After having its world premiere at Arrow Video FrightFest, When the Screaming Starts with next play in Manchester as part of Grimmfest’s line-up. The festival, now entering it’s thirteenth year, will host two events this October, an in real-life festival that runs from 7th to 10th October at Manchester’s Odeon Great Northern,, with a virtual edition following from 14th – 17th October. During the course of the two events Grimmfest will screen around thirty features, plus many more shorts, each celebrating the best in genre cinema.
When the Screaming Starts is sure to be one of Grimmfest’s big crowd-pleasers with its charming mixture of laughs and murder. Told in mockumentary format, When the Screaming Starts joins documentarian Norman (Jared Rogers) as he begins following aspiring serial killer Aidan (Ed Hartland, who also co-wrote the film). Early into the collaboration, Aidan decides to create his own family of killers, interviewing other murder enthusiasts. The creation of this group however, sets Norman and Aidan on the fast track to destruction.
Directed and co-written by Conor Boru, When the Screaming Starts was a massive success when it screened at Arrow Video FrightFest, and the team are hoping to replicate that same magic with their Manchester screening. After Grimmfest, When the Screaming Starts will then have it’s American premiere at FilmQuest Festival on 30th October in Utah. Ahead of the world premiere at FrightFest, THN spoke with Conor Boru, Ed Hartland, and Jared Rogers, but with such a large ensemble cast, one interview wasn’t enough. In the lead up to the Manchester screening, we caught up with Conor, who was this time joined by cast members Octavia Gilmore and Kaitlin Reynell. Our conversation focused on the female aspect of When the Screaming Starts, and explored Gilmore and Reynell’s characters Amy and Claire, and society’s fascination with serial killers.
When the Screaming Starts screens at Grimmfest 2021 on 9th October 2021. Tickets for the festival can be purchased here.
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.