FrightFest Predictions: Films THN Thinks Might Play at FrightFest

This Thursday (13th July) FrightFest will announce the line-up for their big August extravaganza. While most are content to wait, we at THN towers have spent the last few months trying to figure out exactly what our four uncles of horror have cooked up for us. For fun we thought we’d share our top predictions. Don’t forget to head back on Thursday to see how well we did. 

Suitable Flesh

Our first prediction, Suitable Flesh, is one that we hope is a dead certainty to screen at the festival. For one, it is directed by Joe Lynch whose talents have been supported by FrightFest since his debut, Wrong Turn 2: Dead End. Secondly, it is produced by, and stars, FrightFest royalty, Barbara Crampton, and even features an appearance from everyone’s favourite FrightFest karaoke star Graham Skipper. Dedicated to the late Stuart Gordon, Suitable Flesh is based on H.P Lovecraft’s ‘The Thing on the Doorstep’ and stars Heather Graham as a psychiatrist whose life is irrevocably changed after meeting her latest patient (played by The Babysitter’s Judah Lewis). 

Our tin hats might be on too tightly, but we’re also taking this year’s artwork as a clue. Graham Humphreys this year spotlights famous ‘mad’ scientists and doctors, a theme that Suitable Flesh shares. Amongst the demented brainiacs at the centre is the FrightFest who is brandishing a syringe filled with the reanimating fluid from The Re-Animator, directed by Stuart Gordon. 

Suitable Flesh debuted at TriBeCa to exceptionally positive reviews; our thoughts echoed this with us describing it as, “the genre film that fans have been screaming out for.” A film that plays superbly to a crowd, the FrightFest family would be the perfect venue for the UK premiere. 

MaXXXine

MaXXXine might be a longshot, but what a jewel it would be in this year’s FrightFest crown if the team could snag the world premiere? FrightFest has a long history with MaXXXine’s creator, Ti West, and hopes were high that either X or Pearl might screen at the festival. Unfortunately timings didn’t work out for those films, but maybe this could be third time lucky. Plot details are tightly underwraps, but we do know that this will be a sequel to X and will continue the story of X’s final girl, Maxine (Mia Goth). This time the action shifts from a rural farmhouse to the sleazy eighties Hollywood pornography scene. With Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, and Giancarlo Esposito as new additions to the cast, the finale of this trilogy is going to be epic.  

The only snag in our FrightFest plan is that the film hasn’t long wrapped production…but maybe a sneak peek could still be an entertaining treat. 

The Passenger

Last year Carter Smith’s Swallowed screened on the FrightFest Discovery screen and was a firm favourite to those not of a squeamish disposition. Now, just twelve months later, Smith’s next feature, The Passenger, is here. Starring Kyle Gallner and Johnny Berchtold, The Passenger follows fast-food employee Randolph (Berchtold) who ends up on the run with his murderous co-worker, Benson (Gallner). Produced with Blumhouse, the trailer for The Passenger teases malice and bloodshed, the perfect movie marriage. 

The Passenger arrives in the US on 4th August with a UK date not yet announced, so we’re hopeful that maybe FrightFest audiences might get an early look before it arrives officially on this side of the Atlantic. Billed by Smith himself at last year’s FrightFest as a “coming-of-age, hostage road-trip thriller”, The Passenger might not be strictly horror, but it certainly aligns with FrightFest’s ‘dark heart of horror’ mantra. 

Satan Wants You

In addition to all the fictitious frights, FrightFest always screens some fact-based ones too. Each year there amongst the scares, there is a scattering of documentaries that analyse different aspects of fear. From histories of famous genre directors, to deep-dives into specific sub-genres, there’s always something for everybody. We’ve been keeping our eyes on genre related documentaries and we think that Satan Wants You is a strong contender. Having debuted at Sundance earlier this year, Satan Wants You investigates the origins of the Satanic Panic phenomena that swept the US during the eighties. It casts a spotlight onto the controversial memoir, ‘Michelle Remembers’, and how it ignited a whole country’s hysteria. 

Cobweb

Our final pick, Cobweb, has potential opening night written all over it. FrightFest has a history of screening films of a higher profile, either due to talent or buzz, to start the festival. Recent years have hosted Alexandra Aja’s Crawl, Neill Blomkamp’s Demonic, and Neil Marshall’s The Lair. Whilst Cobweb might not have a well known name behind the camera, those in front of it, Lizzy Caplan and Antony Starr, are very familiar. The trailer for Cobweb launched in June and took the internet by storm, teasing a chilling domestic horror packed full of unnerving nocturnal banging. Though we can’t guarantee the opening night slot, with a UK cinema release the week after on 1st September, we think there is a pretty strong chance this one will make the line-up. 

FrightFest will announce the official line-up on 13th July, with tickets on sale 15th July.