Horror – on – Sea film festival celebrates a decade of schlock and awe
The film festival where anything ghost returns in the New Year, with a gore-some programme of movies from around the world that are sure to delight fans of the horror genre.
Mixing never-before-seen shorts with brand new features and world premieres with stone-cold classics, Horror-On-Sea is once again set to be a major showcase for independent movie makers, actors and writers currently working in or trying to break into this hugely popular part of the movie industry.
After a decade of showing some of the very best – and indeed worst –films in the horror canon, the festival now attracts entries from across the world, with the 2023 edition screening more than 35 feature films, more than 70 short movies from countries including the UK, Canada, Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Russia, Finland, Ukraine, India, Ireland, and of course, the USA.
Horror staples abound; from werewolves to demons and satanists, monsters in closets, cannibalistic vegan goths (no, really!), zombies (natch) and man’s best fiend, Eric the Pomeranian. Horror-on-Sea really is a case of, if you’ve got it, haunt it!
Given their excited anticipation and a date that befits a festival of this type, it’ll be a case of Fri-yay the 13th as lycanthrope thriller The Hunting gets things underway. Naturally, 13 films will be screened that day with Molly Brown’s The Curse of Room 102 providing hyper-local interest as it was filmed during the 2022 event at the festival’s venue – the Park Inn Radisson Hotel, on Southend’s famous seafront – and features a cast of Horror-On-Sea regulars.
Paul Cotgrove, Director and creator of Horror-On-Sea says: “I can’t believe that we’ve hit a full ten years since the projectors first began showing all manner of scary films in my hometown. Cannes has the Palme d’Or and Southend has horror! Joking aside, since its inception Horror-On-Sea has been a vital opportunity for a huge number of people who love the macabre, spooky and downright frightening to make, create and celebrate the kinds of film they love.”
Honouring the festival’s tradition, a number of films made right here in South Essex will also be featured, such as; Video Shop Tales of Terror, Conkers for the Brave, Eat your Eggs and Powertool Cheerleaders VS. The Boy Band of the Screeching Dead.
Legendary Essex-based film maker and horror auteur Pat Higgins makes a welcome return with his masterclass on Saturday 14 January. Full of hacks, tricks and techniques for breaking into the industry, plus getting your movie off the ground and generating the maximum bang for your bucks, Pat will explain how – from coming up with a killer idea, through to getting your concept traction on social media, plus plenty of audience interaction and much more – you could be the next George Romero, John Carpenter of Wes Craven.
Higgins will also reveal how his own flick Powertool Cheerleaders vs the Boyband of the Screeching Dead went from a tongue-in-cheek Twitter exchange to becoming a finished movie.
Other highlights include The Unhealer, featuring Alien star Lance Henriksen and Natasha Henstridge, famous for her roles in the Species franchise and #nofilter, a cautionary tale from Canada about social media and the ever-growing issue surrounding Body Dysmorphic Disorder.
Tickets really won’t cost you an arm and a leg, and are on sale now from just £7 per film, or £32 for a Day Pass and, for serious fans, a Mega Festival Pass – that gets you into everything – at a killer price of £130 for the entire festival.
For a full list of all the films, the festival schedule and pre-ordering tickets and passes stalk over to www.horror-on-sea.com or call the festival hotline on 07754 391 163. Please note that all films are strictly Certificate 18.