Friday 13 July 2012

Frighten Brighton - Prepare to be Scared!


What are you doing on 11th August? Bathing in the great British sunshine? Paddling in puddles? Perhaps you're still undecided. Well, I've got an idea for you.


Why not sit back and try to relax as you watch five classic horror films from the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s? I dare you not to be chilled as you watch blood spilled, and limbs severed. As you contemplate the giant mutant ants in Them! or hide your face from the Tall Man in Phantasm.


That's what I plan to do. Because I'm attending the Frighten Brighton Classic Horror Film Festival. I simply can't resist horror, and I love a bargain, so eleven hours of terrifying, classic films, prizes from Diabolique Magazine, shopping with Hemlock Books, the chance to see scream queen Emily Booth (she's co-hosting the event - read her interview about Frighten Brighton here) all for only £15 for an all day pass was too good an opportunity to miss! 


Intrigued by the whole idea, and surprised that nothing like it had been done before in an area of such diverse culture and horror links (see The Horror House, check out the photos from the World Horror Convention in 2010, and, while you're at it, why not pay a visit to The Horror Hotel to make your Frighten Brighton experience complete?), I asked creator Rick (known as Cyberschizoid) what had given him the idea:


"I always felt that Brighton should have its own horror film festival and was always surprised when it didn't. Every other major city seems to have one and yet not Brighton, one of the UK's most vibrant cultural centres!


"Because I had started running Classic Horror Campaign screenings in London (and occasionally elsewhere) with the lovely Scare Sarah, a Brighton-based horror film festival seemed the next logical step. Sarah is also based in Brighton and had been thinking exactly the same thing for a while, so we just pooled our efforts and had a little brain storming session in the pub regarding the name and content. The name 'Frighten Brighton' was actually thought up by my partner, Niall, and we initially used it for a one-off Classic Horror Campaign double bill at The Komedia last summer."


So where does Rick see this going in the future? 


"If this is the success we are convinced it will be then the Frighten Brighton Horror Film Festival will become an annual event and just keep growing!"



I can't wait! I am looking forward to a fear-filled day at The Komedia (where I'll be watching Mad Love (1935), Cat People (1942), Them! (1954), Plague of Zombies (1966), and Phantasm (1979)), followed by a nervous drive home (complete with the sure and certain knowledge that something is hiding in the back seat of my car and is bound to pop up in my rearview mirror at any moment), and topped off with a sleepless, wide-eyed night, listening to the creature under the bed, not to mention the one slowly climbing the stairs... 


Just my sort of thing! 


Tickets are available here: http://komediabrighton.ticketsolve.com/shows/126525115/events - go on, treat yourself to a scare (or five!)!

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