[Editorial] Frightfest UK 2022: Most Anticipated

This August sees the return of the UK’s biggest genre film festival – Frightfest. Taking place at Cineworld in Leicester Square, the event screens over 60 films over the course of 5 days – including full length features and shorts. 

There are special guests, Q and A’s and most importantly the opportunity for the UK horror community to come together over one long weekend, have a few drinks (if that’s your thing) and share our love for the genre.

Ghouls Magazine’s very own Ariel Baska will be flying over from the states to screen her feature Our First Priority – an award-winning short that explores the unique trauma faced by those within the chronic illness and disability communities. This is, of course, top of our most anticipated list. 

Here’s what else we’re looking forward to seeing based on what we know so far:

Scare Package

Shudder Original Scare Package is an absolute riot of a horror anthology – and luckily creator Aaron B Koontz is back with a sequel. 

Kicking off from where the first one left us, Scare Package 2 sees mourners attending the funeral of horror guru and video store owner ‘Rad’ Chad Buckley (the returning Jeremy King). As the guests come together, it seems they are set to be thrown into some sort of death game that they must beat in order to survive.

Koontz recently said “We knew that in true sequel fashion we’d have to go bigger, funnier, and gorier, and this batch of filmmakers embraced that challenge in every way!" – colour us excited!

The Harbinger

Fans of The Witch in the Window will be excited to see the return of Writer/Director Andy Mitton for The Harbinger. Set in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, this one sees old college friends Monique (Gabby Beans) and Mavis (Emily Davis) reunite when Mavis is suffering from bad dreams which appear to be contagious.

The Harbinger seems like it might have some possession style horror, and a strong female relationship, which always hits harder for us here at Ghouls. Frightfest are calling it “THE OMEN for today’s lost pandemic generation”.

Next Exit

Ghouls’ favourite British heartthrob Rahul Kohli (The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass) stars as Teddy alongside Katie Parker (Doctor Sleep) as Rose, in what appears to be a ghostly/sci-fi romance *swoon*.

Teddy and Rose, two strangers harbouring deep secrets, have volunteered for the radical scientific study ‘Life Beyond’ which allows people to commit pain-free suicide, and be tracked into the afterlife. When they agree to share a rental to get to their respective appointments, they begin to form a deeper relationship.

This might not be a success for the “it’s not horror – it’s not scary” crowd, but we’re still down for it.

Night Sky

One of last year’s biggest horror hits was Broadcast Signal Intrusion – the thriller/mystery horror from Jacob Gentry. This time, he’s back with a sci-fi/fantasy piece which, much like Next Exit, follows two people who come together for a trek across the southwest of America – one hiding a secret past, the other trying to find the truth of theirs. Oh, and there’s a killer after them! 

There’s not much more information anywhere about this one, but considering the success of his previous films, Gentry has definitely become one to watch.

Something In The Dirt

Powerhouse duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Spring, Synchronic) are also bringing a sci-fi piece with their latest film Something in the Dirt. As well as directing the film, they also star as the two lead characters – John and Daniel – neighbours who begin to experience supernatural occurrences in their apartment building. 

As they begin to film the events, thinking they may be able to make some money from it, things spiral with dark hilarity. Time Out described it as “The X Files on shrooms” and if that doesn’t sell it to you, nothing will

Deadstream

One of the most talked about features from this year's SXSW festival has been Joseph Winter’s Deadstream. Winter co-directs and stars as Shawn Ruddy - disgraced YouTube celeb who is trying everything he can to claw his way back to fame – including locking himself in a haunted manor. 

Ignoring all of the rules that us horror fans are well versed in, Shawn gets himself into some serious trouble when he awakens a vengeful spirit. Horror and hilarity are sure to ensue!9 - The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

Sissy

Cecilia aka Sissy (Aisha Dee) - a successful influencer and mental health advocate who promotes positivity and mindfulness whilst simultaneously selling consumer products for her own gain – is invited on a bachelorette weekend by her high school best friend Emma (Hannah Barlow).

However, when she arrives, she finds that her high school bully Alex (Emily de Margheriti) is also in attendance. Believing that Alex stole Emma from her back in high school, Sissy begins to plot her revenge and soon things get bloody. Frightfest have described this one as “A superior blend of timely social commentary and gasp-inducing horror” – WE’RE IN!

Piggy

An exciting new female-led horror comes in the form of Spanish Piggy, which sees overweight teen Sara (Laura Galan) struggling with bullying from the local ‘cool girls’. After constant torment over her size, Sara has had enough. When a mysterious stranger arrives in her village and kidnaps the girls, she is relieved that someone is finally making the stand that she couldn’t, and that justice is being served. 

Writer/Director Carlota Martínez-Pereda says "I wrote Piggy to confront my own fears. Real life fears. Because being a teen can be terrifying". Here at Ghouls, we couldn’t agree more - [Editorial] Being a Teenage Girl Sucks: Excision.

Barbarian

Justin Long and Bill Skarsgard stans unite! Two horror icons return for Barbarian, the mystery horror from Zach Cregger. 

Tess (Georgina Campbell) has a booking for a rental home, but arrives late and night to find someone already staying there – there’s been a mix up and it’s double booked. The man (Skarsgard), not wishing to leave her stranded for the night, invites her in to stay anyway. Reluctantly, she agrees, but soon finds that this stranger is the least of her worries.

Terrifier 2

Art the clown is back! One of the horror community's most anticipated sequels Terrifier 2 is having its UK premier at Frightfest and we are excited for more blood, guts and gore.

It’s Halloween again and Art has been resurrected by a sinister entity – ready to slaughter his way through yet more teenage girls. The run time is a whopping 140 minutes, which means we are expecting a LOT from this one in terms of unique kills, special effects and of course the haunting muted performance of David Howard Thornton.

Fall

The closing film at this year’s Frightfest is one that has had the Twitterverse buzzing with anticipation. 

When Becky (Grace Fulton) loses her husband in a rock-climbing accident, she withdraws from the hobby that she loves passionately. However, when her best friend suggests a way to honour him by scattering his ashes from a great height, she reluctantly agrees to return to complete a dangerous climb.

Scaling a 2000-foot-high radio tower with a rickety ladder can only lead to good things, right? 

It may not be your typical horror – there are no ghosts, demons or serial killers here – but Fall looks set to be an anxiety-inducing challenge for anyone who has even the slightest fear of heights.

You can find the full Frightfest 2022 line-up here: https://www.frightfest.co.uk/

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