6.30pm  DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (UK Premiere)

Your worst bedtime nightmares are about to come true thanks to producer/co-writer Guillermo del Toro. Young Sally moves to Rhode Island to live with her architect father and his new girlfriend in the 19th-century mansion they are restoring. But the foreboding edifice has a dark past… Based on the acclaimed 1973 US TV movie and bearing del Toro’s distinct touch of class, director Troy Nixey explores the demonic tooth fairy myth in a tense flight of terrifying fantasy orchestrated with stylish verve, commanding atmosphere and stunning sound design.

100 mins
Director: Troy Nixey
Australia 2011

Katie Holmes - Kim
Bailee Madison - Sally Hirst
Guy Pearce - Alex Hirst
Alan Dale - Jacoby
Jack Thompson – Harris

9.15pm  FINAL DESTINATION 5: 3D  (UK Premiere)

This is the latest chapter in the top-grossing horror thriller franchise first. In this fifth instalment, written by Eric Heisserer, scripter of the up-coming The Thing remake, Death is just as omnipresent as ever, and is unleashed after one man’s premonition saves a group of co-workers from a terrifying suspension bridge collapse. But they were never supposed to survive, and, in a terrifying race against time, the ill-fated assembly frantically to discover a way to escape the Grim Reaper’s sinister agenda. You can run, but no matter where you hide, you can’t cheat Death – even in 3D!

95 mins
Director: Steven Quale
USA 2011

Nicholas D’Agosto – Sam Lawton
Emma Bell – Molly
David Koechner - Dennis
Tony Todd – Bludworth
Courtney B. Vance – Agent Jim Block

11.30pm  THE THEATRE BIZARRE  (European Premiere)

Down a seedy city street in her neighbourhood, young Enola Penny is obsessed with what appears to be a long abandoned theatre. One night, she sees that the front door is slightly ajar and impulsively decides to sneak inside. But there in the dark, decrepit auditorium, a show unlike any other unfolds before her eyes. Its host is the eerie human puppet Pegg Poett who introduces her to six weird tales. Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome to The Theatre Bizarre.

108 mins   Directors: Richard Stanley, Tom Savini, Douglas Buck, Karim Hussain, Buddy Giovinazzo, Jeremy Kasten, David Gregory   USA/France 2011

Virginia Newcomb – Enola Penny
Udo Kier – Pegg Poett
Debbie Rochon – Carla
Tom Savini – Dr. Maury
Catriona MacColl – Mere Antoinette

FRIDAY AUGUST 26th

10.40am  ROGUE RIVER  (UK Premiere)

Wanting to spread her father’s ashes at a significant place, Mara drives to a remote part of the beautiful Rogue River in Southern Oregon. When her car is towed away by she accepts the offer of a ride into town by a kindly passerby named Jon (Texas Chainsaw 2 and Devil’s Rejects horror legend Bill Moseley). So begins Mara’s nightmare descent into utter horror and disgust, making her wish she had parked her car somewhere else.

90 mins
Director: Jourdan McClure
USA 2010

Michelle Page - Mara
Bill Moseley – Jon
Lucinda Jenney – Lea
Michael Cudlitz – Sheriff Boyd
Chris Coy – Andrew

12.45 midday  THE HOLDING (World Premiere)

A heart-pounding suspense thriller set in the rugged and atmospheric landscape of the English countryside. Cassie Naylor’s husband Dean has mysteriously disappeared and now she’s desperately trying to run their isolated farm alone with her two girls. Then an enigmatic stranger arrives at the smallholding, claiming to be an old friend of her husband and soon charms his way into their lives. But unknown to Cassie, Aden’s altruistic motivation has a sinister edge and when the truth about Dean’s vanishing finally comes to light, Cassie and her girls must fight for their survival like never before.

90 mins
Director: Susan Jacobson
UK 2011

Kierston Waring – Cassie Naylor
Vincent Regan – Aden
David Bradley – Cooper
Georgia Groome – Gemma
Terry Stone - Karsten Rabe

3.05pm The Total Film Interview: Larry Fessenden in conversation with Jamie Graham

Larry Fessenden is the most underrated American filmmaker working in horror today. His four features (No Telling, Habit, Wendigo, The Last Winter) have established the 48-year-old New Yorker’s inimitable brand of low-key, naturalistic scares, and his haunting work often exhibits heartfelt ecological concerns while featuring real people in recognisable surroundings – even when his protagonists are vampires. Larry has also acted in nearly 50 films and produced 40-odd titles, including Ti West’s The Roost, The House Of The Devil and, at FrightFest this year, The Innkeepers. Total Film looks forward to introducing the mysterious maven of mayhem to the FrightFest stage.

Plus - American Horror: A Panel Discussion

Total Film and Larry Fessenden will be joined on stage by Ti West, Lucky McKee, Adam Green, Joe Lynch and Andrew van den Houten to discuss the US scare scene. This is your chance to get the inside track on where American horror is at, right here, right now!

90 mins

5pm  URBAN EXPLORERS  (UK Premiere)

Eager to travel around the mysterious hidden world under metropolitan Berlin, four spelunkers hire local guide Kris, who leads them into the dark, dank and cavernous maze of escape tunnels and subterranean fortifications to find old Nazi war rooms. It’s when Kris suffers a bad fall that things start to go horribly wrong. Out of the shadows comes Armin, a former East German border guard, who has made this unchartered territory his underground kingdom. The Descent meets Creep in a nightmare as epic as the stunning subterranean locations.

88 mins
Director: Andy Fetscher
Germany 2011

Klaus Stiglmeier – Armin
Max Riemelt – Kris
Nathalie Kelley – Lucia
Nick Eversman – Denis
Brenda Koo – Juna

7.05pm  THE GLASS MAN  (World Premiere)

Martin Pyrite has lost his job. But instead of telling his wife he continues his work routine and gets into enormous monetary difficulties. Then late one night a sinister debt collector bangs on his door with an offer – if Martin helps him carry out an important task he’ll wipe the financial slate clean. In accepting, Martin goes on a journey through his own private hell where he’s forced to confront his worst dreads in a mesmerizing vortex of soul-destroying madness. Director Cristian Solimeno’s compact psychological horror chiller is the indie Brit discovery of the year.

120 mins
Director: Cristian Solimeno
UK 2011

Andy Nyman – Martin Pyrite
James Cosmo – Pecco
Neve Campbell – Julie Pyrite
Cristian Solimeno – Toby Huxley
Don Warrington – Anton

9.55pm  TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL  (London Preview)

An endearingly cheeky tribute to a diverse array of suspense and slasher classics (everything from Fargo and Friday The 13th to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Wrong Turn) this horror comedy finds best hillbilly buddies Tucker and Dale headed to their new vacation cabin in the West Virginia mountains. But when they have a nasty run-in with a group of college kids on a camping weekend a series of deranged misunderstandings begins that starts the body count setting in motion the bloodiest of shock deaths.

86 mins
Director: Eli Craig
USA 2010

Tyler Labine – Dale
Alan Tudyk – Tucker
Katrina Bowden – Allison
Jesse Moss – Chad
Philip Granger – Sheriff

11.55pm  VILE  (World Premiere)

Fifty years ago Yale University professor Stanley Milgram held a series of social experiments based on Nazi war criminals’ psychology. They were devised to answer a simple question; how far are people willing to go when instructed by authority? Nick, his girlfriend Tayler and their two best friends are about to find out. Abducted after a camping trip, they wake up in an unknown prison with two vials wired into the base of their skulls. Their task, set by a mysterious video figure, is to fill the vials with chemicals the brain produces under extreme pain…

88 mins
Director: Taylor Sheridan
USA 2011

Eric Jay Beck – Nick
April Matson – Tayler
Akeem Smith – Tony
Greg Cipes – Sam
Maya Hazen – Tara

SATURDAY AUGUST 27th

11am  TROLL HUNTER  (Preview)

After successfully redefining the vampire and thriller genres with Let The Right One In and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, the Scandinavians now turn their attention to the creature feature. The adorably weird result is the coolest monster movie import since The Host. This slyly compelling and dryly humorous hybrid details what happens when a group of documentary filmmakers attempt to expose an infamous bearskin poacher...who actually turns out to be Norway's only living troll hunter. A silly, scary and sincere balance of horror, adventure and mockumentary that both reinvents and pays homage to the creature classics of old.

99 mins
Director: Andre Ovredal
Norway 2010

Otto Jespersen – Hans the Troll Hunter
Glenn Erland Tosterud – Thomas
Johanna Morck – Johanna
Tomas Alf Larsen – Kalle
Hans Morten Hansen – Finn

1.15pm  THE WICKER TREE  (European Premiere)

From the makers of the cult classic The Wicker Man, and based on director Robin Hardy's own novel ‘Cowboys for Christ’, a Texas gospel singer and her boyfriend, both devout evangelical Christians, are sent to Scotland on a mission to spread the word of God. After a concert in Glasgow Cathedral the pair are invited by Sir Lachlan Morrison to preach in his remote border village, but soon the horrifying reality dawns on the couple as they learn the true significance of the Celtic pagan rites. Reuniting Hardy with legendary actor Christopher Lee for a story in the style of the 1973 landmark fantasy comes the most eagerly anticipated horror movie of the year.

90 mins
Director: Robin Hardy
UK 2011

Brittania Nicol – Beth
Henry Garrett - Steve
Graham McTavish – Sir Lachlan Morrison
Honeysuckle Weeks – Lolly
Christopher Lee – Old Man

3.35pm  PANIC BUTTON (World Premiere)

Push the button for The Social Network of shock, Four people win a trip of a lifetime to New York, courtesy of their favourite social-networking website – All2gethr.com. Boarding a private jet, they hand in their mobiles ready to take part in the in-flight entertainment – a new online gaming experience. But this is no ordinary game. Trapped at 30,000 feet, they must play for their lives and the lives of their loved ones by their invisible captor, who knows every intimate secret. This inventive twister explores the chilling consequences of posting too much information online and how in cyber-space no one can hear you scream.

95 mins
Director: Chris Crow
UK 2011

Scarlett Alice Johnson – Jo
Michael Jibson – Dave
Jack Gordon – Max
Elen Rhys – Gwen
Joshua Richards – Alligator

6pm  FRIGHT NIGHT 3D  (Preview)

Based on the 1985 classic comes the year’s most anticipated remake; it’s fangs for the memory with a horror comedy you can really sink your teeth into. Is horror movie addict Charley Brewster’s suave new next-door-neighbour Jerry Dandridge really an evil vampire responsible for a string of recent deaths? No one believes the teenager of course so he recruits Peter Vincent, the host of his favourite TV horror show to help him prove the facts. A winning fusion of laughs and scares, this canny update of the much-loved Tom Holland original features an all-star cast including Colin Farrell, David Tennant and Toni Collette.

120 mins
Director: Chris Gillespie
USA 2011

Colin Farrell – Jerry Dandridge
Anton Yelchin – Charley Brewster
David Tennant – Peter Vincent
Christopher Mintz-Plasse – Evil Ed
Toni Collette – Jane Brewster

9pm  THE WOMAN  (UK Premiere)

From author Jack Ketchum (The Lost, The Girl Next Door) and director Lucky McKee comes a scandalous tale of two extremes, a feral female force of nature and an abusive parent, on collision course for a brutal showdown and the family caught in between. When Chris Cleek discovers a primitive woman in the wilderness on a hunting trip, he traps and locks her up in a cellar to domesticate her. With psychological twists and emotional reveals that keep its haunting climax impossible to turn away from, this stark study of a dysfunctional family is unforgettable.

100 mins
Director: Lucky McKee
USA 2011

Pollyanna McIntosh – The Woman
Angela Bettis – Belle Cleek
Sean Bridgers – Chris Cleek
Zach Rand – Brian Cleek
Lauren Ashley Carter – Peggy Cleek

11.30pm  CHILLERAMA  (European Premiere)

From the depraved minds of Adam Rifkin (Detroit Rock City), Tim Sullivan (2001 Maniacs), Adam Green (Frozen), and Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 2), a horror fantasy anthology in the classic spirit of Black Sabbath, Creepshow and Twilight Zone: The Movie. A celebration of the golden age of B movies, there’s something for everyone’s bad taste in this quartet of schlock featuring the monster mania rampage Wadzilla, the gay Beach Party musical I Was A Teenage Werebear, the black-and-white insanity The Diary Of Anne Frankenstein and the creeping fleshy Zom-B-Movie. 

115 mins
Directors: Adam Rifkin, Tim Sullivan, Adam Green, Joe Lynch
USA 2011

Ray Wise – Dr. Weems
Joel David Moore – Adolf Hitler
Lin Shaye – Nurse Maleva
Richard Riehle - Cecil B. Kaufman
Kane Hodder – Meshugganah

SUNDAY AUGUST 28th

10.30am  THE DIVIDE  (Preview)

From Xavier Gens, director of Frontier(s), a post-apocalyptic shocker about the nightmare unraveling of humanity under the most extreme circumstances imaginable. New York City is decimated in a nuclear holocaust. As the survivors sit in the makeshift fallout shelter the ‘divide’ begins. With no one knowing the evil each person in the group is capable of, trust issues arise, paranoia emerges, factions form and values are debased in a brutal and visceral vision of a broken future.

110 mins
Director: Xavier Gens
USA 2011

Michael Biehn – Mickey
Milo Ventimiglia – Josh
Lauren German – Eva
Rosanna Arquette - Marilyn
Courtney B. Vance – Delvin

1pm  THE HORROR CHANNEL PRESENTS THE SHORT FILM SHOWCASE

+ ANDY NYMAN’S QUIZ FROM HELL 2

4pm  THE INNKEEPERS  (UK Premiere)

The indie king of the slow-burn horro,r flick Ti West, returns to FrightFest with something akin to The Shining done slacker style After 100 years of silver service, The Yankee Pedlar Inn is shutting its doors for good. The last remaining employees – Claire and Luke – are determined to uncover proof that the hotel is haunted. As the Inn’s final days draw near, odd guests check in as the pair of amateur ghostbusters begins to experience strange and alarming events that may ultimately cause them to be mere footnotes in the establishment’s long unexplained history.

102 mins
Director: Ti West
USA 2011

Sara Paxton – Claire
Pat Healy – Luke
Kelly McGillis – Leanne Rease Jones
George Riddle – Old Man
Alison Bartlett – Angry Mom

6.35pm  SAINT  (UK Premiere)

Dutch director Dick Maas (Amsterdammed delves into grim fairytales for his latest bloody blockbuster. It's December 5th: time for the Saint Nicolas festivities to commence in earnest. Student Frank and friends prepare to party dressed up as the legendary Saint and his little helpers the Black Peters. But the real centuries old Saint Nick was a sadistic killer, a rogue bishop-turned-pirate, No one believes the fable but then a medieval schooner is spotted sailing towards Amsterdam harbour and a sudden wave of shocking murders begins…

85 mins
Director: Dick Maas
The Netherlands - 2010

Huub Stapel – Niklas
Egbert-Jan Weeber – Frank
Caro Lenssen – Lisa
Bert Luppes – Goert
Escha Tanihatu – Sophie

8.50pm  KILL LIST (UK Premiere)

THE TOTAL FILM SPONSORED SCREENING

From the Down Terrace team comes a darkly funny, brutally visceral and surprising tale of terror. Ex-soldier-turned-hit-man Jay hasn't worked in months whicj is taking its toll on his marriage. Then his pal Gal comes up with an assignment for a mysterious client and as the hits progress so does Jay’s increasing bloodlust, Progressing confidently from uneasy character study to intense crime thriller to stark shocker, director Ben Wheatley’s unique chiller is one of the year’s unforgettable horror highlights.

90 mins
Director: Ben Wheatley
UK 2011

Neil Maskell – Jay
MyAnna Buring – Shel
Michael Smiley – Gal
Emma Fryer – Fiona
Harry Simpson - Sam

11.30  DETENTION  (UK Premiere)

From rock video director Joseph Kahn (Lady GaGa, Kylie, Eminem, Britney, U2) comes a fast and furious teen comedy slasher. High school outcast Riley Jones has a secret crush on cool kid Clapton Davis but can’t stand the angst anymore so decides to commit suicide. Suddenly a serial killer dressed as the horror movie icon ‘Cinderhella’ arrives to help her along. Riffing equally on Back To The Future and Prom Night and ramping up its genre elements, self-awareness and one-liners to a dizzying pace, this Detention centre is pure post-modern playfulness.

93 mins
Director: Joseph Kahn
USA 2011

Josh Hutcherson – Clapton Davis
Shanley Caswell – Riley Jones
Parker Bagley – Billy Nolan
Dane Cook – Principal Verge
Spencer Locke – Ione

MONDAY AUGUST 29th

10.45am  GUINEA PIGS  (World Premiere)

Seven volunteers drawn from all walks of life attend a clinical trial run by ProSyntrex Pharmaceuticals. In exchange for a fee of £2000 they agree to undergo a two-week period of inoculation with the experimental drug Pro7. All they had to do was stay at the Limebrook Clinic, undergo a 2 milligram daily dose of the new vaccine, with 1 milligram top-ups if required, and relax in the leisure centre. None of them know how the drug will affect them or if they have just been injected with a placebo. They are about to find out. Enjoy the trip…if you dare.

90 mins
Director: Ian Clark
UK 2011

Alex Reid – Joni
Aneurin Barnard – Adam
Nia Roberts – Katie
Steve Evets – Morty
Skye Lourie – Carmen

1.10pm  DEADHEADS  (UK Premiere)

The debut feature from the Pierce Brothers is a return to 1980’s style comedy adventure movies like Back To The Future and Goonies, We follow zombie slackers Mike and Brent as they travel across country to find the former’s old girlfriend and love of his life. But will those nasty bounty-hunting agents with a secret agenda catch them before they do? As a zombieland Abbott and Costello, actors Michael McKiddy and Ross Kidder’s chemistry and timing are superb in this Road Trip of the Living Dead that’s hilarious fun and surprisingly sweet.

90 mins
Directors: Brett Pierce, Drew T. Pierce
USA 2011

Michael McKiddy – Mike Kellerman
Ross Kidder – Brent Guthrie
Markus Taylor – Cheese
Thomas Galasso – Thomas Jeremiah
Natalie Victoria – Ellie Masterson

3.30pm  SENNENTUNTSCHI: CURSE OF THE ALPS (UK Premiere)

An Alpine legend tells the story of three lonely herdsmen who were so starved of female companionship they built the girl of their dreams from a broom, some straw and a few rags. Then the Devil took pity and made Sennentuntschi live and breathe… This fable informs the first ever shocker from Switzerland, a complex and twisted tale of past crimes, tragic love, ghostly encounters, horrendous murder, unexplained suicide and sexual enslavement. Continually surprising, brilliantly directed and superbly acted, this unusual and beguiling mystery chiller finally puts Switzerland on the genre map.

110 mins
Director: Michael Steiner
Switzerland 2010

Roxane Mesquida - Sennentuntschi
Nicholas Ofczarek – Sebastian Reusch
Andrea Zogg – Erwin
Joel Basman – Albert
Carlos Leal - Martin

6.30pm  INBRED  (World Premiere)

From Alex Chandon, director of Cradle Of Fear and Pervirella, a screamingly hilarious warped nightmare with nowt taken out. Four young urban offenders and their two care workers embark on a community service weekend in the remote Yorkshire village of Mortlake. Before you can say ‘Ey up’, they upset the yokels with their city ways in the local boozer and put themselves in the gravest of dangers. This best bad taste un-PC gore-soaked riot is more fun than a ferret down the trousers…oh, wait a minute, that’s in there too! Altogether now, sing-alonga the Inbred-love theme, ‘Ee by, ee by gum!’

95 mins
Director: Alex Chandon
UK 2011

Jo Hartley – Kate
James Doherty – Jeff
Seamus O’Neill – Jim
James Burrows – Tim
Nadine Rose Mulkerrin – Sam

9pm  A LONELY PLACE TO DIE  (UK Premiere)

The tension never lets up in this ultimate British survival shocker featuring harrowing stunts and nerve-racking action. Five mountaineers are climbing in the Scottish Highlands when they stumble across an air pipe sticking out of the forest ground emitting panicked cries from a small girl speaking Serbian. Who buried her in the earth chamber? Why? The horrifying answers to all those questions will take the quintet to the death-defying Devil’s Drop. And in the deadliest game of cat-and-mouse predator becomes prey and vice versa in this top-flight terroriser laced with pulse-pounding thrills.

98 mins
Director: Julian Gilbey
UK 2011