Grimmfest 2012 Preview

Coming to The Dancehouse Theatre in Manchester this October, Grimm Up North presents the fourth annual Grimmfest, one of the country’s leading horror film festivals. SFX will once again sponsor the event which promises a blood-splattered array of the finest new and cult horror films, as well as a variety of special guest appearances.

Sinister

The festival runs from Thursday 4 to Sunday 7 October, but it will first kick off with a preview night on Wednesday 3^rd. This will see Grimmfest, for the first time, spread like a very welcome virus out of Manchester into the neighbouring town of Stockport, with the Stockport Super Plaza hosting a double-bill of Sinister, a haunted house thriller, starring Ethan Hawke, which isn’t released nationwide until the following week, and American Mary, the new film from Jen and Sylvia Soska, whose previous work, Dead Hooker In A Truck, met with a rapturous response at the 2010 Grimmfest.

Cockneys Vs Zombies

However, it is on Thursday 4 that the festival will get in full swing, with a gala opening featuring exclusive showings of Comedown, a UK take on the US slasher from the director of Kidulthood, and the eagerly anticipated Cockneys Vs. Zombies.

Stitches

Other highlights across the festival include: a celebration of Clive Barker’s 60^th birthday, with a showing of the Cabal (and longest) Cut of his cult classic Nightbreed; the UK premiere of Spanish smash Attack Of The Werewolves; Stitches, a slasher comedy starring Ross Noble as a killer clown; and Some Guy Who Kills People, the first film to be distributed by Grimm Up North.

Along with the film showings, there will also be the opportunity to meet special guests at Q&A sessions. Guests confirmed so far include Reece Shearsmith, Ross Noble, The Sarah Jane Adventures’ Tommy Knight and Emmerdale’s Dominic Brunt. While some may consider Emmerdale to be horrific, Brunt will not be attending to discuss the village soap, but because of his passion for the genre (he and fellow Emmerdale star Mark Charnock run the annual Leeds Zombie Film Festival), and to discuss Before Dawn, a zombie film which he has made with his wife.

A weekend pass for Grimmfest will set you back £60, but, as shown above, there’s plenty to get your fangs into, and the pass also grants you half price entry to the preview night (full price £8), and free entry to the opening gala, and opening and closing parties.