With U.K.’s heralded FrightFest set to go down this year from August 26th-August 30th, you can bet your blistered keisters were gonna hear of all kinds of cool, lesser known horror flicks, both domestic and foreign. And now that July’s underway, FrightFest has offered a whole host of single photos from their upcoming lineup. So, if you’re down to see some new looks at such flicks as WOUND, THE DEAD, THE PACK, BEDEVILED, I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE and more…get with it all below!
Now, before we jump in, it might behoove you to check out the entire 2010 FrightFest roster HERE. From there, you can correspond to the film and their respective photos underneath. Now on to the new snaps…
BEDEVILED: From director Jang Cheol-soo, the new South Korean name to watch, the tale of two women. One wants to escape to the idyllic island of Moodo, the other wants to leave it for the big city. Seoul banker Hae-won once visited Moodo to see her grandparents and had befriended Bok-nam a girl who still writes despite Hae-won never bothering to reply. But on Moodo again to regain balance to her life, Hae-won is shocked to see everyone treating Bok-nam like a slave. As practically the only young woman on the island, she is a plaything for the men and a workhorse for the women. But true to form Hae-won remains indifferent to Bok-nam’s pleas for help, not wanting to become involved in complicated situations. Then Bok-nam loses the only thing that had kept her going and finally snaps, a sickle in hand to mete out the bloodiest of revenge.
THE DEAD: Known in the UK as the new Ridley and Tony Scott because of their similar commercial backgrounds, the Ford Brothers now burst on the high-class scare scene as a fresh force in the horror fantasy arena. In the very near future most of the world has succumbed to a living dead virus. After crashing off the coast of Africa in a plane, Lt. Brian Murphy battles for survival across inhospitable parched terrain in search of a way to get back to his beloved family in America. Saved by local military man Sgt. Daniel Dembele, who is also searching for his son, both men join forces to fight the ever-present flesh-eating threat stalking the bush. Starring West African superstar Prince David Osei and Rob Freeman from SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, THE DEAD features stunningly shot burnished landscapes, brilliant special make-up and visual effects and terrific dust devil zombies.
FINALE: In his realm, death is only the beginning. A bereaved family descends into a vortex of paranoia after the supposed suicide of the oldest son in director John Michael Elfers’ shocker styled after classic 60s and 70s Italian horrors. For the bizarre circumstances surrounding his death lead his mother Helen to believe darker forces are at work. But when investigations threaten to ruin the life of her teenage daughter, and her own sanity, there’s only one escape from this nightmare world ruled by a demonic soul collector – the very explosive route attempted by her deceased son. The stage has been set so let the show-stopping FINALE begin… Saturated in a dark, rich and creepy gothic atmosphere, seeping with dread and anxiety, Elfers’ keen eye for startling visuals imbues his gripping supernatural cult shocker with eerie carnality, forbidden desire and erotic imagery.
I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE: Arguably the most notorious title in horror history, the original 1979 exploitation classic became an iconic Video Nasty. So prepare for the one unrated remake everybody has been anticipating, a violent, shocking story of bloody revenge. When writer Jennifer Hills retreats to a charming cabin in the woods to start her next book, her presence in the small town attracts unwanted redneck attention. Intending to teach the city girl a lesson, they break into her cabin to scare her. However, what starts out as terrifying acts of humiliation, uncontrollably escalates into a night of abusive assault. Before they can kill her though, Jennifer sacrifices her broken, beaten body to a raging river and eventually the men stop searching for her. But against all odds Jennifer survives her ordeal and intends to turn the tables on her tormentors, inflicting upon them every horrifying torture they carried out on her… only far worse.
OUTCAST: A gripping, intimate, shockingly visceral portrait of the sidhe – Celtic fairy people – whose wild magic is steeped in blood, pain and ritual and director Colm McCarthy captures it all in his monster movie, murder mystery and Polanski-style tale of strange emotional ties. A female member of a nomadic tribe harbours a secret shame that forces her into housing estate exile with her young son. There she hones her skills in a dark, ancient breed of enchantment. Meanwhile a mysterious stranger charges himself with finding the disgraced woman and combing the secrets she is hiding. Using sinister powers too, he will stop at nothing to find her. The plot thickens when young people in the same housing project as our wayward family start turning up mutilated. Will the mother be able to protect her son? Will the menacing hunter conquer his prey? An unusual horror mash-up that’s equal parts intelligent, engaging, and unexpectedly creepy.
THE PACK: The earth wants blood…and there are those who cannot refuse it. In a snowy no man’s land loner Charlotte Massot picks up hitchhiker Max for security after being hassled by an unruly motorbike gang. But when Max goes missing at the La Spack truck-stop café and she investigates his disappearance, little does she realise she is being set up to take part in an unholy ritual. Miners in the area once raped the earth for its riches. So is it any wonder Mother Nature is sending her own ghoulish monsters to reclaim another resource in return? Blood! Visually arresting and featuring many smartly directed twists and turns, Franck Richard’s debut feature follows in the sick and slick tradition of recent French fear fare with BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF star Emilie Dequenne and Gallic gore favourite Philippe Nahon acting their heads off. Literally. Remember: wrestling mama La Spack is the new Black.
WOUND: Before Peter Jackson made an international splash with BAD TASTE, there was another Kiwi exploitation director. David Blyth directed New Zealand’s first ever splatter horror DEATH WARMED UP in 1984 starring punk psycho killers, mad scientists and mutant marauders. Now he makes a welcome return to the genre he pioneered with a David Lynch/Alejandro Jodorowsky influenced fantasy chiller exploring the dark worlds of mental illness, incest, revenge and death. Blyth’s supernatural horror follows Tanya as she searches for the mother she has never met – Susan who gave her up for dead after being abused by her own father who remains stuck in her present life. So Tanya has returned from the dead to confront and possess Susan with all her deepest fears and desires, sending her into a state of madness and gore-filled retribution. A controversial cult film in the making, WOUND explores the wicked ties that bind.
For more on FrightFest 2010, visit the Official Site!