Last year, Pigeon Shrine FrightFest celebrated the 25th anniversary of its annual August event in London. 2025 sees the festival hit another landmark as the year marks FrightFest’s 20th year at Glasgow Film Festival. As always FrightFest will insidiously secrete itself within Glasgow Film Festival as it takes over a screen at Glasgow Film Theatre for two full days, and one preview evening, of nightmarish movies.
Today, the eagerly anticipated line-up has been revealed, which includes films from returning alumni Andy Edward and Jack McHenry, a documentary about a mangled Friday the 13th movie, and the long-awaited feature debut of director Izzy Lee. Check out the official press release below for all the gory details:
FrightFest, the UK’s No.1 horror & fantasy film event, is back at the renowned Glasgow Film Festival for its 20th year, running from Thurs 6 March to Sat 8 March 2025.
Be prepared for mayhem, menace and monstrosity as this year’s FrightFest three-day event, housed at the iconic Glasgow Film Theatre, presents a curated programme of new features and shorts which showcases the vibrant mix of talented filmmakers currently bursting onto the genre scene. The programme includes four world premiere features, while the short film showcase highlights filmmakers exclusively from the UK and Ireland, including two from Scotland.
FrightFest co-director Alan Jones said: “There has never been a better time to be a fan of the horror, fantasy and science fiction genre and FrightFest, the UK’s biggest and most influential event, plays its vital part in spreading the communal message. This includes our residency at the Glasgow Film Festival, where the FrightFest audience is vibrant, welcoming and eager to embrace the dark unknown, and we absolutely love being a strand of such a truly interactive experience with the art of film”.
FrightFest kicks off in mind-bending style with a special screening of PSYCHE, directed by Stephon Stewart (Bigfoot County). This thought-provoking sci-fi thriller boasts a riveting performance by Sarah Ritter, as Mara, who, with the aid of a vintage 1980s computer, embarks on a surreal journey where nothing is as it seems. Stephen will be attending the screening.
FrightFest’s traditional two-day pass event kicks off on Friday 7 March with the UK premiere of HOUSE OF ASHES, Izzy Lee’s highly anticipated feature debut – an unpredictable and wonderfully deranged ghost story, complete with thought-provoking gender commentary and Joe Lynch as a nosy jogger. Izzy Lee, lead actress Fanya Sanchez and writer / producer Steve Johanson will host the screening.
This is followed by the UK premiere of THE LAST SACRIFICE, an incredible documentary by filmmaker Rupert Russell, framed as an unsettling true-crime investigation that probes into the eerie, enigmatic cultural undercurrents that shaped the 1970s folk horror genre. Rupert will be joining us.
Next is the World premiere of David Luke Rees’s sinister UK-set horror BY THE THROAT, starring Sex Education’s Patricia Allison and Bridgerton star Rupert Young.
The main evening presentation is from the team that brought FrightFest Glasgow audiences one of the hits of 2019 – Here Comes Hell. Director Jack McHenry once again delivers gross-out gore and wacky period story-telling with THE DOOM BUSTERS, “where Dad’s Army meets Predator”. Jack and cast will be present.
Friday evening climaxes with the UK premiere of Oscar-nominated filmmaker Pedro Kos’ feature debut IN OUR BLOOD, which masterfully blends psychological mystery with chilling horror, weaving a twisted tale of reconciling with the ghosts of our past and confronting the complicity we share in creating a world preying on the most vulnerable.
Saturday’s monstrous menu starts with the UK premiere of Brazilian supernatural horror A MOTHER’S EMBRACE. Set in 1996, during one of the biggest storms to ever hit Rio de Janeiro, Cristian Ponce’s masterful, rain-soaked occult thriller sees lead actress Marjorie Estiano in brilliant form.
For the first time in Glasgow, FrightFest presents its renowned SHORT FILM SHOWCASE, strand, which shines the spotlight on home-grown talent, unleashing the creative imaginations of seven up-and-coming directors from the UK and Ireland. All the directors and various cast will be at the event to introduce their films.
Served up next is the World premiere of HEARTS OF DARKNESS: THE MAKING OF THE FINAL FRIDAY. In this probing documentary director Adam Marcus (helmer of the FrightFest Glasgow 2018 attraction Secret Santa) takes you behind the scenes for a never-before-seen look at the controversial ninth episode in the iconic series. Adam and director Michael Flesher will be attending.
The evening programme opens with the UK premiere THE AMERICAN BACKYARD, helmed by Italian filmmaker Pupi Avati, director of the giallo masterpiece The House with Laughing Windows. Here, the cult shocker returns to his gothic thriller roots with a tale of absolute fear, which co-stars Rita Tushingham.
This is followed by the International premiere of Paul Boyd’s supernatural comedy horror SCARED TO DEATH, which stars Lin Shaye and Bill Moseley. A chaotic film crew conducting a séance in an abandoned children’s orphanage. What could possibly go wrong?
The event climaxes with RUMPLESTILTSKIN, an eerie folk-horror adaptation, written and directed by Andy Edwards, which plunges audiences into the dark underbelly of the Brothers Grimm universe. Andy will be joining us alongside leading cast Hannah Baxter-Eve and Joss Carter, who plays Rumpelstiltskin.
Ticket information:
FrightFest Passes are £88 and available from 10am on Friday 17 January 2025. Passes will be exchanged for admission wristbands, which must be worn at all times to access all FrightFest films on Friday 7 March and Saturday 8 March ONLY.
Tickets for PSYCHE, plus individual tickets for the Friday and Saturday films are on sale to GFT Cinecard holders on Thursday 23 January from 10am. General sale starts on Monday 27 January at 10am.
Prices: £12.00 / £9.50 (concessions).
How to get Tickets:
Online: Passes – https://www.glasgowfilm.org/movie/gff25-frightfest-weekend-pass
Individual Films – https://www.glasgowfilm.org and search by title or date
By Phone: (0141) 332 6535, extension 2 (please leave a voicemail if we are unable to answer your call)
In Person: Glasgow Film Theatre Box Office, 12 Rose Street, Glasgow G3 6RB.
Please note that all films contain graphic scenes of strong violence and sustained threat.
