Cherry Tree to open FrightFest, Tales of Halloween will close it

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The sixteenth edition of the Film4 FrightFest horror/fantasy festival is set to draw genre fans from around the globe to London in the last days of August, and we have received the official announcement of which films have been chosen to open and close the event.

Kicking off the festivities on August 27th will be WAKE WOOD director David Keating's CHERRY TREE. Starring Anna Walton and Naomi Battrick, the film is said to be a twist on the pagan cult thriller in which

a young girl, Faith (Battrick), in an attempt to save her father’s life, makes a fateful pact with Sissy Young (Walton), head of a sinister black magic coven.

Sounds like a promising way to get things started. Even more enticing to me is the film that will end FrightFest on August 31st with a celebration of my personal favorite holiday: TALES OF HALLOWEEN, an anthology created by Axelle Carolyn.

Ten tales of terror unfold in a sleepy American suburb on All Hallows Eve as ghouls, imps, aliens, goblins, demons, axe murderers and serial killers roam the witching hour.

This anthology of power nightmares is directed by the cream of the scream industry crop: Neil Marshall, Darren Lynn Bousman, Axelle Carolyn, Adam Gierasch, Lucky McKee, Dave Parker, Paul Solet, Ryan Schifrin, John Skipp, and Mike Mendez.

TALES OF HALLOWEEN is a movie I'm looking forward to with great anticipation, and the lucky attendees of FrightFest will be watching it long before I'll get a chance to.

If you're free August 27th – 31st and would like to spend those days watching movies at FrightFest, tickets will be available to purchase on their website as of noon on July 4th.

The entire film lineup will be announced on July 2nd.

Source: Arrow in the Head, FrightFest

About the Author

Cody is a news editor and film critic, focused on the horror arm of JoBlo.com, and writes scripts for videos that are released through the JoBlo Originals and JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channels. In his spare time, he's a globe-trotting digital nomad, runs a personal blog called Life Between Frames, and writes novels and screenplays.