Love horror? The Irish Film Institute has you more than covered for terror this Halloween with the IFI Horrorthon 2017, the full programme of which we’ve got right here for you. From frightening favourites to creepy cult hits to some petrifying premieres, the varied series has something for everything looking for a scare from October 26 – 30.
Opening the festival on Thursday, October 26th is Tragedy Girls, a horror comedy starring Deadpool‘s Brianna Hildebrand, Alexandra Shipp, Josh Hutcherson and Craig Robinson. The closing film of the festival meanwhile, is a Vietnamese horror, The Housemaid, the story of an orphaned Vietnamese girl, hired to be a housemaid at a haunted rubber plantation in 1953 French Indochina, and is haunted by the dead wife of the widowed owner she falls for. The schedule is packed with films everyday, and the IFI are providing special festival pricing for those who want to get to as many films as possible. You can see 5 films for €45 or 10 films for €80, or if you want to see still more horror, day passes are available as well, and you can see the prices for those below.
1 day pass – €45
2 day pass – €77
3 day pass – €104
4 day pass – €130
5 day pass – €135
How to decide what to watch though? Whether you like the ambience of a John Carpenter picture or the schlock of a Troma film, it can still be hard to pick through festival programming like this. So we asked out resident horror expert Sarah Elliott tocast her eyes over the films that’ll be on show during the Horrorthon and pick out some highlights. Check out the full schedule and keep an eye out for Sarah’s picks.
Thursday October 26th
19.00 Tragedy Girls
Sarah says: “Tyler MacIntyre’s cool, colourful and social media savy horror-comedy is a must see. MacIntyre looks to be a fresh new creator of horror with a twisted sense of humour.”
21.10 Dead Shack
22.45 Charismata
22.50 Who’s Watching Oliver
23.00 Sequence Break
Friday October 27th
13.10 The Crazies
15.10 The Dark Half
17.25 Top Knot Detective
19.10 Habit
21.15 The Endless
23.15 DOUBLE BILL: Tonight She Comes/Ruin Me
Sarah says: “This film looks like an absolutely insane thrill ride. It’s a blood-soaked throwback to classic slasher films of the 70s with a refreshing tongue in or around the cheek area.”
23.20 DOUBLE BILL: John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness/Body Snatchers
23.30 DOUBLE BILL: Freddy/Eddy/Incarnation
Saturday October 28th
13.00 Eaten Alive
14.45 78/52
Sarah says: “Horrorthon always screens a gem of a documentary and this year is no different. 78/52 features a host of horror know-it-alls discussing the massive impact of Hitchcock and his masterpiece Psycho.”
16.30 Tag
18.10 Our Evil
20.00 Game of Death
21.30 Victor Crowley
23.15 The Night of the Virgin
23.20 Event Horizon
23.25 Fashionista
Sunday October 29th
13.00 King Cohen: The Wild World of Larry Cohen
15.10 Short Film Showcase
Sarah says: This is cheating a little but you’re boumd to get a big bang for your buck. Short films in the horror genre can be hugely innovative and original. I will always take the chance to see shorts from both up and coming and established creators alike.
17.10 The Mimic
19.10 Surprise Film
21.10 68 Kill
23.00 Angel Heart
23.00 Torment
23.10 Replace
Monday October 30th
13.00 Re:Born
15.10 Return to Return to Nuke Em High AKA Vol. 2
16.40 The Laplace’s Demon
19.10 Still/Born
20.50 The Housemaid