HORRIFIC by Anna Greenwood

Halloween Special 2017

The UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Number One Horror Magazine

THE FINAL GIRLS Anna and Olivia reveal just how scary it is to be a woman in the horror world, and why that matters

SLEEPING BEAUTIES FRANKENSTEIN GRIMMFEST FREAKY FIVE

new king novel to give you bad dreams

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New King In Town Father and Son Stephen and Owen King have teamed up in this new feminist theme thriller

by Mary LouiseKelly

Reviews Our take on all the best October releases and Halloween Horrors, including new Stranger Things and many others

Final Girls Tour UK Anna Greenwood talks to the Final Girls about their tour screening their favourite feminist short horror films

New King In Town Father and Son Stephen and Owen King have teamed up in this new feminist theme thriller

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Dan Whitehead, author of Frankenstein, Texas

Frankenstein Texas How the graphic novel re-imagining the story of Frankenstein in the Wild West smashed Kickstarter goals

Killer Crazy Why representation of mental health is important, but is still always terrible in scary films

Freaky Five As the year draws to a close, HORRIFIC shares our favourite freaky flicks of 2017

Yet to Come A round up of hour most anticipated horror films, books and tv shows for 2018

hat would happen if every woman on earth went to sleep ... and never woke up? Only men would be left to run the world. If that's not the beginnings of a horror page-turner, we don't know what is. And it is — in fact — the premise of Stephen King's new book, Sleeping Beauties. You'll discover the first twist right on the cover: King has a partner in crime, at least in this endeavor — his son, Owen King, who had the initial idea for the book. "Owen kind of tossed this thing off, 'What do you think would happen if all the women in the world went to sleep?' And all my lights came on," Stephen King says. "They all went from red to green at once." On the process of co-writing a 700 page novel Owen: “It was just a lot like when I

was a kid; we used to play this thing called the writing game with our father — my brother and I would play it — where the first person writes a sentence, then the second person writes a sentence, and then the third person writes a sentence, and so on and so on until you get bored and have to go to bed.” “But in this case, what we did was he'd write 25 pages and then I'd write 25 pages, or 30 or 35, and we had this scaffolding that we had talked through together, and so we'd just pass it back and forth. But one of the things about collaborating with somebody is that you want them to take ownership of what you've written and you want to be able to take ownership of what they've written, so I rewrote him and he rewrote me, and then also — we thought this was especially clever — we would leave openings inside the sections of the book that we wrote, and I would leave a message for him when it was my turn, and I'd say "Okay, this white space here, I want you to write a scene with this character, and I want this to happen, and here's how I

think it will play out, and you know, just make it as hard as possible for the poor old guy," and then he would do the same to me.” Stephen: “Well you know, the major thing that we were doing by leaving those holes in the script was giving us a chance to blend our writing together, and the result was, when we were done, the stuff was so interwoven, it's almost as though a third person had written this book ... So it's almost like we created a third person, which could be a horror story in itself.” On the centrality of women in Sleeping Beauties. Owen: “You know if you read the book — and this is a bit of a spoiler — the story ends up splitting and the male characters are in one world, which is the world we're familiar with, and the female characters, after they fall asleep, they end up in another world, and it's not as if the world that they find themselves in becomes some sort of matriarchal utopia. An incredible number of things go wrong for them, but what's different about the world where the women end up is that in spite of all these challenges, in spite of all these things that go wrong, they never give up, they never lose focus. this experience is that it's very unusual to get to spend the kind of time that we got to spend together to work on this.”

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main image, Final Girls Anna and Olivia bottom left, HOME cinema patrons waiting to watch We Are The Weirdos bottom right, Anna and Olivia chatting with cinema goers photography by Anna Greenwood

We Are The Weirdos Full Programme The Puppet Man (Dir. Jacqueline Castel) A supernatural killer stalks a young woman in this homage to 80s horror films, featuring an appearance by the master himself: John Carpenter. Undress Me (Dir. Amelia Moses) An awkward college freshman begins to experience a gruesome physical deterioration after a chance encounter at a frat party.

by Anna Greenwood

anchester is a city rich in scary Halloween delights, but a highlight in 2017 was horror loving duo The Final Girl’s screening of their favourite feminist horror shorts, at independent cinema HOME. We Are The Weirdos is a collection of feminist short horror films, put together and taken on tour by Final Girls Olivia Howe and Anna Bhustkaya, after feeling a frustration towards how women are treated in the horror world. Howe said: “The Final Girls is a film collective exploring the intersection between horror films and feminism.” Bhustkaya, the other half of the Final Girls, states that they began due to an anger towards how the horror scene treated women. She said: “We started it off in a way because of a shared frustration in not being able to participate in the horror scene as much as we wanted to. “It was a place where we didn’t feel welcome, where it was frankly kind of gross, and we felt we were constantly being kind of questioned, or treated like we weren’t true horror fans, or we weren’t supposed to appreciate horror,” concluded Bhustkaya. The ten films are all very different, but are accidentally united by the common theme of female directors. “We didn’t set out for it to be all shorts directed by women, it naturally just happened,” said Bhustkaya. “The ones we were drawn to and the ones that we thought were most interesting were all directed by women, so we decided to just make that the concept,” she said. Bhustkaya also said that their goal for the films was to open up horror for women: following in the vision of the Final Girls creation. She said: “We want to show that it horror doesn’t have to be the way it’s perceived to be; boring, tacky and

Pulse (Dir. Becki Pantling) repetitive. “It can be interesting and intriguing and surprising, and that it’s a place for everyone to think about and interpret horror in the way that they wish.” The pair where spoilt for choice when it came to choosing the ten films for the screenings. “We had over 1,300 submissions, we also had a number of film-makers we had on our radar, and the programme itself is a combination of both of those things,” said Howe. “We were looking for a very particular thing, so it was quite easy to narrow it down that way,” she elaborated. The collection of films, titled We Are The Weirdos, visited independent cinemas across the UK in the run up to Halloween. “We really wanted to speak to independent cinemas ratherthan chains, it felt the most appropriate with the event,” said Howe. The pair are very proud of the variety in the ten films chosen for the piece. “What’s really nice about the program is it’s very balanced: one half of it is film makers that we were aware of, and half of it is people that we had no idea about,”Howe explained. The women chose HOME for their Manchester venue, as it was one of the first cinemas outside of London for them to put on an event in previous years. The tour visited twelve UK cities in total, beginning with the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle, and ending with the Genesis in London. For information on future events, visit www.finalgirls.com

A married man looking for an online tryst finds that someone is always watching. I Should Have Run (Dir. Gabriela Staniszewska) I Should Have Run tells the story of a lone woman walking home on a cold and dark night. She encounters something strange and terrifying, and when she is asked a question, her sheer terror causes her to lie. Sorry, We’re Closed (Dir. Alexis Makepeace) Sociopathic Charlotte is struggling to keep her late night diner in business. After years of serving the same sleazy men, she comes up with an unconventional solution. A Mother of Monsters (Dir. Julia Zanin de Paula) A story based on a Guy de Maupassant tale, “La Mère aux Monstres”. It`s a movie that aims to reference and homenageate horror classics. Dead. Tissue. Love (Dirw. Natasha AustinGreen) Dead. Tissue. Love. is an intimate experimental documentary exploring the individual character of a female necrophile, as she recounts her life experiences. Don’t Think of A Pink Elephant (Dir. Suraya Raja) Layla fights daily against urges and until challenged to face her darkest fears. Shortcut (Dir. Prano Bailey-Bond) When Kurt takes a shortcut he enters a supernatural realm... I Want You Inside Me (Dir. Alice Shindelar) An introverted teenager loses her virginity and her boyfriend in one fatal orgasm.

frrankenstein western comic smashes kickstarter goals by Anna Greenwood

“This is a tale of action and adventure, but also a story that explores ideas of damnation and salvation, of fresh starts and bitter ends, and what it takes to atone for the deadliest of sins.” -Dan Whitehead

he exciting new comic from the mind of writer Dan Whitehead places Doctor Frankenstein and his monster in the Wild West, in a 48 page graphic novel to be released in March 2018. Whitehead’s original goal of £2,000 for the project was met in less than a week on the crowd-funding website Kickstarter. Whitehead confessed he was surprised by this success, saying: “I was blown away by that because I’m not famous, it was literally just me putting the word out.”

The storyline follows the characters of Mary Shelly’s classic Frankenstein, reimagining the novel ending with the pair in Texas, and exploring what would happen next. The genre is quite unusual, described by Whitehead as: “a horror western, a gothic horror western.” “It came about because I realised the Frankenstein story overlaps with the Wild West period, but Europe at that time and America at that time were very different,” he elaborated. Once their initial goal was achieved, Whitehead added new ‘stretch goals’ of £2500 and £3000, both of which were reached before the Kickstarter ended. “I’m glad we met our goal so fast because otherwise it would have been very nerve wracking, hoping we were going to make it,” said Whitehead. Many other graphic novel creators use Kickstarter to fund their ideas, with other successes such as Luminous Ages, Savage Eve, and Natalie’s Comics, all of which reached their goals quickly. The writer chose Kickstarter to fund his new idea as he wanted to be able to pay the artist David Hitchcock fairly, saying: “I’ve self-published a few books which is easy, but with comics there’s artists, and they need to eat!” Whitehead has no plans for the graphic novel to be part of a series yet, but there might be plans for other stories in that world in the future. He said: “It’s going to be a 48 page stand-alone story, but the idea is that it sets up a kind of world that we can revisit in other chapters.” Frankenstein, Texas won’t only be available to Kickstarter backers, so for those not involved in the crowd-funding can still read it once it has beenreleased. Whitehead explained: “It will be available online and people can mail order it, and we’ll be at comic conventions mostly, but the Kickstarter backers will get it first.”

David Hitchcock, who is known for his work on Springheeled Jack and The Signal Man, has already begun work on the art. Hitchcock said: “I am known for my gothic art style and when Dan asked me if I would like to illustrate Frankenstein in this dramatic new direction I had to be on board the project.” He too was very excited by their Kickstarter success, saying: “I think we were both quite humbled when the

“You’d think Frankenstein and cowboys don’t go together, but they were happening at the same time. That was the idea, what happens if you put them together?” - Dan Whitehead Kickstarter reached the target so soon.” He revealed that he’s very excited to be working with Whitehead. “For me, the attraction was Dan’s writing. “He has managed to get under the skin of all the characters and bring out some real emotive moments throughout, plus, it’s Frankenstein with a six gun, what’s not to like?” he said.

from the fans, < we far left, prosthetics/models from the likeShuane to let Harrison Makeup Artist Academy them all mingle < left, Grimmfest team at Vue Printworks, together,” Manchester, selling classic horror posters he old said. and new This is down, the horror channel invites Grimmfest not only go-ers to take their most horrific selfie in beneficial the electric chair, to win a set of Stephen for fans King novels and film lovers, but photography by Anna Greenwood for the

by Anna Greenwood

he horror genre is currently more popular than ever, with 2017 smash hits such as IT, Annabelle Creation and yet another upcoming release into the Saw franchise. These popular blockbusters are always guaranteed to turn a high profit, but for smaller, independent film makers, getting their work out there has always been a challenge. Horror film-maker and Grimmfest festival director Simeon Halligan faced this problem nine years ago when he wanted to screen his new film Splintered, and in going about this, he accidentally created Manchester horror film festival Grimmfest. “We didn’t really intend to start a film festival,” Halligan explained. “It was Halloween and we’d made a horror film, so we thought it was the right time to screen it, and as we started telling

people about it they’d come back to us and say I’ve got a horror film and I’d love to screen it,” he said. But not only did other independent film makers get involved, but also the people he was working with on his own film: “At the same time we were trying to sell Splintered to distributors, and then they wanted to get involved in the festival,” he said. In time their idea grew, and Halligan eventually had to accept he was putting on a horror film festival, whether he liked it or not. That first year had twenty-five films across four days, and has carried on every year since. However, after that first year, Halligan wasn’t sure if it would happen again. “It was bizarre because we didn’t really know what we were doing- we’d never run a film festival before, we learnt a lot of

things from running it that first time, we made a lot of mistakes,” said Halligan. Halligan confessed that at the end of the first Grimmfest, he never thought he would want to do it again as it was so stressful. But nine years later, the festival is going strong, now held at the VUE in Manchester’s Printworks, with sponsors such as the Horror Channel. Halligan said: “I think that this is probably our biggest year this year, and it’s going really well.” Halligan runs Grimmfest with his partner Rachel Richardson-Jones, and their main passion for the festival is giving smaller, independent films the exposure they’re not likely to get from big cinemas. He said: “I think right now film festivals are becoming more and more important round the world, reason being: it’s becoming more and more difficult to get

smaller films on the big screen. “Because multiplexes now tend to focus on the big blockbusters, it’s harder and harder to get smaller films into the multiplexes.” Halligan described how independent horrors are lucky if they get onto Netflix, and will often go straight to DVD, only to be sold online. He said: “Increasingly even getting onto those platforms is getting difficult, as Netflix is very powerful and now they’re only selecting certain types of films with a certain budget or a certain cast. “That’s why I think film festivals are becoming more important because they offer a place where people can come and watch them together and experience them together, which people really enjoy.” Halligan remarked that although we now have a lot of popular arthouse chains in the UK, such as PictureHouse, they don’t show every kind of film, and a lot of independent horrors are quite niche. Film festivals allow fans to all come together and enthuse about these films in person. It’s not always easy to meet fellow fans when the films they love are independent and niche. “With Grimmfest and with genre films there’s a fanbase that all want to enjoy these movies together, and discuss them together,” he said. But film festivals like Grimmfest are not only a chance for fans to meet, but also to chat to directors and those involved with making the film, a chance they wouldn’t get anywhere else. Halligan said: “They like to talk to the film makers as well which is one thing we really encourage, we like to bring them along to talk to the fans, and everyone gets along together.” At Grimmfest, the team love to encourage fans and directors to intermingle. “We like to feel that it’s a very family affair- we don’t keep the film makers away

creators too. “Film makers love it because they like to get feedback on their films and hear what people think of it, and the fans like to be able to talk to them and ask them questions about the movie,” said Halligan. Halligan said himself and the Grimmfest team really pride themselves on the relationship they encourage between film makers and fans, as independent fuels rest on a devoted audience, or they would not be possible. He said: “What I love is the feedback we get from the punters is they can fall in love with something they might have never seen unless we’d said ‘look at this fantastic film!’ “There’s not much point in us putting on loads of main stream movies cos they’ll all be on at the multiplexes anyway, so we like to find movies that are really special and different.” 2017 was the biggest year for Grimmfest, and the film maker turned festival director is very excited about what’s to come. He said: “We’ve got a few things bubbling away in the pipeline but Grimmfest 2017 was so much work, so we’re not sure yet.” While he remained ambiguous, we’re sure there’s lots more to come from Simmeon Halligan and the whole Grimmfest team.

“I think right now film festivals are becoming more and more important round the world, reason being: it’s becoming more and more difficult to get smaller films on the big screen.” - Simmeon Halligan

dir. Xavier Gens the crucifiction

The Crucifiction is a movie I would recommend to any that is a fan of exorcism movie and even to those, like me, that felt they were fed up with the whole she-bang. If this new incarnation of evil-slayers doesn’t grab you by the ankles and hoast you towards the ceiling, you might be best to give up on the subgenre for the time being. It isn’t going to get much better (looking) than this.

dir. Chris Peckover better watch out

There isn’t as much going on underneath the bonnet as in that Austrian auteur’s self-reflexive narrative but, in a sense, Peckover’s challenge was harder: how to innovate when everybody thinks they have seen it all before, while adhering to the rules of reality. It has been a vintage year for spooky Australian films, Better Watch Out joining other notable skin-crawlers including Cargo and Killing Ground.

dir. Don Mancini cult of chucky A lean 91 minutes long, Cult of Chucky is part self-spoofing slasher, part lowbrow bloodbath and all guilty pleasure. More seriously, Dourif Jr.’s acting skills are frustratingly underused in the lead role, reduced to a wan spectator for much of the action until a final-act twist puts a much-needed spring in her step. The Chucky franchise is hardly Toy Story, but it is reliably pulpy good fun.

by Anna Greenwood

he Goonies, E.T, Farrah Fawcett hair and Cyndi Lauper are all fond callbacks to a time long since past, but the 15th of July 2016 marked the release of a show that perfectly personifies eighties nostalgia. For over a year, fans awaited the eagerly awaited the next instalment of the modern classic. On the 27th of October 2017 Netflix finally gave the world what we had been begging for, and just in time for Halloween.

Stranger Things 2 kicks things off a year after the first series, with new characters, more witty one-liners, more eighties references, and a lot more horror. It is a deeply satisfying sequel to the first installment in a world where terrible sequels and remakes are churned out of Hollywood daily, and nostalgia has become a simple cash-grab with films like

Jumangi: Welcome to the Jungle, and last years Ghostbusters remake. With brilliant performances from the kids and the addition of Sean Astin’s Bob, an obvious nod to The Goonies, the new series was a Halloween hit, sure to be binged and rebinged until we get more. If you’re yet to watch the episodes be warned; there are spoilers ahead! The series picks up with all our favourites from last time, with new appearances alongside Bob, like the mysterious Kali (Linnea Berthelsen,) and Max (Sadie Sink,) the boisterous new girl at school and a love interest for Dustin and Lucas to fight over. As expected, there were strong performances all around from the crew of ridiculously talented children, and the adults around them. But a standout performance this series is Will (Noah Schnapp,) who is tortured by his experience in the upside-down, and the connection he still holds to the monster inside it. It was him that amped up the horror element of this series, when we watched him get taken over by the demagorgon in Episode Three: The Polly-wog. As Will was missing in the upside-down in series one, he did not get much screen time,

but series two shows off Schnapp’s full acting potential in an absolutely stunning performance, leaving audiences and the other characters alike ready to love and protect Will, whatever it takes. Hopper (David Habour) and Eleven (Millie Bobby-Brown) shine in their unconventional father and daughter dynamic, something we didn’t know we all needed. Their relationship is tumultuous throughout the episodes as he takes care of her, but ends with him becoming her legal parent in a beautifully sweet conclusion. Eleven has a huge arc in this series, as we learn more about her true identity. However this leads to one of the let downs of the show: episode seven- The Lost Sister. This episode follows Eleven as she meets others like her, learning the full extent of her story. While this meant the audience learned more about her, the episode feels like a detour in the series, with a vast change in pace and tone. As a spin off series, by all means would the audience be interested in learning more about Eleven’s story. But this episode did not fit with the rest, and was a let-down of series 2. Stranger Things 2 was always going to be binged by millions regardless of whether or not it lived up to the first installment, but the show doesn’t disappoint, matching up to the stunning visuals, perfect mixture of scary and funny moments, and sentimental eighties vibes that made series one so loved.

dir. John R Leonetti wish upon Half-smart and half-dumb, this does get by, but only thanks to daft entertainment value and some very committed performances. A little reticent in gore gimmicks for the Final Destination crowd, but considered as a middle school between Goosebumps and Clive Barker, it’s just the haunted lottery ticket.

dir. Mike Flanagan gerald’s game

The suspense never ends. The film is so much more than a simple survival thriller, it explores human behavior and just how scummy men are in a way we can definitely get behind. It is a fantastic respite from the world of gore and cheap jumpscares. The gore that is used is absolutely chiliing and will stay with you.

dir. McG the babysitter

While not the most revolutionary slasher in the world, the film is a safe and fun comedy horror, perfect for halloween or teen sleepovers. The gore is a plenty, the scares are prsent without the stakes ever really being too high, and the laughs are there too. There’s also simply a lot of beautiful people to look at.

happy death day

dir. Christopher B Landon

The film is finally something different in the horror genre, as one of the most original horror storylines to be seen in years. Minus a few plotholes and Happy Death Day would be perfect. When Tree (Jessica Rhodes) is killed on the night of her birthday, she wakes up in the bed of her one night stand and the day starts all over again.The film has it all, with a combination combination of time loops, murder mystery, comedy and lashings of thrills.While at the start Tree is almost too unlikeable, we watch her learn and grow, whilst falling for the adorable Carter, as he helps her solve who is trying to kill her. But the twist ending contains the main plothole, the one thing that holds the film back from being truly excellent. It appears the brilliant and original concept got the go ahead before writers could think of a good ending. While we know who’s killing her, the time loops are never really explained at all. Besides that however, the film is yet another Blumhouse success, up there with the likes of The Conjuring and Get Out.

by Anna Greenwood

Samara in the mental hospital, The Ring (2002)

Horrific’s top 5 horror flicks of the year

Why the bad representation of mental illness in horror cimema matters.

’m a recently converted avid horror fan. I think my love for horror can be boiled down to one thing: the best horror films are just really clever. I’ve found what scares me the most is surprise and sustained fear, not little spooks when the ghosties jump up in front of the camera. This lack of clever plot to me however extends further than just shitty jump scares. It’s a problem that’s been in the back of my mind for a really long time, and that is mental health in horror films. I’m almost certain that in the majority of your favourite horror films, there will be at least one person with a mental health problem. This could be the person who sees ghosts so is ‘crazy,’ or the ‘pshycho’ killer who says the voices made him do it. I am in no way innocent here; nearly all my favourite horrors feature one of these characters. It’s hard not to argue that no matter how people with mental illnesses are featured in these films, they are meant to scare us. The film Lights Out is a recent example. To put it simply, the main characters’ mother only sees Dianna, the monster/ ghost in the film, when she doesn’t take her medication. I was worried I was finding problems where they don’t exist, and taking things too far. So I let it be. But let me make one thing clear, if I doubted how I felt then, I shouldn’t have, because I have watched a lot of horror films, and continued to feel the same way. After watching M Knight Shamalan’s Split, and I can’t keep my big mouth shut any more. Split tells the story of a man with multiple personality disorder, in which some of his

personalities are evil and kidnap a group of girls. A twenty-fourth personality of Kevin’s supposedly turns into ‘the beast,’ an advanced super strong monster-human. The film was incredibly clever, and the idea of using this disorder created some highly unsettling scenes. But for a lot of people, this may be the first time they ever encounter Dissociative Personality Disorder- a violent unhinged kidnapper, cannibal, and somebody who can supposedly alter his own body chemistry to make a monster? I’m no expert, but I’m 100% sure that isn’t possible. I wanted to get a proper opinion, so I found an article in which a proper doctor, Cathy Kezelman, describes the film as ‘stigmatizing,’ and I can’t help but agree. The article also says that studies have found only 3% of people with DPD have done anything criminal: “the soon-tobe published research paper, Mental Illness and Violent Behaviour: The Role of Dissociation, which found that out of 173 people treated for the disorder, only three per cent reported having been charged with an offence in the past six months.” Basically, it’s pretty darn uncommon. In The Ring, Samara is a creepy little girl who is seen either as a creepy ghost, or a little girl in a mental hospital. It’s clear that Samara’s supernatural abilities are much more than her being a little ‘crazy.’ Mental patient ghost, Grave Encounters (2011)

by Jordan Crucchiola

Get Out

Here it is! You know it. You’ve heard about it, but if you haven’t seen it: Believe the hype. Jordan Peele’s directorial debut is funny, frightening, and one of the most incisive pieces of social commentary ever made in suspense cinema. The story of a black man going home to meet his white girlfriend’s family, only to discover an unsettling plot, is one of the best movies of the year in any genre, and it’s a safe bet you’ll find it atop many critics’ lists when the year is over.

Then there’s the mental asylum scenes in Insidious 2, the ‘monster’ being a tortured and evil transgender person? Seriously? With the likes of Grave Encounters and The Ward, these scary representations not only of mental illness, but also how the mentally ill are treated, are repeated over and over. How much media is out there to combat it? When I’m watching this stuff I can’t help but sit and wonder why mental illness is so scary to us as viewers, but the answer of course is obvious: it is scary. As someone who’s grappled with dodgy mental health personally, and watched people close to me grapple too, of course it’s scary. But mental hospitals are not filled with ghosties and demons and torturous surgeons. The vast majority of mentally ill people are just living their every-day lives. A big majority, actually. Not murderers, or kidnappers, and definitely not people with supernatural abilities to alter their own body chemistry like in M. Knight Shamalan’s Split. On the other hand, these films are fiction. They’re made to entertain, not to educate. It may also be important to note that murder and mental stability don’t exactly go hand in hand. Portraying a completely sane serial killer wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense. But as long as we have these scary portrayals, we need something good alongside them. The world is moving forward, and it’s vitally important to show this in representation. Shows like My Mad Fat Diary and films like Silver Linings Playbook pave the way towards a better view of mental illness in the media. Am I just being too picky? Regardless of what I think, we still have a long way to go.

Split

Despite a few blinding issues with the film in the portrayal orf miltiple personality disorder, our reason why it’s not number one, it is undeniable that Split is excellent. Scarier and more original than anything that’s been released in a long time, the thriller put M. Night Shamylan back on the map as a respected director, showed of James McAvoy’s incredible acting range, and fills viewers with a sense of dread unparralleled by most other releases of the year.

Prevenge

Alice Lowe wrote, directed, and starred in Prevenge, and it’s one of the most darkly delightful movies to come out this year. Lowe plays Ruth, a pregnant woman who is mourning the death of her partner, and processing the grief by taking orders from her angry fetus to kill a bunch of people. Pregnancy horror is a genre unto itself, but it rarely affords its leads as much agency as Lowe gives Ruth in Prevenge. The result is some of the most empowering body horror you’ll find.

Berlin Syndrome

The contained claustrophobia of the story only falters at the very end, with a scrambled climax that places the weight of the narrative on the shoulders of a minor supporting character. Still, led by Palmer’s impressively restrained performance – her muted, internalised anguish almost feels like a kind of self-harm – the film creates the kind of tension that sucks the very air from the cinema.

It Comes at Night 13

The only calendar you’ll need for every great horror coming out in 2018. by Mike Floorwalker

ollywood lined up plenty of high-profile horror projects in 2017, from a revival of the Saw franchise to a very creepy-looking take on Stephen King's It—and there's already plenty on tap for 2018. From fact-based stories to supernatural scares and the reemergence of at least one classic character, the future looks very dark indeed—in the best possible way. The Winchester (Michael Spierig) 23/2/2018 Winchester is inspired by the true and very bizarre story of firearm heiress Sarah Winchester, whose mansion is the stuff of legend and a modern-day tourist attraction.

The Purge: The Island (gerard mcmurray) 4/6/2018 DeMonaco explained to CinemaBlend that the logical direction of the fourth film would be to explore how society got to the point where the Purge seemed like a good idea, but any further plot details are still under wraps.

The Nun (Colin Hardy) 10/08/2018 Variety has reported that the story “centers on a young nun at a cloistered abbey in Romania taking her own life, with a priest with a haunted past and a novitiate on the threshold of her final vows sent by the Vatican to investigate

A QUIET PLACE (JOHN KRASINKSKI) 9/3/2018 The second installment—which was announced way back in 2009—will finally hit theaters a decade after the first, with original director Johannes Roberts and writer Bryan Bertino on board. The film reportedly takes place at a trailer park in the middle of nowhere during a power outage, which seems like about as creepy a setting as possible for an appearance by the malevolent Sackhead and Pin-Up Girl.

Halloween (David gordon green) 19/10/2018 Fans could be forgiven for not getting too excited about the prospect of a new Halloween—but they should be, for one key reason. Eastbound & Down star Danny McBride and producer David Gordon Green came together to work on the concept for the new film.

THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT (JOHANNES ROBERTS) 9/3/2018

Cadaver (Diederik Van Rooijen) 24/08/2018

The second installment—which was announced way back in 2009—will finally hit theaters a decade after the first, with original director Johannes Roberts and writer Bryan Bertino on board. The film reportedly takes place at a trailer park in the middle of nowhere during a power outage, which seems like about as creepy a setting as possible for an appearance by the malevolent Sackhead and Pin-Up Girl.

Shay Mitchell makes the jump from TV’s Pretty Little Liars to horror with Cadaver, an intriguing project in the works at Sony’s Screen Gems division. Veteran Dutch director Diederik Van Rooijen, working from a script by Teen Wolf and Scream: The TV Series writer Brian Sieve, makes his Hollywood debut with this feature

Have a

Christmas!

BEST THE VE I FEST ORS R R O H oks n spo op te Our t festive e for th n seaso

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Don’t wait for Krampus to bring you what you want, pick up next months copy of horrific now- the Christmas Edition. Having to spend time with family and buy presents for distant cousins you’ve never met is scary enough, so bring on the scares your way with HORRIFIC’s christmas special. Expect everything from scary gift ideas, the best scary yule-tide films to watch, and so much more! Subscribe to HORRIFIC to get the christmas special for 30% off, and a guarentee you won’t miss January and February’s spooky installments. Buy online or exclusively in Forbidden Planet now.

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