Frightfest, the UK’s biggest and best horror festival, is set to take over the Vue Leicester Square again this August. Although the full line-up remains a closely-guarded secret, until tickets go on sale next month, the films set to open and close the hugely popular festival have just been revealed.
First up is Cherry Tree, a creepy cult thriller from celebrated Irish director David Keating, of Wake Wood fame. Cherry Tree follows a young woman living in rural Ireland who strikes a deal with her supposedly harmless hockey coach, in order to save her father, only to discover she’s actually the leader of a coven of witches.
The flick is the first ever Irish production to open Frightfest, and stars, among others, Anna Walton (The Seasoning House), Sam Hazeldine (’71) and Naomi Battrick (Waterloo Road). The festival organisers described it as a combination of “storytelling excellence, great production values and terrific casting, slathered with that appealing Emerald Isle quirkiness”
Closing Frightfest this year is the hugely-anticipated horror anthology Tales Of Halloween, which features shorts from high-profile genre filmmakers such as Neil Marshall (The Descent), Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II-IV) and Lucky Mc Kee (All Cheerleaders Die), among others.
The ten tales of terror contained therein, each of which pays homage to every horror fan’s favourite holiday, also feature genre stalwarts such as John Landis, and are set to unleash “a host of ghouls, imps, aliens, goblins, demons, axe murders and serial killers on the witching hour”.
The festival organisers also note that Tales Of Halloween “represents a potted history of FrightFest’s shining heritage, due to much of the talent involved both on screen and behind it being our special guests over the past sixteen years”.
Frightfest takes place from August 27th – 31st at the Vue cinema, Leicester Square. Tickets will be available from the festival website from July 4th, priced at £185. Wicked Horror will be there to bring you all the need-to-know reviews, news and interviews direct from the festival.
