In anticipation of all the upcoming announcements, including the films that will play at the festival as well as guests, events, and more, we had the chance to catch up briefly with festival co-founder Greg Day to ask him five questions about FrightFest’s history, what this year will hold, and what future plans are!
While we didn’t get the reveal on any specific titles, we did learn that films from 18 countries across six continents will be represented, that there will be, “…usual blood splatter of special guests, surprises clips, give-aways, the annual quiz and our notoriously famous karaoke evening”, and more. Read it all below to get a taste of what’s to come!
FrightFest takes place at Cineworld Leicester Square and The Prince Charles Cinema between Aug 23-Aug 27. More information can be found at the festival’s official website.
Dread Central: The festival has been going since 2000. What makes this year special in your mind? What sets it apart from previous years?
Greg Day: What always amazes me is how different every year is and how the standard of genre films being made stays at such a consistently high level. This year we have more films than ever before, even though we vowed to cut back, thinking we all need more breathing space – which we probably do! But we love to give the fans as much choice as possible and we hate turning down a good movie! This year is special in my mind simply because we’ve managed to pull together a truly diverse, bold and challenging programme as filmmakers worldwide continue to push at cultural and moral boundaries. Eighteen countries in six continents are represented. It’s the World Cup of horror!
DC: What kinds of horror films can attendees look forward to experiencing?
GD: Everything from horror musical comedy, through reinvented slashers to South American paranormal freak shows. We have anthologies, documentaries, gross animation, provocative arthouse, rare retro, short film showcases and live commentary. There’s our FIRST BLOOD strand that puts the spotlight on home-grown first-timers and of course our usual blood splatter of special guests, surprises clips, give-aways, the annual quiz and our notoriously famous karaoke evening…
DC: Have you got any big surprises lined up?
GD: Are you trying to get me to reveal titles before the line-up announcement on Thursday? The short answer is YES!
DC: How do you feel FrightFest has helped push horror in new and interesting ways over the years?
GD: I’m not sure we’re that influential but I can say with confidence that we’ve certainly helped a lot of aspiring filmmakers to have a go. Because we’re not elitist (we have no VIP rooms at FrightFest), we encourage filmmakers to mix with each other and with the fans and it creates a fantastic cauldron for ideas to flourish. Many creative partnerships have found their roots at FrightFest.
DC: You’re coming up on the 20th edition of FrightFest. I know that you’re extremely busy with this year’s event but have you given any thought as to what you would like to do for that anniversary?
GD: Yes, get someone else to put it on for us… No, seriously, it will be a fantastic occasion, once we get over the disbelief of having lasted this long, and we’ve got some ideas already running around in our heads. We may ask the fans what they would like to see us do. After all, they’re the folk who really run the fest…