jamin)

Full review

Dooba Dooba

A babysitter is commissioned to look after an emotionally unstable teenage girl in a house full of cameras.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Ehrland Hollingsworth; Stars: Betsy Sligh, Amna Vegha, Erin O'Meara, Winston Haynes)

The Haunted Forest

Review preview for The Haunted Forest

Consistently above the quality of the average genre film, and always visually interesting..

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A high-school senior obsessed with all things horror and Halloween lands his first job - as a scare actor at the famous Markoff’s Haunted Forest attraction in Maryland. Then a mysterious series of killings begins.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Keith Boynton; Stars: Grayson Gwaze, Kaitlyn Lunardi, Cedric Gegel, Meghan Reed)

Full review See: Interview with Keith Boynton about The Haunted Forest

The Instinct (El Instinto)

Review preview for The Instinct

Pereira and Cayo could probably carry a “two-hander” – which The Instinct is – with no trouble, but only if they had something real in their characters to work with

Marko Stojiljkovic · 2 out of 5
A home invasion thriller featuring a dog trainer trying to modify a human's brain.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2024; Director: Juan Albarracín; Writer: Juan Albarracín; Stars: Rocío Bernal, Fernando Cayo, Silvia Conesa)

Full review

Kombucha

A musician trapped in an office job tries the free kombucha, helping his co-workers hit their quotas with a smile. Unfortunately for him, the disgusting mucus drink has nasty side effects that give new meaning to being consumed by your work.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Jake Myers; Stars: Terrance Carey, Claire McFadden, Paige Bourne, Charin Alvarez)

Noseeums

Review preview for Noseeums

Some of this is a bit heavy-handed, as the film attempts to communicate to a mixed audience, but the capable Burt keeps it feeling real.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
When student Ember is invited to a fun weekend at the country home of school Queen Bee Abigail, she finds the place oddly familiar. Drawn to an unkempt grave in the backwoods, Ember begins to be plagued by the black bugs known throughout Florida as Noseeums.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Raven Carter; Stars: Aleigha Burt, Tabitha Getsy, Trisha Arozqueta, Jasmine Nguyen)

Full review See: Interview with Raven Carter about Noseeums

Salt Along The Tongue

After her mother dies, Mattia moves in with her estranged aunt, her mother's identical twin. From beyond the grave, Mattia's mother possesses her daughter to protect her from a malevolent spirit, using food as a gateway.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2024; Director: Parish Malfitano; Writer: Parish Malfitano; Stars: Laneikka Denne, Dina Panozzo, Caroline Levien, Mayu Iwasaki, Maria De Marco, Liz Lin)