Despite continuing COVID-19 restrictions, Arrow Video FrightFest Glasgow is back to present a virtual six-pack of tasty titles; an extravaganza of the dark arts that will leave you stirred, shaken and shocked. There will be six online presentations, including the UK premiere of Kyle Rankin’s controversial high school siege drama Run Hide Fight, starring Isabel May as a fiercely independent student taking on a quartet of invading shooters, and the UK premiere of Out of this World (Hors du Monde), a disturbing, compelling study of obsession from brilliant new French director Marc Fouchard. It boasts a stunning performance by Kevin Mischel as a mentally-challenged musician turned Uber driver.
A few years back Here Comes Hell, a Black & White mystery thriller, was a FrightFest Glasgow sensation, and The Woman with Leopard Shoes (La Femme aux Chaussures Leopard) is another satisfying retro fix from first timer Alexis Bruchon. Expect an impressively old school yet ultra-modern noir thriller that twists, turns and twists again.
There are also two outstanding Canadian entries in the line-up – the European premiere of American Badger, Kirk Caouette’s gritty and turbo-driven hard action thriller and the UK premiere of Cody Calahan’s nostalgia-fest Vicious Fun, a skewering of 1980s fashions which slashes its way through the current era of genre filmmaking.
Finally, from director Christopher Alender, producer of the Glasgow FrightFest past selections Southbound and The Mortuary Collection, is the UK premiere of The Old Ways, a terror tale taken from sinister Latin American folklore
The six films, which will be geo-locked to the UK and limited to 500 tickets, will be available on-demand between the 5th & 7th of March, so can be viewed over those three days
Tickets will go on sale on Monday 18 January, priced £9.99. Please note that passes are not available. For more information: www.glasgowfilm.org/festival
Alan Jones, co-director of FrightFest commentated: “FrightFest might be presenting a more boutique line-up than usual, but our determined response has still been to showcase the bold and vital work artists have felt compelled to make under such unique conditions. We stay resolute in our continual mission to bring those must-see genre titles to their first UK audiences, especially our devoted Scottish community”.
RUN HIDE FIGHT (UK Premiere)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsvhyelySUk
FrightFest has never been a festival to shy away from screening controversial films, and this year’s offering, Run Hide Fight, is steeped in controversy both in front and behind the camera. Behind the scenes, the film is tied into Cinestate, a company who were embroiled in a scandal last year when a history of abuse and harassment was brought to light. The revelation led to several organisations working under the company banner rightly parting ways and severing ties.
The subject matter of the film – a high-school shooting – is obviously a hot button topic for many and spinning it into a ‘Die Hard goes to school’ narrative certainly feels unnecessary and distasteful. With the certification advice listing the film as containing body hatred, fat phobia, violence, death or dying, blood, sexism and misogyny, and hateful language, it is certainly sure to alienate a lot of viewers.
OUT OF THIS WORLD / HORS DU MONDE (UK Premiere)
Directed by Marc Fouchard Out of this World joins the very private Leo, a man who has issues communicating with others due to past trauma and only lives for his music. For now, not able to have a career as a composer, he works as an Uber driver and lives in his car. When Leo picks up Amélie, a deaf dancer, he sees a like-minded spirit, connected to the same remote sound universe yet cut off from the world, just like him. But Leo is hiding a dark and dangerous secret.
VICIOUS FUN (UK Premiere)
We’ve been lucky enough to have seen the next line-up selection Vicious Funalready, having caught it late last year. Directed by Cody Calahan the film brings exactly what the title states, ‘Vicious Fun’. Joel, a caustic 1980s film critic for a national horror magazine, accidentally stumbles into a secret underground self-help group for serial killers. Can he match wits with five exterminators and make it through the night alive? Kill or be killed, Joel will have to find his inner assassin and muster hidden strengths to defeat the maniacs in his midst.
THE OLD WAYS (UK Premiere)
Cristina, a journalist of Mexican origins, travels to the home of her ancestors in Veracruz to investigate a story involving sorcery, witchcraft and healers. Once there, she is kidnapped by a group of mysterious locals who claim that she’s possessed by the devil and that she needs to undergo an exorcism. But as she tries to escape her nightmarish situation, Cristina starts to believe that her secretive captors may actually be right…
AMERICAN BADGER (European Premiere)
Possibly featuring the best title of the festival American Badger is written and directed by stunt-man turned filmmaker Kirk Caouette. The film will see us meet hitman Badger (played by Caouette), named because his real name is Dean, and that’s the lamest ever for a hitman. Like all American Badgers, he prefers to be alone, and has hardly spoken a word to anyone except his Handler. But all that is about to change with his latest assignment – make friends with call girl Velvet, extract information about the criminal Albanian gang she works for, and then kill her. What he doesn’t know is that Velvet is like a daughter to the mob boss and all hell is about to break loose.
THE WOMAN WITH LEOPARD SHOES/LA FEMME AUX CHAUSSURES LEOPARD (Scottish Premiere)
A thief is engaged by a mysterious woman to steal a box in a house. The job goes well but, as he’s escaping, dozens of people arrive for a party. The thief just has time to hide in a study. Confined in this little room, he tries to flee but things turn for the worse when he makes a shocking discovery…
Tickets will go on sale on Monday 18 January, priced £9.99. Please note that passes are not available. For more information: www.glasgowfilm.org/festival
Kat Hughes is a UK born film critic and interviewer who has a passion for horror films. An editor for THN, Kat is also a Rotten Tomatoes Approved Critic. She has bylines with Ghouls Magazine, Arrow Video, Film Stories, Certified Forgotten and FILMHOUNDS and has had essays published in home entertainment releases by Vinegar Syndrome and Second Sight. When not writing about horror, Kat hosts micro podcast Movies with Mummy along with her five-year-old daughter.
