Tag: horror film festival

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Dead Northern 2024 Festival Review – Demonic Shorts

Collection Only (Directed by Alun Rhys Morgan)

Estranged friends Nye (Steffan Evans) and Daf (Tomos Gwynfryn) go to collect a free armchair from a seemingly lonely, frail elder woman (Olwen Medi); however, when a cascade of sinister events unfold, the pair must fight to make it out alive. Collection Only defies expectations as this thoroughly creepy feature tackles more than just its immensely unsettling atmosphere, with the film exuding bouts of humour amongst its lead characters. It is made clear that the bond between Nye and Daf has deteriorated over time, leading to the distanced pair grappling with a lost friendship, all the whilst being tormented by an evil force. 

Embrace (Directed by Axel Zeltser)

Inconspicuously lying in a Parisian alleyway is a bucket that Mélanie (Natte You) walks past every day unbeknownst; that is, until the ever-present bucket suddenly catches her eye. Although Embrace is a micro-short consisting of only two minutes, the film is significantly potent, with the visuals and lighting being grandiose and superb, alongside the vividly alarming and disturbed ending that grabs the viewer with a chokehold and refuses to let go. 

Daughters of Evil (Directed by Adam Taylor and Natasha Malone) 

In 1966, a nameless girl group consulted a spirit board to seek out the perfect band name – ‘Daughters of Evil’ (consisting of Natasha Malone, Jenessa Michelle Soto and Ariel Ditta). However, along with their new ensemble title, they were also possessed by demons. Decades later, YouTuber Vivian (Taylor Shaye) summons the demonic band back from the dead. Daughters of Evil is drenched in a hybrid swinging-sixties meets satanic-panic horror style. This distinctive aesthetic melts together the vibrant, exuberant rock-n-roll music culture of the time with a brutal, outlandish and, at times, grotesquely brilliant dose of devilish horror. Whilst the in-movie band started as a narrative force, the Daughters of Evil have since risen from the screen and are now a real band with a rockingly nefarious sound. 

Dance with the Devil (Directed by Tim Khvan) 

This mockumentary follows the geezer-like Father Marcus (Dean Kilby) and his intern Pete (Flinn Andreae), who provide domestic exorcists for the homes of London. Whilst exorcism-themed films tend to have a serious connotation about them, Dance with the Devil is a bonafide rib-tickling horror comedy that stands alongside acclaimed genre mockumentaries such as What We Do in the Shadows (2014) and Wellington Paranormal (2018-2022). There is a particular quirk to Dance with the Devil that makes it so rewatchable. It’s the casualness that the demon-fighting duo have to their rather serious profession, with the pair donning holy water filled water guns, requesting a ‘cuppa upon arrival at the most monstrous of situations, and the darkly macabre yet hilarious quips spoken so naturally by the utterly fantastic leads. If Dance with the Devil is anything to go by, director Tim Khvan has a very exciting filmmaking future ahead. 

Easter Eggs (Directed by Lewis William Robinson) 

A bizarre and spooky Easter Bunny (Tommy Walton) stalks a young man (Elijah James) who comes across a bundle of chocolate eggs, trapping him in the Bunny’s domain, a hellish, liminal space. Out of all the holiday figures, whether it’s the jolly Saint Nick or Valentine’s Cupid, the most unsuspecting antagonist force is that of the beloved Easter Bunny. However, abandon all happy memories of this furry friend as the director creates a freakish, uncanny, hellraising short that captures the Easter Bunny like never before. The Bunny’s abnormal territory is not what one would expect; instead, it is an oddity that is comparable to the dreamlike works of Lynchian cinema that challenges reality and transports the viewer into an unnatural landscape. 

Match (Directed by Victor Basallote) 

Bored and unable to sleep, Rachel (Adelaida Polo) takes to a dating app, leading to an accidental match with the possessive Zalir (Vanessa Orrego). Themes of obsession and overbearing domination run a mock throughout this sharp thriller, with Victor Basallote’s capacity to create terror through a minimalistic approach making the chilling atmosphere all the more sinister. Match thrives on a less is more approach where Zalir’s presence is continually suggested rather than overtly shown, creating a film that slowly builds until it reaches a menacing and unforgettable peak. 

The Rising of the Sap (Directed by Susie Jones)

Produced by the BFI is Susie Jones’ The Rising of the Sap, a folk horror short following Bea’s (Darci Shaw) unwitting journey into ‘The Rising’ and her mother Elizabeth’s (Joanna Scanlan) fight to stop it. Where this film flourishes is the performances, which work to elevate Jones’ outstanding story following the darkness found lurking within the human condition. As the film unravels, the folkloric elements intertwine with the character study of Bea’s fascinations and Elizabeth’s troubles to create a horror saturated with paranoia, isolation, manipulation and deception. Adding to the thought-provoking narrative is the film’s masterly composition of evocative imagery that is both gritty and visceral yet charmingly sauve. 

Five Turns (Directed by Sam Dixon and Sixto Perea Rubio) 

The struggling Alyssa resorts to an atypical treatment to cure her condition. However, a caveat states she must only perform the treatment five times. Five Turns is deliberately ambiguous and perplexingly covert, leaving the viewer in the dark until the very last moment, where the bubbling tension and unease reaches a pinnacle peak, resulting in a nightmarish reveal. Directorial pair Sam Dixon and Sixto Perea Rubio join forces to conjure a short horror that has an immense visual appeal, with the rich cinematography combined with the bewitching, electrifying soundscape which fashions a film that is not to be missed. 

Puzzle Box: The Glitch (Directed by Jack Dignan)

 In 2023, director Jack Dignan released Puzzle Box, a terrifying found footage horror that explored demonic twists and turns under the guise of a claustrophobia-inducing found footage lens. Dignan is now back with a spin-off that utilises the brilliant labyrinth-like structure of Puzzle Box. Puzzle Box: The Glitch follows two friends (Noah Fowler and Elessa Donnelly) whose venture to buy drugs leads to an all-encompassing glitch. The premise of a disorientating, maze-like puzzle that ambushes, muddles and essentially tortures its victims is truly harrowing to consider, let alone be witness to. As the film becomes increasingly convoluted and complex, strong emotions of dread and uncomfortably thrive as the characters experience a situation that is derived from the most startling of nightmares.

You can catch the films Saturday 28th September at this years festival, tickets here!

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Dead Northern Festival News and Reviews Reviews

Dead Northern 2024 Festival Review – Strike

The housebound Francine (Gracie LeClere) is gifted a case of matches by her controlling husband, Sebastian (James Viller), who owns various match manufacturer factories. However, she soon discovers that this gift holds a great curse as a dead girl, Vera (Amy Anderson), is resurrected each time a match is lit. 

Britain circa the late 19th century was host to the ‘Matchgirl Strikes’, where the working women from London match factories instigated industrial action against unfair, frankly diabolical working conditions. Mark Patterson’s Strike is set against this monumental moment in history that seems rather fitting for the contemporaneous period. The synthesis of a period piece with a secondary narrative layer of a toxic relationship, combined with a mysterious air of supernatural power, is precisely what makes Strike the dramatic, compelling slice of cinema it is. 

Patterson lays emphasis on Francine’s relationship with the controlling Sebastian, with the patriarchal figure stripping any agency away from his wife, isolating her from not just her abilities but also her potential. In a sense, Francine herself is akin to a ghost, with her true self and ability invisible in the eyes of her husband.

The delicate subject is handled with great respect by the stellar casting of both Viller and LeClere, the latter of which added such autonomy to her evolving character. The caveat of Francine’s story is that she is a wheelchair user, which for the tyrannical Sebastian means that he has further hold over his supposed beloved. LeClere herself is an ambulatory wheelchair user, meaning that she could give credence to the tenderness that her character requires. 

The layered corpus of Strike explores the aspect of hauntology and how the symbolic presence of a ghostly apparition can act as a figurative vessel. The manifestation of Vera is one of great significance, as Patterson dismisses an archetypal ghostly disturbance in favour of the formation of a meaningful bond between Francine and her newfound, unexpected companion. 

Strike distorts what is normally prophecy in terms of supernatural horror, with the film’s surprising story making continuous bold choices – which all collide to benefit and enrich this unmissable, important and stirring horror short feature. 

You can catch the film Sunday 29th September at this years festival, tickets here!

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Dead Northern Festival News and Reviews Reviews

Dead Northern 2024 Festival Review – The Black Quarry

Released by HorrorWeb Productions is The Black Quarry, a wild and sinister exploration into the dark side. The black metal band “Drown the Priest” travels to an abandoned quarry to shoot a music video as intense as their signature hardcore sound.

Unbeknownst to the band members, the lead singer has menacing motivations for using the defunct space as the location. However, what lurks beneath the quarry proves to be more malevolent than his twisted intentions. 

This featurette serves as proof that director Corey Jason Trahan’s passion for all things horror and rock is no exaggeration as this epic and fiercely savage film is a whole experience. The Black Quarry hones in on its irreverent tone, with the absurd extremity of the characters and plot laying down a darkly humorous undertone that allows for the gritty, gnarly horror to glare through in devilishly rogue waves. 

It would be sinful not to mention the practical effects that are straight out of a vibrant, bloody and graphic splatter B-movie from the 1980s – in the best way possible!

The film is host to a whole smorgasbord of gory effects that range from brutal face-pulls, decapitations and neck slits, all of which are brilliantly stomach-churning as the viewer is a witness to a whole bunch of sinew-showing, blood-spurting, entrail grabbing barrage of squeamish fun. To indirectly quote Drown the Priest guitarist Devon (Zach Beesley)- it is “metal as fxxk”.

You can catch the film Sunday 29th September at this years festival, tickets here!

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Dead Northern Festival News and Reviews Reviews

Dead Northern 2024 Festival Review – Fear Cabin: The Last Weekend of Summer

Fear Cabin: The Last Weekend of Summer does not simply toy with expectations with a horror-cum-cabin fright fest. Instead, it completely dismantles and excitingly remixes events, creating a wild ride that goes full throttle from beginning to end. 

A motley crew of friends head out to a remote cabin in the woods for a weekend of fun, drinking and standard debaucheries; however, the trip soon turns far from ordinary when the group begins to experience a world of terror as an unexpected guest joins them. 

Director Brian Krainson delivers a pure, bone-chilling tale that offers a lineup of assorted frights, from ghouls and entities that create bumps in the night, all the way to displays of witchcraft and devilry that mingle to summon a dense, sinister atmosphere that unleashes bouts of havoc throughout the deadly weekend trip. Ultimately, the film’s acts of portrayed evil acts as pathways for the various motifs to rip through and percolate the unsettling rhetoric. Whilst the film’s spirit is rife with a nexus of intricate themes such as survival, isolation and fragility amidst moments of ghostly fear and so forth, what Fear Cabin: The Last Weekend of Summer ensures is that it does not become excessively heavy with all of its dense threads. 

Although the jolting horror antics take centre stage throughout the film, Krainson infuses touches of light humour and strong writing to balance the grave velocity of what is at play throughout the narrative. It’s for this reason that the characters remain multidimensional rather than just channels for horror to seep through. Accordingly, the film builds upon the robust character arcs that surface from the group’s dynamic, with the escalating sense of panic and dread fueling waves of tension as the reality of the horrifying situation evolves and reaches a menacing peak. 

The suspenseful flow of mystery is made all the more ominous on account of the cabin setting, which almost becomes a character within itself. The quiet backdrop of a rural cabin immediately forbodes in response to how the solitude of isolation can highlight an uneasy hostility. For instance, as the haunting antics unravel, the group grapple with the vulnerability that such a remote setting in tune with nature and all of its dark history provides. There is no immediate safety net outside of a typical suburban brick-and-mortar, and classically (but nevertheless still spine-tinglingly sinister), no one can hear you scream!


Fear Cabin: The Last Weekend of Summer is a fresh take on a beloved haunted cabin story that pays homage to the quintessential beauty of eerie, lodge-based horror but with a distinct, innovative flair that speaks to Krainson’s stellar filmmaking capacities. The film’s nuanced approach has great fun in pulling the plug and wiping away what we expect, alternatively delivering high-impact, unexpected thrills that both provide ample shrieks as we jump during startling moments, as well as experience lingering spells of dread and horror, akin to a troubled haunting that has the ability to stand the test of time.

You can catch the film Friday 27th September at this years festival, tickets here!

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Dead Northern Festival News and Reviews Reviews

Dead Northern Festival 2024 Review – The Healing

The Healing makes two things clear: be careful who you trust, and be careful of what you trust. This tense and unnerving descent into chaos is an exercise into the dark underbelly that seedily lies amidst seemingly tranquil and ‘healing’ situations…

The film follows Lyuba (Alyona Mitroshina), who, in a bid to escape from her abusive relationship to Sergey (Vyacheslav Chepurchenko), heads off to a weekend retreat with her friends Sveta (Victoria Skitskaya) and Zoya (Ekaterina Solomatina). The retreat seems warm and welcoming at first, a chance for Lyuba to distance herself from her troubles; however, when she becomes anxious and starts hallucinating and wants to leave the increasingly strange retreat, Lyuba fears that what’s waiting on the outside is far worse. 

Troublesome woes of domesticity are trickled through The Healing with an appropriateness that gives credence to the gravity of the situation. As Lyuba’s experiences with Sergey are revealed, it becomes clear that matters such as unsettling manipulation and loss of autonomy are central to the film’s effectiveness. The Healing joins the likes of Silent House (2011), Midsommar (2019) and The Invisible Man (2020), where scenes showcasing the erosion of reality speak to underlying concepts that arise from traumatic relationships. Whilst the magnetisation of horror and terror play prominent roles in keeping The Healing entertaining, what director Den Hook ensures is a level of sincerity and solemnity in showcasing such an emotionally deep and courageous film. 

Adjacent to the intense core of The Healing is the film’s isolated setting, which is almost a character within itself. The remote destination of the retreat replicates an intense feeling of remoteness, which outwardly represents the serenity that such a supposed haven should have. Yet, the vast openness of untamed woodlands teeming with towering trees and sweeping landscapes exploits the psychological paradox of the film. The seemingly endless spaces of land harness a form of affective, emotional claustrophobia, where despite the purported freedom of the sanctum, there is an evocative sense of inescapable surveillance from both Lyuba’s introspective visions and the followers from the retreat. 

The Healing elevates the already powerful ambience through its parading of subjective reality with the assistance of Lyuba’s intense visions, which she experiences throughout the film. The film often wears a cognisant coat by virtue of Lyuba’s apparitions that embody both a sense of fantasia, alongside startling spells of disorienting horror. The amalgamation of surrealism and unsettling horror lines the film’s double edged sword, with the almost ethereal-like illusions drawing the viewer in, only to stun and disconcert when the reveries quickly become dark, crazed and twisted. 

The combined powerful cerebral knowingness of the narrative and the aesthetically striking nature of The Healing works to create a richly detailed and rigorous end product in its means to engage, alert and disturb.

You can catch the film Saturday 28th September at this years festival, tickets here!

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Dead Northern Festival News and Reviews Reviews

Dead Northern Festival 2024 Review – Kill Victoria

Drowning in sordid secrets and lies, hellbent on delivering devilish antics and driving tension to a delightfully unbearable peak is Kill Victoria. 

This thrilling rollercoaster follows a group of friends composed of couples Paula (Sara Canning) and Pete (Michael Xavier), Jacky (Gia Sandhu) and Nigel (Robin Dunne), along with the incessantly single Nick (Aaron Poole). The familiar dynamic soon changes when Nick finally becomes engaged to Victoria (Laura Vandervoort). Upon the group’s chemistry changing with Victoria’s arrival, the foursome begin joshing as to how they would kill Victoria in order to get prior-engaged Nick back. However, when the whole group departs on their annual weekend trip, secrets arise and trouble begins as Victoria uncovers a horrifying secret that changes the course of their lives forever. 

This wickedly devious film weaponises an iceberg approach, where the surface level is host to a barrage of entertaining and gripping sequences filled with edgy escapades and enthralling twists and turns. However, diving beneath the exterior reveals various levels of sophisticated plot points that work to meticulously craft a fleshed out, complex piece of cinema. Beginning with the peripheral factors: Kill Victoria equips a vivid visual palette that truly captures director Robin Dunnes (who also stars as Nigel) and cinematographer’s Justin Yaroski’s talents of creating a world that immerses the viewer into the compelling nature of the film.

For instance, throughout Kill Victoria, the camera often shows Individual close up shots of each character in moments of contemplation and understanding, piecing together the gravity of the situation they find themselves in. Not only do these moments of individualism look absolutely stunning with the almost Chiascuro-esque lighting burning a sense of emotional intensity onto the screen, but it also speaks to how the film unveils the uncomfortable reality of self-serving relationships. 

Dunne, also serving as the writer, took inspiration from his own life experiences to write the script, with him brilliantly, boldly, and bravely being open about how his own encounters with past relationships helped form the basis for the film. In Dunne’s director statement, he notes how a partnership in his mid-twenties resulted in his friends and family drawing back from him, not because of disdain, but because he had changed at the hands of his kinship. In a beautiful way that is admirable from Dunne, this film replicates a universal experience that many will appreciate as a life lesson, a plight that touches on themes of personal-centeredness, self-doubt and the lies that we tell ourselves that twist and conform until they resemble the truth. 

Such a dense film relies on the vitality that excellent performances provide. In the case of Kill Victoria, this entirely true. Every single actor thrives in this dramatic character study, employing dimensionality to their on-screen personas and perfectly portraying gutsy yet hearty characters. Coupling this is the film’s applaudable way that it slowly reveals its true colours. Not everything is laid bare and spelled out, alternatively, we are slowly fed information piece by piece, building a slow burning tension that erupts when the real ferocity of the story is revealed. 

Kill Victoria is an intricate and nuanced piece of genre cinema that will continually leave the audience guessing and wanting more, leaving a lingering mark on the lucky viewers. 

You can catch the film Sunday 29th September at this years festival, tickets here!

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Dead Northern Festival 2024 Review – The Stickman’s Hollow

The Stickman’s Hollow resembles a multifaceted labyrinth, feeding its complex story bit by bit, acting like a serpentine. It is the slow feed of a terrifying story, the intricate weaving of eerie details and the intimate mode of filmmaking that make this found footage horror unmissable. 

The film chronicles three connected chapters following a series of people who learn the hard way about the mysterious and horrific truth behind the terrifying ‘Stickman’s Hollow’, a seemingly quaint lake that brings about hell for anyone who dares to trail its path. 

Writer and director Jack Cox is an expeienced filmmaker who began his years behind the camera working on small-budget cinema with New Horizons, the Roger Corman founded company, before moving onto a successful career in animation. Having spent years in the animation field, Cox has traversed back to horror, and with The Stickman’s Hollow, its evident that the horror genre will be all the better for it. 

The film’s ambitious premise of dissecting the lore of ‘The Hollow’ into three parts, is part of what grants the outcome as being a standout piece that thrives in originality. In other words, not at one single moment does the threat of a predictable ending arise. The first of the triptych-like structure follows a young family who venture off camping, settling at the ominous Stickman’s Hollow for some recreational fishing, however, it’s not long before strange whisperings and disturbing events culminate into an almighty finale.

The second entry takes us on the journey of a priest who is tasked with treating the roots of a family whose daughter appears possessed, which ends in a genuinely startling, fierce tragedy, and a series of questions as we begin to piece together the enigma behind the ‘urban-legend-esque’ terror of The Stickman’s Hollow. As the film nears its boiling point, we are delivered the third and final act that boldly connects the three episodes, and offers a gut-punch of an ending that leaves you craving more and more of this striking horror.

Composing the heart of the film is all of the plentiful mystery, mythology and lore, which is made all the more effective due to its detailed backstory. The Stickman’s Hollow is based on a chilling true story from Cox’s childhood of girl who became lost in the local Vancouver woods. And the story goes… the lost child was presumed to be dead, but after a year had passed there were reported sightings of a feral child roaming the forest and eating the remains of animal carcasses. Found near the spotted sightings were strange carvings of male figures, which all point to sinister misdeeds.

Whilst The Stickman’s Hollow is a fictional story, Cox based the tale on the countless, spine-chilling questions that arise when one thinks of a story of such calibre. What happened to the missing girl? How did the carvings come about? And why do missing persons cases in the backwoods go unsolved? Fictional or not, this is nightmare fuel! 

Amplifying the intensity is the fact that the filming location is that of where the backstory occurred, conjuring a level of dread that is often difficult to capture on screen. Adding to the unease felt is the film’s found footage fashion that immediately immerses and stirs a level of uncomfortable immediacy. The suspense brought forth, the anxiety formulated and the foreboding alarm mould together throughout this noteworthy expedition into The Stickman’s Hollow. 

You can catch the film Friday 27th September at this years festival, tickets here!

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Dead Northern Festival 2024 Review – All This Time


All This Time chronicles the infinite time loop that Grace (Emily Rose Holt) has found herself trapped in. Joined by an elusive vampire, Elias (Dan de Bourg), Grace must unravel a string of veiled secrets to escape the treacherously eerie time glitch and return to normality.

Writer and director Rob Worsey delivers a standout, complex and thought-provoking second feature that, alongside his zombie-themed feature debut, Among the Living (2022), proves that Worsey is a talent to be watched. Worsey’s uncanny ability to stir tension and assemble well-crafted scares that linger like a troubling night-terror are at an all-time high throughout All This Time.

The film dabbles in equal amounts of trepidation, theatrical drama, and gothic horror to form an unholy trinity of emotively triggered fear. For instance, as we see Grace come to terms with the disturbed histories that lie in wait, not once does the film become gimmicky in its scares; instead, bouts of unease are stirred, and waves of darkness are weaponised, collectively espousing a film that is as tonally rich as it is visually impactful. 

As teased above, All This Time is steeped in a gothically minded atmosphere where the isolation of grandness meets a shadowy, stunningly designed sense of unmistakable dread. In its iconographical form, All This Time employs its grandiose setting, impressive costume design and haunting, moody lighting to showcase its gothic roots, which all combine to create a film that is worthy of watching with the volume off just to absorb the sheer ‘look’ of it all. 

Matching the mysterious ambience is the film’s brilliant performances from the likes of Rose Holt and de Bourg, alongside the excellent Emma Pallant. Independent cinema has a habit of bringing about the most spiffing of exhibitions of talent, with All This Time being no exception to this rule. Throughout the entire runtime, the executions are all acted out with such compelling authenticity that draws the audience in and has them hanging on to every last word.

Shifting onto the horror elements, All This Time makes use of its groundhog-like narrative to conjure a sting of anxiety that innately wizzes up an unnerving sense of being trapped, contained and unable to make sense of everyone and everything.

On a theoretical plane, this inability to flee has the power to be suffocating and grim, but Worsey boldly propels this notion by infusing a vampiric spin. Fanged fiends, bloodsuckers, ‘The Count’, Dracula – however these immortal creatures have been cinematically developed before, All This Time, decides to take a unique spin on the vampire tale through its utilisation of a character-study based approach to storytelling. Keeping spoilers tightly under wraps – what can be commended is how the film continuously toys with the motives of the characters. Rarely do we know what to believe and who to trust throughout the running enigma of it all.

In total, All This Time will both move and provoke, pervade and resonate. Ultimately, this is not a film to be missed.

You can catch the film Friday 27th September at this years festival, tickets here!

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Dead Northern 2024 Festival Review – Kill Your Lover

Directing duo Alix Austin and Keir Siewert deliver a gnarly, grotesque, and emotionally raw feat of tainted love, where body horror and a cerebral narrativisation collide together to create the must-see ‘Kill Your Lover’. 

Strained couple Axel (Shane Quigley Murphy) and Dakota (Paige Gilmour) have long lost the passion that oozed from their early days together; with Dakota now desperate to break free and put an end to her partner’s controlling hold. However, whilst on the cusp of delivering him the bad news, Axel falls ill with a monstrous infection, one that spews poison, splinters skin and turns its host into a corrosive mess – and worst of all…it’s contagious. 

From the initial setup right up until the credits begin to roll, the entire film is slick with an uncomfortable sense of intimacy. Intimate through its nature of chronicling a toxic relationship. Intimate through its portrayal of up close and personal graphic body horror, and intimate in how it feels as if we have been positioned to voyeuristically gaze like a fly on the wall as Dakota and Axel experience the terrifying motions of their damning monstrosity.

The private, immediate view the audience experiences feels disturbed, as if we are that of a prying eye. It is this precise dark, troubling anxiety that makes Kill Your Lover’s stirring approach so effective. As much as the film is a splattery gore fest, Austin and Siewert manage to penetrate the layers of fleshy horror and create a tone that is ripe with metaphors into destructive, venomous kinship and feeling inescapable dread at the hands of someone you once used to unconditionally love. 

The film’s continuous lashings of affective energy also transfers itself into the sophisticated aesthetic that manages to balance obscure bloodiness whilst not faltering to unwarranted butchery – which for a film of such calibre would take away from the complex emotive aura. For instance, as the film escalates to the point of sheer horror-filled pandemonium as the treacherous infection spreads, an array of brilliant effects come to fruition. The makeup and design is gruesome, ghastly and macabre in the most unique way possible. The gravity of the fearsome visuals is made all the more nightmarish at the hands of the crafty and powerful performances from leads Gilmour and Quigley Murphy, both of whom excel at portraying depthful, intricate and complicated characters. 

Kill Your Lover is a standout feature that speaks to the creator’s exhilarating storytelling talents. From Austin’s incredible short horror ‘Sucker’ (2022), to Siewert and Austin’s team effort on the anthological entry ‘It’s Inside’ in Isolation (2021), it is a sure thing that this duo is one to watch. 

Catch the film Saturday 28th September at the 2024 festival, tickets and details here.

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Mad About Horror at Dead Northern 2024!

We’re thrilled to announce that Mad About Horror will be an official sponsor of our Film Festival event in York  27th – 29th Sep 2024!

Mad About Horror are the leading online retailer in the UK and Europe for specialist horror masks and collectibles. As the largest official European retailer of Trick or Treat Studios, they bring the latest US releases to the UK and Europe, offering a wide array of masks, collector’s items, and replica props.

In addition to their partnership with Trick or Treat Studios, Mad About Horror showcases a vast selection of leading collectible brands including NECA, Mezco and Sideshow as well as niche brands such as Black Heart Models, Pallbearer Press, Infinite Statues. 

They also have a huge range of Halloween animatronics, masks and decorations. Renowned for sourcing the latest Halloween props and animatronics from the US, Mad About Horror pride themselves on retailing items that are rarely available this side of the pond.

With an extensive product range specialising in all thing’s Horror and Halloween, Mad About Horror serves as the ultimate one-stop shop for horror fans. Their passion for the genre is evident in their commitment to staying up to date with latest releases and engaging with the horror community. 

Looking to bring the thrill of the big screen home? Explore their Horror-movie section, featuring a wide array of collectibles, officially licensed masks, and an exclusive selection of Waxwork Records for soundtrack enthusiasts. Whether you’re expanding your horror collection or hunting for the perfect gift, Mad About Horror has everything you need to recreate the cinematic horror experience.

Shop with them now by clicking here