FrightFest, also known as Arrow Video FrightFest is an annual film festival held in London and Glasgow. The festival holds three major events each year: a festival running five days over the UK late August Bank Holiday weekend, a Halloween event held in London in late October, and a festival in Glasgow held around February as part of the Glasgow Film Festival.
The first event was held in London in 2000 and the first Glasgow festival was held in 2006. As its name indicates FrightFest primary focus is on the horror film genre, however, the event regularly features documentaries, science fiction and thriller films.
History
Paul McEvoy has stated that his initial idea for FrightFest "came from my love and admiration for the seminal 'Shock Around The Clock' events of the 1980s organised by Stefan Jaworszyn and Alan Jones." He then reached out to Ian Rattray, journalist Alan Jones, film and television PR person and Greg Day, with whom he founded and ran the event. Question and Answer sessions are also compered by them.
For five years the festival was held at the Prince Charles Cinema (PCC). In 2005, it moved to the Odeon West End (OWE) due to increasing audiences. In 2009, it found a new home in Empire, Leicester Square. Various one-off events have been held at venues across the UK. The Fright Fest brand has been included in the Cambridge Film Festival and the Glasgow Film Festival.
The Festival has been host to many personal appearances by those involved with the making of the films being shown. Notable attendees include George A. Romero, Rob Zombie, Paul W. S. Anderson, Park Chan-wook, Danny Boyle, Guillermo del Toro (twice), Brian Yuzna, Neil Marshall, Uwe Boll, John Landis, Don Mancini, Barbara Crampton (twice), Kane Hodder, Gaspar Noé, Richard Brake, Adam Green, and Tobe Hooper.
FrightFest has had a number of different sponsors over the span of its life, including the Horror Channel, Film4, Volkswagen Lupo, Bizarre magazine (of which the August issue was given away free), Xfm, Zone Horror and Play.com.
Poster and logo designs are provided by the artist Graham Humphreys.
London Festival Line-ups
The following is a listing of each film and shorts (and previews) shown at the festival each year.
FF2000
The first FrightFest was held for four days from Friday 25 through Monday 28 August 2000 at the Prince Charles Cinema in Soho, London.
Films shown at the inaugural FrightFest were Lighthouse, Ed Gein, Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby, Dario Argento's The Phantom of the Opera, Christina's House, Scary Movie, Pitch Black, Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane, Ringu 2, Blood, The Criminal, Anatomie, Mario Bava: Maestro of the Macabre, Dario Agento an eye for horror, The 13th Sign, Audition, and Cut.
The short films Purgatory and In Memory of Laura were also shown.
FF2001
The second FrightFest was again held at the Prince Charles Cinema, where it screened The Devil's Backbone prior to its screenings in the United States and Canada. The film received a positive reception, prompting director Guillermo Del Toro to dub the festival “the Woodstock of gore”.
Films shown were The Bunker, Revelation, Kiss of the Dragon, Cubbyhouse, Sleepless, Scary Movie 2, The Devil's Backbone, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Cradle of Fear, Dust, Brotherhood of the Wolf, Battle Royale, Alone, The Isle, Ginger Snaps, and Jeepers Creepers.
An episode of the television series Urban Gothic and the short films The Window and Universal were also screened.
FF2002
The third year of the London FrightFest was held again at the PCC, where the front rows became available to weekend passholders for the first time. Director Danny Boyle screened the first reel of 28 Days Later and Paul W. S. Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt appeared to show a promo for Resident Evil.
Films screened at the festival were Nine Lives, Frailty, The Princess Blade, Donnie Darko, The Eye, Halloween: Resurrection, One Hour Photo, My Little Eye, Swimfan, Tuno Negro, Dark Water, Spider, The Happiness of the Katakuris, Bloody Mallory, Insomnia, and Ted Bundy. The short films for this event were Pissboy', The Cicerones, and Whacked.
FF2003
The fourth FrightFest was held at the PCC. The films screened at the event were Octane, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Beyond Re-Animator, Tattoo, Malefique, Cypher, Jeepers Creepers 2, Charlie's Family, Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary, Phone, The Last Horror Movie, Gozu, Cabin Fever, House of the Dead, Between Your Legs, Fear X, and House of 1000 Corpses. In attendance were directors Marcus Adams, Eric Valette, Julian Richards, and Rob Zombie.