The Horrorthon Returns to the IFI in October

admin | October 1, 2009

horrorthon

This year’s Horrorthon will take place during the bank holiday weekend (22-26 October 2009) at the Irish Film Institute, Dublin.

Ed King, Horrorthon director, launched the programme saying ‘It has been a terrific year for horror with an overabundance of brilliant new titles to choose from. The result is that this year’s programme is packed full of new films giving Horrorthon-goers more sneak previews of the goriest movies we could bear to watch.’

Opening this year’s festival is Jennifer’s Body; a slick, smart big-budget studio horror that proves that the horror genre is alive and undead in Hollywood. Despite the unlikely horror combination of ‘babe’ of the moment Megan Fox (Transformers) and writer Diablo Cody (Juno), Jennifer’s Body delivers the goods when it comes to terror; a small-town-teenage-temptress (possessed by a demon), a Satan-worshipping rock band, and a nerdy best friend who is the only one who can stop the madness.

Other highlights of the festival include the guest appearance of Irish director Conor McMahon’s home-grown fright flick The Disturbed; a world premiere (with Q&A with director Steven Peros) of The Undying featuring American Civil War era phantoms reinhabiting corpses and falling in love (with inevitably unhappy consequences); and a brilliant new documentary Nightmares in Red, White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film.

Those looking for a bit of nightmarish nostalgia should head to the 1984 classic Gremlins in a rare screening of a top-quality 70 mm print. Director Joe Dante crafted this Chris Columbus written tale of Gizmo, Stripe and pals who should never, ever be fed after midnight into an anarchic roller-coaster ride of dark comedy, shocks and one of the sickest kids’ movies ever. Also making a reappearance due to popular demand are a trio of George A. Romero classics Day of the Dead, Zone of the Dead, featuring special guest appearances from cast members Joe Pilato and Ken Foree.

Most Horrorthon tickets are at normal IFI prices there also are a variety of good value festival passes from one-day passes to the full 5-day festival pass. Tickets can be booked at the IFI Box Office in person, by telephone on 01 679 3477 or online at www.ifi.ie