Given the title of Warren Dudley’s latest feature, Fright, it seems only right that it received its world premiere at this year’s Pigeon Shrine FrightFest. Filmed on location in Sussex, Fright takes place within the walls of a single building and includes a brilliant performance from Gwyneth Evans in her first lead role in a feature film. With heavy Hitchcockian vibes, Dudley transported the FrightFest viewers back to the golden era of cinema.
Set in the year 1937, Fright joins Emily (Gwyneth Evans), a young woman trapped in a nightmare. Suffering with chronic agoraphobia and a strange, domineering mother (Jill Priest) who has turned their sprawling gothic mansion into a prison, Emily is not faring too well. On the brink of madness, Emily is haunted by lurking malevolent forces, her only hope, the desperate belief her missing father could save her from this living hell. But as she longs for his return, Emily is tormented by visions of a sinister, gnarled black hand—a spectre haunting her earliest memories. It is a homage to the unsettling atmosphere of 1950s horror cinema, echoing the terror of The Haunting and the ghostly dread of The Innocents.
THN have been plugging Fright for a while; the film was included in our annual ‘Road to FrightFest’ interview series. Prior to Fright’s world premiere at FrightFest, we had already spoken to both writer and director Warren Dudley and star Gwyneth Evans, but this didn’t stop us catching up with them on the media wall where they were joined by Jill Priest. Taking place after the screening, THN took the opportunity to find out the audience reaction, what screening at FrightFest means to them, and exactly where audiences can see Gwyneth Evans performing next.
Fright screened at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest. A release date for Fright has yet to be announced but THN will update as soon as we have news.
