Day Passes and Single tickets on sale from Sat 19 July, noon
Be prepared for the weird, the wild and the wonderful as FrightFest 2025, the UK’s No.1 horror & fantasy film festival, returns to The Odeon LUXE Leicester Square for its annual five-day extravaganza, taking over seven screens, including the two at the ODEON Luxe West End.
Running from Thursday August 21 – Monday 25 August, FrightFest will showcase sixty-nine features from across the world, embracing twenty-five main screen premieres and forty-four Discovery Screen titles, including the popular ‘First Blood’ strand, the latest genre documentaries, and a 4K restoration retrospective of one of the most game-changing British shockers ever. Plus, there’s the regular short-film strand, now extended to four showcases - to be announced later. This year there are nineteen world premieres, with fourteen countries represented, spanning four continents.
Co-director Alan Jones comments: “FrightFest in its 26th year remains the UK’s Number One destination for genre fans. The 2025 event will be epic in every sense, celebrating the inventive, transgressive and diverse. So, join us for an event that has consistently remained in the Top Ten of The World’s Best Fantasy Festivals list”.
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| The Home |
The festival opens, courtesy of Signature Entertainment, with the UK premiere of THE HOME. From director James DeMonaco, creator of The Purge franchise, comes an instant horror classic, an exhilarating ride into pure suspense-filled terror. Actor/comedian Pete Davidson gives a fantastic performance as Max; a rebellious twentysomething sentenced to community service at a quiet retirement home.
The closing night film is the UK premiere of Kurtis David Harder’s INFLUENCERS. Just when you thought it was safe to travel again, the mysterious chameleon CW pops into your social media feed and activates your FOMO in the second epic instalment of Shudder’s wildly successful original. Harder’s elevated vision is uber elegant, super unsettling, and so deliciously twisted it is destined to be one of the most talked-about genre films of the year.
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| The Descent |
Directors that have become part of the festival’s influential history and long legacy return to the main screen in force this year. Erik Bloomquist will be attending with his latest cult chiller. SELF-HELP, acclaimed director Simon Rumley returns with CRUSHED, his most raw and unflinching film yet, the renowned Adams family are back with MOTHER OF FLIES, their spiritual sequel to Hellbender, and Joe Begos is in the building with JIMMY AND STIGGS, a wild and wonderful ride in the Evil Dead and Bad Taste tradition. FrightFest will be the first festival to show the new version with additional Eli Roth footage. Then there is Neil Marshall, who will be presenting the World premiere 4K Restoration screening of THE DESCENT, with some of the original cast also in attendance.
Other main screen highlights include the UK premieres of THE TOXIC AVENGER, the long-awaited reboot of the 1984 Troma cult classic, the eye-opening A SERBIAN DOCUMENTARY about THAT controversial film, Toshiaki Toyoda’s TRANSCENDING DIMENSIONS - a violent, surreal fantasy that transcends anything you’ve ever seen before, Seth Daly’s stunning mystical home invasion feature film debut, THE ROWS, Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s gripping sex and lies thriller BONE LAKE, WHAT SHE DOESN’T KNOW, a serial killer thriller co-written by Terry Castle, daughter of the legendary showman William Castle, and the McManus Brothers’ are poised for a breakthrough with REDUX REDUX, their genre-bending sci-fi horror about a grieving mother searching for a reality where her murdered daughter is still alive.
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| CognAitive |
The main screen also plays host to British entry ODYSSEY, Gerard Johnson’s wild, neon-soaked ride through London’s seedy underbelly, the world premiere of BAMBOO REVENGE, where natural born killing takes on a whole new meaning, COGNAITIVE, a smart sci-fi thriller taking on the ever-growing job-stealing concern of AI, suburban monster horror HOLD THE FORT, pre-teen fear fable MARSHMALLOW, NIGHT OF VIOLENCE, Illya Konstantin’s anti-corporation office invasion horror, and FLUSH, from France, a thrillingly comedic plunge into shitty depths.
There are also World premieres for Chris Marrs Piliero’s APPOFENIACS, which horrifyingly portrays how easily deepfake technology can be weaponised, Jeffrey Primm’s slick and smart whodunnit horror 213 BONES, Vatanyu Ingkaviat’s eerily explosive TOMB WATCHER and THE RED MASK, a twisted love letter to the stalk and slash genre.
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| Super Happy Fun Clown |
This year’s three Discovery strands are as bold and bone-chilling as ever, showcasing emerging and established voices from across the world. The US lead the way with twenty-three entries, including BORDERLINE with Samara Weaving, star of the FrightFest sensation Ready Or Not back for another murderous melee, Patrick Rea’s serial killer clown spree SUPER HAPPY FUN CLOWN, THE HAUNTED FOREST, Keith Boynton’s bloody humorous scare-fest and THE ARBORIST in which winner of the MTV Viewers Choice award and internationally acclaimed director Andrew Mudge takes us on a folk horror journey into the dark unknown.
Plus, there are World premieres for Gabriel Carrer’s giallo-tinged revenge shocker DEATH CYCLE, Matt Stuertz’s wildly-imaginative body horror HUMAN, claw-chiller DON’T LET THE CAT OUT, from director Tim Cruz, PIG HILL, a punk rock fever dream of a shocker, adapted from the Nancy Williams novel, BLOOD SHINE, a new cinematic dimension in sadistic ritualism, NOSEEUMS where Get Out meets Candyman in an impressive feature debut by Raven Carter, PARASOMNIA, James Ross’ powerful shocker which blurs the vulnerable lines between dream and nightmare, and FIVE, where FrightFest is delighted to welcome back Dani Barker, last here with her spectacular tour-de-force performance in Follow Her. This time she’s returning as director, co-writer and actor in a horror comedy destined for cult status.
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| Portal to Hell |
Other Stateside offerings include Cronenberg-esque corporate satire KOMBUCHA, the World premiere of DW Medoff’s YOUR HOST in which Oscar nominee Jackie Earle Haley returns to the horror genre, dressed-to-kill chiller THE MANNEQUIN, uber twisted revenge tale IN A COLD VEIN, COVER, in which stamp collecting has never been so deadly, unpredictable slasher thriller THE ONLY ONES, A BLIND BARGAIN in which director Paul Bunnell reimagines the classic shocker, PORTAL TO HELL, where demons and dilemmas combine in an offbeat horror comedy, THE OTHER PEOPLE, a stylish and deeply disquieting suspense thriller, and from Will Canon, director of the FrightFest 2015 hit Demonic, presented by James Wan, comes THE CONFESSION, a haunting twist on the story of the Pied Piper set in rural Texas.
From the UK we have BAMBI: THE RECKONING, a powerful and gory retelling of the famous 1923 novel and beloved 1942 Walt Disney classic, and cerebral thriller BLOCKHEAD, the first narrative feature from Matt Harlock, the director behind the award-winning documentary American: The Bill Hicks Story.
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| He Kills at Night |
Then there are the Brit upstarts whose films comprise the ‘First Blood’ strand. This year there are four World premiere entries: HE KILLS AT NIGHT, Tom Pickering’s rollercoaster of a horror thriller, THE CARETAKER, Luke Tedder’s character-driven mystery thriller HEALING ANDY, Villablanca’s horror comedy found footage film entirely shot on an iPhone, and THE HAUNTING AT JACK THE RIPPER’S HOUSE, Natasha Tosini and Stephen Staley’s harrowing ghost-story as YouTubers are trapped in the renowned serial killer’s home.
From Australia FrightFest welcome back transgender filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay who brings THE SERPENT’S SKIN, her terrifying and tender exploration of love, gender identity and personal growth. Also, from down under is Parish Malfitano’s SALT ALONG THE TONGUE, a uniquely different horror, mixing witchery, spirit possession and exorcism with sheer cinematic poetry.
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| The Weed Eaters |
From Canada we have the World premiere of SICK PUPPY, Jay Reid’s unflinching portrait of a serial killing married couple, along with Ava Maria Safai’s FOREIGNER which explores the terrifying cost of assimilation, and the haunting power of an identity denied. Then, from New Zealand is the International premiere of flesh-eating THE WEED EATERS.
From Europe we have the Norwegian entry ABOVE THE KNEE. Viljar Bøe, the director of the quirky FrightFest entry Good Boy, returns with an equally provocative story about a man suffering from Body Integrity Identity Disorder (BIID). Another mental condition, agoraphobia, forms the plot for Spanish director Juan Albarracín’s EL INSTINTO / INSTINCT.
Iconic personalities are the subject of this year’s documentaries. In CAPTURED SOULS: IN CONVERSATION WITH GRAHAM HUMPHREYS, where director Chris Collier explores the life and legacy of the UK's most iconic horror illustrator. whilst in WHERE IS JUAN MOCTEZUMA? Alaric S. Rocha’s fun mockumentary unravels the mysterious disappearance of legendary 1970s Mexican horror film auteur Juan F. Moctezuma.
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| The Degenerate: The Life & Films of Andy Milligan |
Another infamous personality was Andy Milligan, a pioneer of avant-garde theatre a trailblazer of early Queer cinema, and one of the most divisive talents in exploitation/horror history. Now in THE DEGENERATE: THE LIFE & FILMS OF ANDY MILLIGAN the truth can be told about ‘The Fassbinder of 42nd Street’.
Dare you venture into the ‘time warp’? What is the secret behind the success of The Rocky Horror Picture Show? In the year of its 50th Anniversary, Andreas Zerr’s SANE INSIDE INSANITY: THE ROCKY HORROR PHENOMENON charts it all, from humble two-page script written in crayon and Off West End smash hit to flop film adaptation and global Midnight Movie cult success. With fantastic archive footage, new key cast interviews and a wealth of trivia information, this is the ultimate chronicle about the Queen Mother of B movie musicals.
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| Gill |
And finally, FrightFest presents two Animation masterpieces. The first, from Latvia is the UK premiere of DOG OF GOD, the historical depiction of the most famous werewolf trial in Northern Europe. Be prepared for an orgy of werewolves, sexual raves, witches and wizards.
The second presentation is the Korean entry GILL, Director Jae-huun Ahn is the director of Meditation with a Pencil, a Korean animation studio, whose previous critically acclaimed works includes Green Days and The Shaman Sorceress.
The festival guest line-up and full details for the Short Film Showcases and other events will be revealed soon.
For booking and programme details: https://www.frightfest.co.uk
www.frightfest.co.uk | FB: /FrightFestreal | ‘X’: @frightfest | IG: @frightfestUK
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