SCREENINGS
A Field in England (Ben Wheatley, 2012)
Friday 23rd May, 18.30pm
Opening the festival is Wheatley's masterful folk tale, a melting pot of psychedelic alchemy and history. Set against the back drop of the English Civil War, a group of deserters fall under the spell of necromancer, O'Neill. Visceral and truly disturbing, the film challenges the very notion of horror.
Introduced by Dr. Johnnie Walker, University of Northumbria with post panel discussion.
Tickets can be purchased from The Gulbenkian
The Two Faces of Evil (Alan Gibson, 1980)
Saturday 24th May, 13.30pm
Starring Anna Calder-Marshall and Gary Raymond as a married couple torn apart by a mysterious hitchhiker, and directed by Alan Gibson (The Satanic Rites of Dracula), this is a brilliantly designed and photographed episode of the Hammer House of Horror Television series.
Watcher in the Woods (John Hough, 1980)
Saturday 24th May, 10.30am
When an American family move to the English countryside, strange and unexplained events begin to befall the daughter, Jan. Taking it upon herself to solve the mystery, Jan links the ghostly happenings with the mysterious disappearance of a local girl, years before. Can she solve the mystery? A haunted house tale, with an unexpected twist.
The League of Gentlemen Christmas Special (Steve Bendelack, 2000)
Saturday 25th May, 14.45pm
This atmospheric and dark Christmas special from 2000 works as both a pastiche and an affectionate homage to British horror television from the ‘70s and ‘80s (like the Hammer House of Horror episode on the same bill). Three stories and a framing device set up what is a very cinematic and stand out episode of the cult television series.
Introduced by Dr Leon Hunt, Brunel University
Molly Crows (Ray Wilkes)
Sunday 25th May, 12 noon
This low budget, British horror follows seven year old Jess and her alcoholic mother. After relocating to Haslem, Jess becomes a target for bullies. But there's something different about Jess. She can see and hear things that other people can't. When Jess is brutalized in a country lane, ancient spirits awake to seek vengeance that sparks a horrific chain of events.
Twins of Evil (John Hough, 1971)
Sunday 25th May, 15.30pm
Peter Cushing stars as Gustav Weil, a fanatical witchhunter out to protect his two nieces (Playboy Playmates Madeline and Mary Collinson) from the alluring vampire Count Karnstein. The film is the third of Hammer studio’s ‘sexy’ vampire pictures, loosely referred to as the Karnstein trilogy (along with The Vampire Lovers and Lust of a Vampire). Directed by John Hough, who also made another film in the Waves of Horror weekend, Watcher in the Woods.
The Devils (Ken Russell, 1971)
Sunday 25th May, 20.00pm
We close the festival as we begun, with an historical tale touched with the horrific.
In 17th-century France, Father Grandier seeks to protect the city of Loudun from the corrupt establishment of Cardinal Richelieu. Hysteria occurs within the city when he is accused of witchcraft by a sexually repressed nun. Controversial, violent and disturbing, this is a stunningly original piece of cinema by Ken Russell.
Introduced by Lawrence Jackson, University of Kent
Hellraiser (Clive Barker, 1987)
Saturday 24th May, 20.00
Hellraiser (1987) is Clive Barker's feature directorial debut, adapted from his own novella The Hellbound Heart. The film brings to life the Cenobites - hidieously mutilated, sadomasochistic demons from another dimension - who emerge when a mysterious puzzle box is opened by hedonist Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman). Lead Cenobite Pinhead (Doug Bradley) went on to become one of the most iconic villains in horror movie history. To date the film has spawned eight further movies based around Barker's masterful first vision.