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Fright Fest Glasgow Film Festival 2016

FrightFest Passes are £70 and cover all 12 films on Friday 26 & Saturday 27 Feb 2016 ONLY.

Tickets for The Forest, Thursday 25 February,  and individual tickets for the Fri/Sat films   Prices: £9.50 / £7.50 concessions.

To book tickets: +44 (0)141 332 6535 /

Buy tickets online

Box Office at GFT 12 Rose Street, Glasgow G4 6RB

FrightFest

Natalie Dormer in The Forest – Screening from Thursday 25 – Saturday 27 February, 2016

Kicking off with a special screening of The Forest with star Natalie Dormer in attendance, and finishing in racy rock-fuelled style with Sean Byrne’s The Devil’s Candy,  the UK’s favourite horror fantasy event returns to Glasgow Film Festival with another stellar line-up to shock, chill and thrill. A record thirteen films including eight UK premieres, two European premieres and the world premiere of Stephen King adaptation Cell,  will screen from Thurs 25 Feb to Sat 27 Feb 2016, alongside a selection of unmissable shorts, guest director Q&A’s, great give-aways and a sneak preview of Paul Hyett’s Heretiks, with the popular director in attendance.

Programme Details

THURS 25 FEB – GFT Screen 1

The Forest (UK Premiere)

For centuries, the Aokigahara Forest at the northwest base of Mount Fuji has been linked with death and torment. Legend speaks of the ‘ubasute’ – spectres of old women abandoned by their families, and the ‘yurei’ – spirits of lonely suicide victims. Now Sara (Natalie Dormer) is about to enter the sinister woodland, in search of her twin sister who has mysteriously disappeared. Ex-pat journalist Aiden and forest path guide Michi are there to keep a protective eye on her. But as darkness falls, Sara discovers that learning the truth about her sister’s fate means fighting supernatural malevolence…

Director: Jason Zada. Cast: Natalie Dormer, Taylor Kinney, Eoin Macken. USA 2016. 90 mins. 18. Icon Film Distribution

Please note: The Forest is not included in FrightFest Passes

FRI 26 FEB – GFT Screen 1

13:30 The Hexecutioners (UK Premiere)

From the director of Monster Brawl and Septic Man, and the writer of Pontypool and Hellmouth, comes a nerve-shredding tale of American Gothic terror. Sanctioned euthanasia is now an industry and Malison McCourt has just begun assisting suicides with the Rite-To-Die company. She’s sent to the remote estate of a rich man requesting a Tibetan death ritual known as the Yotar Sky Burial. Soon the shocking reasons for selecting this arcane method become dangerously clear… Director Jesse Thomas Cook’s love letter to the rural horror genre is an atmospheric treat, building to a chilling, sacrificial crescendo.

Director: Jesse Thomas Cook. Cast: Liv Collins, Sarah Power, Wil Burd. Canada 2015. 95 mins. 18. Raven Banner Entertainment.

15:40 Anguish (UK Premiere)

Producer of The Strangers, Shutter and At the Devil’s Door, Sonny Mallhi makes a dazzling directorial debut with this compelling supernatural chiller inspired by a true possession story. Teenager Tess has been suffering from anxiety since childhood. When the family move to a small house in Texas, Tess begins experiencing hallucinations suggesting she’s susceptible to spirits of the deceased. Eerie, jittery and surprisingly moving, Anguish is a contemporary horror film which has a similar kind of depth and ambition to last year’s art house chiller It Follows and showcases a breakout performance by Ryan Simpkins (Twixt, Surveillance, Hangman) as Tess.

Director: Sonny Mallhi. Cast: Ryan Simpkins, Annika Marks, Karina Logue. USA 2015. 91 mins. 18. Arrow Films.

21:00 The Mind’s Eye (UK Premiere)

Joe Begos’ directorial debut Almost Human was a FrightFest 2014 highlight; we’re delighted to welcome his second award-winning feature, a loving tribute to iconic horror heroes David Cronenberg and Brian De Palma. Set in snowy 1990s New England, this violent revenge thriller follows Zack Connors (Graham Skinner), a telekinetic fugitive who can move and destroy objects with his mind. With bloody fireworks, exemplary special effects and Steve Moore’s propulsive score infusing every moment, Begos delivers mutant mayhem with stylish panache and irresistible pizzazz.

Director: Joe Begos. Cast: Graham Skipper, Lauren Ashley-Carter, John Speredakos. USA 2015. 87 mins. 18. Thanks to Channel 83 Films and Site B.
23:15 Patchwork (European Premiere)

The spirits of Re-Animator and cult director Frank Henenlotter loom large over this incandescent comic horror. Three young women wake up in a strange laboratory to find themselves ‘Frankensteined’ together in one body, sharing one consciousness. They co-operate long enough to make an escape, but unable to come to terms with their new multi-persona, the women shift their focus towards tracking down the mad scientist responsible for their mutilation. Can they put aside their differences long enough to exact the proper revenge? A modern spin on Mary Shelley mythology sure to delight fans of classic 80s scream fests.

Director: Tyler MacIntyre. Cast: Tory Stolper, Tracey Fairaway, Maria Blasucci. Canada/USA 2015. 86 mins. 18.

SAT 27 FEB – GFT Screen 1

10:00 14:15 The Wave  (Scottish Preview)

FrightFest alumni Roar Uthaug returns with this epic action thriller, the most successful movie of the year in Norway. In the small mountain community of Geiranger, geologist Kristian works at an early warning centre keeping an eye out for rockslides. The last catastrophe was in 1905: it’s only a matter of time before the next big one hits. Once the boulders start falling, the close-knit village and the tourists it caters for have just ten minutes to get to higher ground… Set your stopwatch for inevitable destruction as nature fights back with drastically shifting scenery and a terrifying monster tsunami.

Director Roar Uthaug. Cast: Thomas Bo Larsen, Kristoffer Joner, Fridtjov Såheim. Norway 2015. 104 mins. Norwegian with subtitles. 18. Studio Canal.
12:10 Southbound (UK Premiere)

From the creators of the V/H/S franchise come five interlocking tales of terror, following the fates of weary travellers who confront their worst nightmares over one long night on a desolate stretch of highway. You’ll witness two blood-soaked men on the run from supernatural horrors, an all-girl band taken in by a strange family, a man who has to perform emergency surgery with spooky assistance, and a rescue mission that goes horribly awry. Anthology horror is back in vogue and this uniquely grim and gritty excursion into the dark side of the soul shows exactly why. The Cryptkeeper would be so pleased!

Directors: Roxanne Benjamin. David Bruckner, Patrick Horvath, Radio Silence. Cast: Kate Beahan, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Susan Burke. USA 2015. 89 mins. 18. Thanks to Studio Canal.

14:05 SPL2: A Time For Consequences (Preview)

This martial arts extravaganza – a mix of heart-stopping emotion, spectacular choreography and bone-crunching violence – was the third biggest 2015 box-office hit in Asia. A sequel in name only to 2005’s Kill Zone, director Soi Cheang’s trademark adrenaline-fuelled action expands into Thailand’s criminal underworld. Undercover cop Kit (Jing Wu) finds himself in prison, where he stumbles into an organ trafficking ring run by degenerate cut-throats. One of the few honest guards is Chai (Ong-bak superstar Tony Jaa) whose dying daughter desperately needs a bone marrow transplant. A turbo-charged thriller showcasing Hong Kong action filmmaking at its best.

Director: Soi Cheang. Cast: Tony Jaa, Simon Yam, Jing Wu. China/Hong Kong 2015 120 mins. Mandarin Chinese with subtitles. 18. Jinga Films.

16:40 The Other Side of The Door (European Premiere)

A family lives an idyllic existence abroad until a tragic accident takes the life of their young son. The inconsolable mother learns of an ancient ritual that will bring him back to say a final goodbye. She travels to an ancient temple, where a door serves as a mysterious portal between two worlds. But when she disobeys a sacred warning to never open that door, she upsets the balance between life and death.

Director: Johannes Roberts. Cast: Sarah Wayne Callies, Jeremy Sisto, Javier Botet. UK/India 2016. 96 mins. 18. 20th Century Fox.

19:05 Baskin (UK Premiere)

Marking Turkish director Can Evrenol as the brightest talent on the international genre landscape, this homage to Hellraiser, Dario Argento and H.P. Lovecraft comes loaded with surreal chills, atmospheric dread, extreme gore and unsettling perversity. A police squad respond to a backup call, little realising they’re about to stumble upon a nightmare cabal of subhuman cannibalistic freaks with a penchant for imaginative blood ceremonies… Throw in a driving techno-synth score and, as The Hollywood Reporter review commented, ‘fasten your entrails; it’s going to be a bumpy night’!

Director: Can Evrenol. Cast: Gorkem Kasal, Ergun Kuyucu, Muharrem Bayrak. Turkey/USA 2015. 97 mins. Turkish with subtitles. 18. Vertigo Films.

21:30 Martyrs (UK Premiere)

In 2008 director Pascal Laugier shocked the world with Martyrs. Even by the cruel standards set by the French New Wave Extremist movement, it became the last decade’s most controversial and upsetting horror movie, with both detractors and defenders calling it a Sadean masterpiece. Now comes the highly-anticipated American version, from Blumhouse Productions of Paranormal Activity fame, and helmed by the Goetz Brothers, who proclaim their vision a reimagining of the source material rather than a slavish remake. Do they succeed? We dare you to find out…

Directors: Kevin & Michael Goetz. Cast: Bailey Noble, Troian Bellisario, Boriana Williams. USA 2015. 81 mins. 18. Altitude Films.

23:30 The Devil’s Candy (UK Premiere)

Seven years after taking the genre world by storm with The Loved Ones, Australian director Sean Byrne is back with an absorbing, unnerving and devastating ride into psychological trauma and satanic bedlam. Unfulfilled artist Jesse Hellman moves his wife and fellow metal music-loving teenage daughter Zooey into a rustic Texas home with a violent past. Soon his paintings start taking on a darker, disturbing and more prophetic turn as anxieties get ramped up by mortgage repayments, local gallery interest in his work and helping Zooey settle at her new school. Then the clearly unbalanced Ray appears on his doorstep wanting to move back where his parents tragically died. And when Ray sees Zooey, nothing prepares the family for the shocking chain of events in this sly, outstanding and refreshingly original chiller.

Director: Sean Byrne. Cast: Ethan Embry, Kiara Glasco, Pruitt Taylor Vince. USA 2015. 90 mins. 18. Icon Film Distribution.

FrightFest Passes* are on sale now.

To book tickets: +44 (0)141 332 6535 /

Buy tickets online

Box Office at GFT 12 Rose Street, Glasgow G4 6RB

 *FrightFest Passes exclude The Forest

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