Horror festival to showcase some of the scariest films in cinema this weekend

Halloween is coming early in Wrexham with a horror festival showcasing some of the scariest films in cinema.

Starting tomorrow (Saturday 30 September 9.30am – 11pm) and running through until Sunday (1 October 8am – 11pm) at the George Edwards Hall in Cefn Mawr, Phantasmagoria Horror Film Festival will show 11 feature length films across the weekend.

It is the second year that the team behind the festival have organised the event, with this year’s theme focusing on “Horror in Houses”.

Along with the 11 feature films, there will also be 23 short horror films from all around the world screened over this weekend.

One of the organisers behind the event, Marc Brimfield, said creating the festival was a “real labour of love.”

He said: “On Saturday we are showing Fear in the Nite (1972) which is a dark Hammer Horror thriller film, next we have a new film The House of Horace (2022).

“This film was made by Edward Evers-Swindell, Director of Infestation( 2005) and Dark Signal (2016).

“As well as many collaborations with Neil Marshall such as the Descent (2005).

“After a bad experience on his last film, he made house of Horace to fall back in love with film making again.

“It was not for general release so this festival will likely be people’s only chance to see this film.”

After the screening there is a treat for horror fans with Edward taking part in a Q&A session
with actor and producer Sian Canty.

Marc said: “Next up we wanted something fun and a little bit of a gimmick so we decided to screen the 40th anniversary of Amityville 3 in 3D.

We will then have a selection of short films that is a combination of local and international films. This will be followed by our pub quiz.

“Our next feature will be Mister creep (2022) a found footage film that has been released this year on Amazon Prime but we were approached by the director along with some other festivals as he wanted this film to be shown on the big screen.

“The last film for Saturday is Dead of the Nite(2013)/(2023) The Director S J Evans was born in Wrexham and we share a mutual acquaintance.

“So I reached out to him and asked if he would like to do a Q&A.

“Not only did he agree to do a Q&A but also agreed to make a brand new cut of the film exclusively for the festival.”

Sunday will kick off with an earlier with a brand new film Corridors (2023).

This an experimental film redefining the classic haunted house film.

It is currently looking for distribution and Wrexham’s event is one of the few festivals in the world showing it.

Marc added: “Next on the agenda is Wes Craven’s classic The People Under The Stairs (1991).

“We then have another segment of short films followed by a 40th anniversary screening of House of the long Shadows (1983).

“We are also thrilled to have the leading lady, actor Julie Peasgood attending for a Q&A following the film.

“Julie credits beside this are numerous with over 50 years in film and TV including long appearances on serieses such as Emmerdale and Hollyoaks.

“Following the Q&A with Julie we were also lucky enough to get the film’s director Peter Walker to record a 14 minute interview for us.”

Also being screened on Sunday is the Italian classic Inferno(1980) by director Dario Agento, which will be followed by Night of the Demons 2 (1994).

Marc explained: “We decided to show this sequel rather than the original as it was a direct to video release so outside of other festivals showing this over the years this will be a rare occasion on the big screen.”

He added: “Our final film of the event will be Eight Eyes (2023).

“This will not be released until next year to the general public and is being released by Vinegar Syndrome, who are an American based distribution company that releases luxury releases of forgotten films of the 70s and 80s who have now turned their hand at producing their own films.

“Eight Eyes was filmed on location in Serbia shot on 35mm film and though is set in modern day it takes its tone from 70s grindhouse films and Italian Giallo.”

Marc said: “We have decided to do this again partly because of the success of last year’s event but also having experienced so much fun at festivals up and down the country over the last 20 years.

“I wanted to bring some of that magic I have experienced to my hometown.

“This has been a real labour of love.

“As you can imagine it is not easy to put on a film festival from down to getting the film rights, the logistics and the sheer cost involved.

“But these hardships are more than paid for by the enjoyment of the attendees and the people of the community, and our festival motto of showing good films to good people.

All this can be enjoyed for a £15 weekend ticket or a £10 single day ticket available from the Phantasmagoria website UK or the facebook events page of the same name.