The Guillermo del Toro produced creature creeper DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK is set to open this year’s Film4 FrightFest. Starring Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce and directed by comic book artist Troy Nixey, this will be the film’s UK premiere ahead of a planned nationwide release in September, courtesy of Optimum Releasing.
Based on the 1973 US TV movie and bearing del Toro’s distinctive touch of class, first-time director Nixey explores a demonic tooth fairy myth in a tense flight of terrifying fantasy orchestrated with stylish verve and stunning sound design that will rock the Empire cinema to its rafters.
Film4 FrightFest will close with the European premiere of the harrowing and nerve-jangling British survival shocker A LONELY PLACE TO DIE, directed by Julian Gilbey and starring Melissa George(pictured right). Set in the Scottish Highlands, a group of mountaineers discover a young Serbian girl buried alive in the wilderness. In their attempt to get the girl ro safety they become caught up in a terrifying game of cat and mouse.
FrightFest was created in 2000 by film producer Paul McEvoy, journalist and broadcaster Alan Jones and film distributor/booker Ian Rattray. Greg Day, the festival’s long standing PR, became a joint director in 2007. From its cult roots at the Prince Charles Cinema it has grown to become one of the genre’s most vibrant, credible and recognisable brands, helping to launch the careers of directors such as Simon Rumley, Christopher Smith, Eli Roth, Neil Marshall and Simon Hunter. Apart from the annual 5-day event in London, FrightFest has a strand at the Glasgow Film Festival and hosts a Halloween all-night horrorthon. Dubbed “the Woodstock of Gore” by director Guillermo Del Toro, the festival has attracted sponsorship and media partnerships with such leading brands as Film4, Total Film Magazine, FIVE, Volkswagen, play.com, The Times, XFM, Atari. Ign.com, Soho House, The Horror Channel and Bizarre Magazine.
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