Editorials

Christopher Lee as Dracula Grimmfest, Manchester’s International Festival of Fantastic Film, returns in 2026 to its usual setting of Manchester’s Odeon Great Northern for 4 days from the 8th of October to the 11th October, and brings with it a plethora of cinematic delights and the best in genre cinema. Following the recent announcement of the feature line-up, the Grimmfest team have revealed the opening and closing films. This year’s festival will open with a special advanc

Adrienne Barbeau as the antiques shop owner Expanding on his 2023 short is Tyler Savage’s Oddities which had its world premiere at this year’s Tubi FrightFest in London. Starring Lilimar and Lovie Simone as two roommates who go on the run after accidentally killing their drug dealer. When they seek shelter in a roadside antiques shop, they soon realise they are in a hell of a lot more trouble than they could ever imagine. Two best friends spend their days hustling to pay the

Snapshot is a bold work with an ingenious hook. It is found footage purporting to be from the 1880s, filmed on a primitive device, and presented through a pinhole view. It restricts what we can see but is all the richer visually because of it. There are no modern films quite like Joseph Archar’s directorial debut and it’s all the better for it. Written by Cathy Wippell, who also plays Minnie, Snapshot follows a band of all-female ghost-hunters (who work together at a London b

Brady Noon and Caylee Cowan as Steven and Casey Having spent several years working as a cinematographer on indie films and directing a handful of short films, director Carson McKinnon makes his feature directorial debut with the bold Mother & Me that is sure to prove as divisive as it is fascinating. Casey (Caylee Cowan) is a creative soul being forced by her abusive mother (Tara Janae Smith) to follow in her deceased father’s footsteps and write a horror novel in his style.

Dead Reset is an intriguing proposition. Daniel Thrace’s Cole finds himself awake in an unknown place, with marauding monsters and a crew around that is hostile to his presence. It all proves lethal for Cole but here’s the kicker. He’s stuck in a time loop, unable to die but cursed to endure violent end after violent end. Live, die, repeat, if you will. Stewart Sparke has proved a director to watch, thanks to the low-budget charms of the Book of Monsters (2018) and How to Kil

India de Beaufort as Joey Director Andy Chen’s latest is a fascinating mystery box of a film. A grief-stricken author, Joey, is mourning the loss of her husband, Ben. That is until his unexpected return one day– an event that leads Joey to try and understand what exactly is happening to the reality around her. All this weaves towards a final act that blends horror and science fiction as answers are revealed as to what exactly is going on. Another benefits greatly from a pair

The overwhelming heat of summer is nearly over. Autumn approaches and with it comes crisp mornings, pumpkin spiced everything, the annual return of your favourite knitwear and, if you’re a horror fan, the best time of year - Halloween. For the hardened spooky season lovers amongst us, this means seeking out the gnarliest, most heart-pounding scare attractions we can. But have you ever considered what goes into creating these haunted houses, and who on earth decides to put all

You are the Film marks the debut of prolific Japanese writer Makoto Ueda, perhaps best known for writing the delightful time loop duo of Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2020) and River (2023). And what a debut it is. A brain-scrambling, deeply inventive delight that makes the two timey-wimey works seem positively straightforward by comparison, more magical realist than sci-fi fantasy. At the film’s core are a pair of struggling creatives, playwright Maoka (a delightful Mari

Ana Thu Nguyen as Grace Dead Eyes is an audacious watch – a completely first-person horror that bounces around subgenres (part ghost story, part drug-fuelled descent, part sci-fi tinged curio) – as it takes a wander round a slice of the Australian outback, marking director Richard Williams as a talent to watch, even as his technical prowess outstrips narrative cohesion. We view the world from Sean’s perspective who has ventured out to the locale of the passing of his younger

The latest from Cameron Francis (who directs, writes, co-produces and edits), Blood Secret, has ambitions to be a John Carptenter-esque work of claustrophobia and paranoia. Set in and around a single apartment, the film follows a woman visiting a friend who becomes confronted by her past and present in a series of events that may well be supernatural. But it sadly feels like it shares more DNA with the latter years of Carpenter’s work then the terrific run he had in the late

Jersey Anderson as Eileen Starsuckers has big ambitions as a satire of our relationship with fame. The narrative follows two couples and how fame brings them together. Bjorg and Sasha are a celebrity power couple who invite the more ordinary pair of Chuck and Eileen, for a weekend of sex, violence and power plays. Regrettably Starsuckers proves a chore, neither satisfying as a comedy-tinged horror nor as a takedown of modern celebrity culture. There is a lack of tension here

Christoper Smith is a fascinating figure in British horror. Arriving on the scene as part of the nastier hues of 2000s British horror, he directed a trio of fascinating works that, in 5 years, demonstrated his prowess. From the seedy London Underground-set Creep (2004) – not that one– to the delightfully nasty Severance (2006) –not that one– to the genuinely unique Triangle (2009), Smith showed he was a dab hand at different horror subgenres. It means that even as his career

Kate Miner as Melissa It’s arguable that every possible item has been the source of a haunting or a curse. And so, it is the turn of a karaoke machine in Chris Lightbody and Robert J Steinmiller Jr’s horror comedy. Bad Karaoke follows a cover band who come into possession of the central machine and find their lives on the line as it takes control of their weekend, forcing performances that could very well prove deadly. The tone is established early on here with an opening sce

Photo Credit - Robin Keane The final film from Justin Hardy, who sadly died before the film could be premiered, Wrath of the Gods arrives with an immense amount of weight on its shoulders. There is a great deal of context that could be applied to this folk horror, so much that it threatens to overwhelm the affair. But whilst it doesn’t quite survive unscathed, the film emerges as a fascinating piece of modern folk horror. The film follows Anna who returns to the island of Hel

Kate Wilson as Bunny In a post-apocalyptic world Bunny (Kate Wilson) tries to survive in a landscape where there is very little food or resources after the loss of her father (Andy Golledge). With not much left to survive on, she turns to human flesh and attempts to avoid those who are trying to hunt her too. The most compelling draw to Bunny Rabbit is our lead, Wilson; she plays a driven, strong but quiet character who keeps the story running even during its occasional downt

In 2023 director Anthony Cousins made his directorial debut with found footage yarn, Frogman, which followed one man’s need to prove the existence of the titular urban legend. Well now Cousins is back with Frogman Returns – a title that spoils whether the existence of the legendary figure is proved at the end of the first. And what we get here is another enjoyable journey into the weird world of modern cryptids, this time leaning increasingly into fantasy. Frogman Returns pic

Seward's Eye Embracing the classic gothic vampire tale by Bram Stoker, director and writer Chris Schwab puts a modern spin on it with Dracula: The Night Around Us, which has its UK premiere at this year’s FrightFest. A depressed doctor, who works at an institution for the criminally insane, comes up against an ancient evil foe and must do whatever he can to protect his neighbour Mina, and her young daughter Lucy. Doctor John Seward (Eric Toms) finds his day-to-day life dismal

Emma and Ian Ho as Red and Blue Questioning their place in the world and pushing back against authority is all part and parcel of growing up, but what happens if a child’s whole life has existed within a single abode with nothing but a voice they call Papa overseeing them? This scenario is explored in director Casey Walker’s Home Bodies, which internationally premieres at this year’s FrightFest. Red and Blue (played by real life siblings Emma and Ian Ho) are twins who have li

Set against the latter years of the Paraguayan War, which ravaged through South America during the 19th Century, Ian SBF’s The Flesh Itself is a claustrophobic edge-of-your-seat psychological horror having its UK premiere at this year’s FrightFest. Following three deserters who seek haven at the home of an old man and a young woman, they soon find themselves in a hellish nightmare that threatens their lives and their souls. Three deserter soldiers struggle to make their way a

Proving that once again, Indonesia is setting the stage for incredible genre releases is Joko Anwar’s Ghost In The Cell. The comedy-horror sets itself in a high-security prison where inmates are being viciously murdered and their bodies put on display in bizarre manners. In one of Jakarta’s most violent prisons, separate inmate factions are continuously at war, with shankings between inhabitants a regular occurrence, as well as the prison being overseen by a sadistic head-gua