Auxilio (2023) © Red Vector Productions.
Grimmfest, Manchester’s International Festival of Fantastic Film, is set to return for its 15th year next weekend at its regular venue: Manchester’s Odeon Great Northern.
The event unites generations of horror fans in their shared passion for all things spooky, gothic, and gory. This year’s line-up celebrates female-centric horror and will include 15 feature films alongside 22 short films, Q&A’s, market stalls, and even a live ghost-story performance.
With an eclectic mix of genres from satiric slashers and bloody home-invasions to spine-chilling psychological thrillers, the festival promises a fun yet thought-provoking experience that is not to be missed.
Here is a flavour of some of the exciting titles that festival audiences can sink their teeth into.
Never screened outside of Japan, and believed lost for nearly 30 years, Banmei Takahashi’s 1988 classic, Door, combines deadpan domestic comedy, chilling stalker-thriller, and baroquely bloody home-invasion horror. It finally had its international premiere at BIFAN in South Korea in July, and Grimmfest are delighted to be hosting its first UK screening.
Grimmfest will also be hosting the UK premiere of Kenichi Ugana’s, Love Will Tear Us Apart, which encompasses dark and deadly romance, satiric slasher and psychological thriller elements—and even some martial arts mayhem. The screening’s location also bears significance as Manchester was the birthplace of Joy Division, whose music inspired the film’s title.
Many of this year’s features present refreshing takes on classic horror tropes; Tamae Garateguy offers a new spin on the nunsploitation subgenre in Auxilio, whilst Jenn Wexler blends home-invasion and supernatural horror in The Sacrifice Game.
Acting co-director Leonie Rowland stated: “The horror we are showcasing this year is interior, intelligent, engaged, and explosive. It delights in the genre as much as it bends and redefines it. We are so proud of our 2023 line-up and so excited to share it with you all.”
This year also offers a trio of short film programmes, each with their own overarching themes. Friday’s selection explores our perception of reality in shorts such as Matt Bentley-Viney’s disquieting Caterpillar, Antoine Dricot’s quietly devastating Memories of the Moon, and Jo Smyth’s fever-dream folk-horror Find You Here, amongst others.
Meanwhile, Saturday’s programme delves into the complexities of love and relationships. Titles include Alan Dunne’s darkly comic Family Night, Jesse Aultman’s macabre morality tale The Spirit Becomes Flesh, and Michael Squid’s heart-rending and utterly horrifying Janelle’s Baby, the latter two of which will be making their international premiere at the festival.
Sunday’s collection concludes the programmes with a focus on monsters such as Michael Trainotti’s old-school creature-feature Scratch, Riccardo Grippo’s sour splatter-satire Starr, and Shane Bannon’s troubling A Perfect Place to Cry, to name just a few.
In addition to this vast line-up, podcasters Mike Muncer and Becky Darke from The Evolution of Horror will be joining Grimmfest for Q&A’s throughout the festival as well as hosting a pub quiz for festival attendees on Thursday 5 October at Lion’s Den. Actor-writer Adam Z. Robinson from theatre company, The Book of Darkness, will also be joining the festival performing a new ghost show Haunted.
Commenting on the festival, Robinson stated: “I’m thrilled to be bringing Haunted to Manchester in association with Grimmfest this October. It’s a creepy, spooky, and thrilling storytelling show—anyone who likes anything ghostly will love. This is our first time performing in Manchester and we can’t wait to bring these spine-tingling tales to life on Friday 6 October at the Lion’s Den!”
Grimmfest will run from 5 – 8 October.
A full list of screenings and events, as well as ticket options, can be found at grimmfest.com.
Words by Katie Heyes
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