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Arrow Video FrightFest 2019: 10 films you can’t miss in the Main Screen

We’re just under two weeks away from Arrow Video FrightFest 2019 and with 78 amazing films on offer this year, we want to help you plan what to see.

As always the films are split across the Main Screen and the Discovery Screens. Today we’re picking out 10 of the films showing on the Main Screen that you simply can’t afford to miss.

Keep reading to find out which films we think you should get a ticket for…

 

1. Come to Daddy

Cast: Elijah Wood, Stephen McHattie, Martin Donovan, Michael Smiley

Director: Ant Timpson

When: 6pm/6.30pm on Thursday 22nd August

Synopsis: An urban hipster faces major daddy issues in a coastal Oregon town in a deliciously edgy stunner. 30-something Norval (a career best performance by Elijah Wood) receives a surprise invitation to visit his estranged fatherā€™s remote cliff house. Nervous and desperate to impress his uncaring dad, Norval stretches the truth about his life until finally his fatherā€™s growing animosity reaches a dark fever pitch. From here on, all genre-blending bets are off as this downright hilarious, inventively gross, shocking-to-the-extreme adventure with plenty of twists, turns and lots of creative weaponry moves smartly towards its most uncompromising and unexpected finale.

 

2. Dark Encounter

Cast: Laura Fraser, Mel Raido, Vincent Regan, Alice Lowe

Director: Carl Strathie

When: 10.30am/11am on Friday 23rd August

Synopsis: A year after the mysterious disappearance of their 8 year-old daughter, grieving Olivia and Ray return home with friends and family from her memorial service in their small town. Suddenly strange lights appear in the nearby forest and everyone is exposed to inexplicable phenomena shaking them all to the core. The origin of these weird incidents seems to be visitors from another world intent on terrorizing the family. But what they donā€™t realize is that these visitors will eventually lead them to an unexpectedly dark and disturbing truth – one destined to impact on their lives forever.

 

3. Knives and Skin

Cast: Marika Engelhardt, Kate Arrington, Grace, Smith, Ireon Roach

Director: Jennifer Reeder

When: 3.30pm/4pm on Friday 23rd August

Synopsis: Filtered through the DNA of Heathers, Mean Girls and Dazed and Confused, director Jennifer Reederā€™s tender, feminist teen noir fantasy redefines the High School movie with visionary Ć©lan. In rural Illinois, a drum majoretteā€™s disappearance traumatises the small town residents as secrets are revealed, destroying some relationships and strengthening others. Three girls form a bond in the aftermath of the tragedy as everyone struggles with their own infidelities, dreams and family cruelties while the manhunt continues. Think Sofia Coppola meets David Lynch on the set of High School Musical in this superb portrayal of teenage angst, rage and disillusionment.

 

4. Bliss

Cast: Dora Madison, Tru Collins, Rhys Wakefield, Jeremy Gardner

Director: Joe Begos

When: 8.45pm/9.15pm on Friday 23rd August

Synopsis: FrightFest showcased his Almost Human and The Mind’s Eye and now Joe Begos, the quirkiest director on the independent horror scene, is back with a zeitgeisty, fresh and thrilling trip into terror. A brilliant painter facing the worst creative block of her life turns to anything she can to complete her masterpiece and recklessly indulges in a series of drug binges. As the narcotics fly out of control and spiral into a hallucinatory hell scape of highs, lows, sex, and murder in the sleazy underbelly of Los Angeles, so does her new found, and inexplicable, yet unquenchable craving for blood.

 

5. Mary

Cast: Gary Oldman, Emily Mortimer, Jennifer Esposito, Stefanie Scott

Director: Michael Goi

When: 10.30am/11am on Saturday 24th August

Synopsis: An all-star cast, including Darkest Hour Oscar-winner Gary Oldman and Emily Mortimer from Mary Poppins Returns, swim into the murky waters of seafaring horror in a shocker lurking in the shadows of the Marie Celeste ghost ship legend. Written by Anthony Jaswinski, scripter of the shark suspenser The Shallows, and pitched as ā€œThe Shining meets The Conjuringā€, the supernatural chiller centres on a struggling waterfront family tired of working for an unscrupulous boss. So they buy an old ship with the hopes of starting a tourist charter business. But after sailing into isolated waters, the shipā€™s terrifying secrets start surfacing.

 

6. Feedback

Cast: Eddie Marsan, Paul Anderson, Ivana Baquero, Richard Brake

Director: Pedro C. Alonso

When: 3.20pm/3.50pm on Saturday 24th August

Synopsis: National Treasure Eddie Marsan gives a career defining performance in a startling horror thriller co-written by Alberto (Summer Camp) Marini. Jarvis Dolan is the star host of ā€˜The Grim Realityā€™, a successful late night radio show. But his whole life turns upside down when two armed, masked men burst into the studio taking him and his entire show hostage. They want Jarvis to confess to a scandal that could destroy his life and decimate his career. However, he has no clue what they are talking about. And when the murder starts he finally discovers what his grim reality truly means.

 

7. Daniel Isn’t Real

Cast: Miles Robbins, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sasha Lane, Mary Stuart Masterson

Director: Adam Egypt Mortimer

When: 3.45pm/4.15pm on Sunday 25th August

Synopsis: From Some Kind of Hate director Adam Egypt Mortimer, an unflinching examination of what can happen when the id, the ego, and the super-ego are all at war with each other. In this Mandy-esque slice of provocative, psychological horror, a troubled young manā€™s imaginary friend from childhood returns as an adult eager to indulge in darkly disturbing desires. An innovative and thought-provoking descent into madness, one pushing storytelling boundaries and delivering truly nightmarishly surreal visuals, Mortimer tackles the topic of duality with self-confidence in a mesmeric fairy tale fantasy that morphs into chilling cosmic horror.

 

8. Ready or Not

Cast: Samara Weaving, Andie MacDowell, Mark O’Brien, Adam Brody

Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett

When: 6.30pm/7pm on Sunday 25th August

Synopsis: One wedding and how many funerals? From the V/H/S directing duo of the Radio Silence collective, a bridal shower of devilish scares, sophisticated chills and fun gore. Itā€™s the happiest day of Graceā€™s life as she marries her fiancĆ© Daniel, from the super-rich and eccentric Le Domus family, owners of one of the biggest games companies in the world. Before taking her rightful place at her new in-laws country mansion, thereā€™s a traditional family ritual Grace must play first prior to heading off on honeymoon. But the game thatā€™s chosen by chance turns lethal and everyone must fight for survival.

 

9. Rabid

Cast: Laura Vandervoort, Greg Bryk, Stephen McHattie, Ted Atherton

Director: Jen & Sylvia Soska

When: 5.45pm/6.15pm on Monday 26th August

Synopsis: The hugely anticipated remake of David Cronenbergā€™s body horror classic from American Mary directors, The Soska Sisters. What happens when you realize to achieve your dreams you have to live a nightmare? Rose wants to become a famous designer in the fashion world, but a terrible accident leaves her scarred beyond recognition. Undergoing a radical untested stem cell treatment, wallflower Rose turns into the belle of the ball and starts to realize her ambitions. But everything in life comes at a price and Roseā€™s new found perfection is no exception as she unwittingly sets off a bloody spiral of contagion.

 

10. A Good Woman is Hard to Find

A Good Woman is Hard to Find
Credit: Arrow Video FrightFest

Cast: Sarah Bolger, Edward Hogg, Andrew Simpson, Jane Brennan

Director: Abner Pastoll

When: 8.45pm/9.15pm on Monday 26th August

Synopsis: A dynamic killer thriller with its finger firmly on the pulses of stark social commentary and shattering suspense, Road Games director Abner Pastoll crafts a dazzling, dark and daring journey through Northern Irelandā€™s criminal underbelly. Recently widowed mother of two Sarah (a tour de force Sarah Bolger) is desperate to know who murdered her husband in front of their young son, rendering him mute. Coerced into helping a low-life drug-dealer stash narcotics stolen from the local Mr. Big, sheā€™s forced to go beyond humanity into taking drastic action to protect her children while learning the awful truth about her spouse.

 

Arrow Video FrightFest 2019 takes place from 22nd to 26th August 2019 at Cineworld Leicester Square in London. For more information and tickets please visit http://www.frightfest.co.uk.

Pip Ellwood-Hughes
Pip Ellwood-Hughes
Pip is the owner and Editor of Entertainment Focus, and the Managing Director of PiƱata Media. With over 19 years of journalism experience, Pip has interviewed some of the biggest stars in the entertainment world. He is also a qualified digital marketing expert with over 20 years of experience.

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