This year's Frightfest has a different flavour, with less of the familiar and a good assortment of truly inventive, challenging films. One thing that's the same as ever is that there's an impressive selection of premières, with wide-ranging themes. You'll also find some of the most impressive genre work to have made its mark elsewhere on the festival circuit this year.

Frightfest has always been international in its focus and that's very much apparent here, with opportunities to see the best of what's emerging from developing horror industries around the world, as well as some treats from well-established industries such as those in Indonesia and South Korea. There's also a handful of films which the festival's luminaries have assisted through development. You'll also find a smattering of obscurities, and a chance to revisit Neil Marshall's The Descent on the occasion of its 20th anniversary.

The festival runs from 21 to 25 August.

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Frightfest Latest Reviews

Super Happy Fun Clown
Super Happy Fun Clown
An unhappy woman who is tired of being pushed around decides to combine her love of clowning, serial killers and classic movie monsters into a night of bloody horror the world will never forget.
The Red Mask
The Red Mask
When an outspoken queer screenwriter is chosen to pen the final instalment of the legendary slasher franchise The Red Mask, she and her girlfriend are harassed by die-hard fans. They escape to a secluded Airbnb, where she concocts a dangerous game to play to unlock her writer’s block. Then two uninvited guests crash the scene.
Affection
Affection
Ellie is stuck in a cyclical nightmare grappling with a medical condition that erratically resets her memory. Left unable to remember her loving husband or young daughter, each reset leaves her disoriented and haunted with vivid memories and scattered recollections of an unfamiliar life she’s never lived. What is the cause of her rare illness, and can her husband really help cope with her affliction?
Posthouse
Posthouse
A troubled film editor and his distant daughter release an ancient monster while working to restore an incomplete silent horror movie from the forgotten Filipino horror past.
Daughters Of Darkness
Daughters Of Darkness
While passing through a vacation resort, a newlywed couple encounters a mysterious, strikingly beautiful countess and her aide.
Five
Five
A struggling actor is hoping her star will rise again with the romcom Renovated Romance, but while on location shooting her hopeful comeback, she finds a cabin in the woods and becomes possessed by a demonic force, causing havoc amongst the crew.
The Serpent's Skin
The Serpent's Skin
A young woman leaves her transphobic small-town, and develops a romance with tattoo artist Gen with whom she shares a paranormal connection. But their deep-rooted insecurities unknowingly release a demon, which possesses one of their ex-lovers and begins feeding on their friends by sucking out their lifeforce.
Self-Help
Self-Help
Members of an underground online community attend a secret weekend retreat to confront their fears and regain their sense of self. Two girls discover that one of their mothers has become romantically entangled with its leader, whose unusual self-actualisation methods may be deadly.
Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon
Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon
Brodie resurrects his bandmates to win the battle-of-the-bands and reacquire his girlfriend. His uncontrollable undead bandmate raises an army of costumed corpses. Brodie must stop the zombie horde before it ruins his musical dreams and love life.
Appofeniacs
Appofeniacs
An ensemble tale with intersecting storylines that escalate into chaos as each portrays how easily deepfake technology can be weaponised to exploit society.
A-Z of FrightFest 2025 reviews >>>

FrightFest Features

Abnormal filmmaking
Mickey Reece on subverting the technothriller with Every Heavy Thing
The house always wins
Gerard Johnson and Polly Maberly on angry cinema and Odyssey
Celluloid ghosts
Nikolas Red on the film history of the Philippines, and Posthouse
Off the beaten path
Rod Blackhurst on marrying slasher film and fairy tale in Dolly
Invisible dangers
Raven Carter on blending history and horror in Noseeums
It's all in the game
Mercedes Bryce Morgan on juggling sympathies in Bone Lake
Paying attention
Kurtis David Harder on the challenges of sequels and making Influencers
The art of scare
Keith Boynton on aiming high with The Haunted Forest
Beyond control
Dakota Gorman on the transformative experience of film and Hellcat
Don't dream it, be it
Andreas Zerr on making Sane Inside Insanity: The Phenomenon Of Rocky Horror
Through the portal of Hell
Matt Harlock on creative strife, Jungian inspiration and Blockhead
Bound by blood
Erik Bloomquist on cults, film crews, troubled family relationships and Self-Help
Confronting the extremes
Lulu Adams on filmmaking with her family and Mother Of Flies
Unrelenting
Eric Owen on building a world without heroes for In A Cold Vein
Magic and chemistry
Alice Maio Mackay, Alexandra McVicker and Avalon Fast on The Serpent’s Skin
Monster mayhem
William Bagley, Chris Mayers and Levi Burdick on Hold The Fort
When worlds collide
Ava Maria Safai on pressure to fit in and Foreigner
In pursuit of new challenges
Matthew McManus and Kevin McManus discuss Redux Redux
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