Even More FRIGHTFEST UK Announcements Ahead Of August's Festival!
FrightFest UK is celebrating a big 25-year milestone for their annual August festival, and if the news coming out ahead of the show is any indication this is going to be a banner year for the genre film festival. It doesn’t take a genius to notice how much horror has taken over, hell, just look at the performance of Longlegs at the US Box Office for signs that the horror machine isn’t slowing down. FrightFest, much like its peers Fantasia Festival and Fantastic Fest is devoted to specific genres like horror, sci-fi, and offbeat cult films whereas these genres are merely features of other festival outings. In continuation of our last bit of news about films premiering, here are a few more that we think festival fans should be keeping an eye out for!
Member’s Club
Black Water Pictures is thrilled to share the news that their horror comedy, Members Club, will be celebrating its World Premiere at this year’s Pigeon Shrine FrightFest on 24th August.
Written and Directed by Marc Coleman, the film stars a host of British talent including Dean Kilbey (ManFish, Boiling Point (2023), Top Boy), Perry Benson (Love Honour and Obey, This is England, Benidorm), Barbara Smith (EastEnders, Call The Midwife, Casualty), Juliet Cowan (Culprits, Cuckoo, Motherland), Mark Monero (Sid and Nancy, Free Fire, Happy New Year Colin Burstead), Steve Oram (Sightseers, The World's End, Aaaaaaaah!), David Schaal (The Inbetweeners, EastEnders, Down Terrace), Alan Ford (Snatch, Cockneys vs Zombies, Toast of London), Liam Noble (Peep Show, ManFish, Bridgerton) as well as Peter Andre (Dragged Up Dirty, On The Other Foot).
Wet Dreams, a middle-aged male stripper group has hit rock bottom. After a string of disastrous gigs, the gang considers disbanding. Alan, the group's happy-go-lucky frontman, takes over the business and books the boys a lucrative and mysterious gig in rural Essex. But when the group arrives at the desolate club, their night quickly takes a dark turn when they find themselves tangled up in a plot to raise a murderous 16th-century witch from the dead.
Members Club takes you on a journey from the mundane world of middle-aged male strippers to the downright ludicrous world of talking cheese and pineapple hedgehogs, whisky-drinking toads, OnlyFans for pensioners, and Peter Andre’s most outrageous role yet - leading to a rip-roaring finale that has never been captured on film before.
Marc Coleman, Writer/Director, says: "I’m really excited for the world to see Members Club. We’ve been working on this project from script to screen for over 2 years and I can’t wait to show audiences what we’ve been up to. It's a middle-aged ‘Magic Mike’ meets a British ‘From Dusk Till Dawn"
The Daemon
Co-directors Matt Devino & David Michael Yohe have announced the World Premiere of their new film THE DÆMON, at London's Pigeon Shrine FrightFest 2024. The Lovecraftian slow burn follows a family attempting to reconcile past traumas, only to face demons infinitely more sinister than their own. THE DÆMON will world premiere at FrightFest on Friday, 23 August.
Ahead of the premiere, Yohe and Devino shared their excitement on releasing their passion project, "THE DÆMON is a reflection of our own fears, an exploration of the profound connection between past and present, and the acknowledgment that in the face of cosmic forces hope may not be enough to save us. We believe that the film will resonate with viewers on a visceral level, drawing them into a world where the line between reality and the supernatural is blurred, and where the strength of the human spirit is put to the ultimate test."
Haunted by the aftermath of his father's suicide, Tom abandons his wife and seeks refuge at the lakeside cottage where his father met his tragic end. There, his tormented memories from childhood resurface, all intricately connected to an ancient, mystifying force lurking beneath the lake's depths, driving Tom inexorably towards madness.
As Tom's communication dwindles into eerie silence, Kathy, desperate to rescue her husband, enlists the help of her brother Mark, a struggling entrepreneur, and Mark's compassionate yet inexperienced wife, Jess, a trauma and grief counselor. Unaware of the sinister malevolence seeping from the lake, Tom becomes a willing vessel for the same evil that claimed his parents and now threatens all who dare draw near.
Cursed In Baja
The founders of the revitalized Anchor Bay Entertainment, Thomas Zambeck and Brian Katz, have acquired the worldwide rights to the horror film CURSED IN BAJA, which will make its world premiere at this year’s FrightFest on August 23, 2024.
Barbara Crampton (You’re Next) and Jose Conejo Martin (The Tax Collector) star in the film along with Jeff Daniel Phillips (3 From Hell,), who wrote the screenplay, produced, and directed the film. Phillips is best known for his working relationship with iconic horror auteur Rob Zombie. Phillips has appeared in five of Zombie’s films, with the most recent being the Universal reboot of THE MUNSTERS, playing Herman Munster.
“We’re thrilled to bring Jeff and his vision into the Anchor Bay family,” Zambeck says. “CURSED IN BAJA is an intense journey into madness, destined to take its place among the genre-bending classics that have come to define indie film.”
In CURSED IN BAJA, Pirelli, an ex-lawman, travels to Mexico searching for the heir to a Los Angeles fortune, while confronting his own complicated past. But what he finds in Baja challenges him to the core.
Along with Phillips, Kent Issacs serves as producer. Zambeck and Katz of Anchor Bay Entertainment negotiated the deal with Cole Payne of Traverse Media on behalf of the filmmakers.
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