Predictions and hopes for Frightfest 2019
Posted: Thu May 30, 2019 6:03 pm
Cannes has passed, so a lot of the Frightfest films are probably already in place. What films does everybody want for this year? And with this being the 20th Frightfest, what events/retrospectives could there be? There haven't been any Frightfest postcards for a while, so predictions are harder than usual.
With that said, here are my guesses:
MOST LIKELY
Harpoon - A black comedy about three friends stranded on a yacht, this has been getting good reviews and has just been acquired by Arrow. Not to be confused with the Icelandic film of the same name that played Frightfest Glasgow a few years ago.
Rabid - A remake of Cronenberg's classic body horror, helmed by the Soska sisters. It's been 7 years since American Mary, and this has been getting a lot of hype from Frightfest, including previews and news of its production. Paul even mentioned at Glasgow that it wasn't quite ready for that. I expect this to play one of the most prestigious slots with the Soskas in attendance. Maybe even opening night?
Sky Sharks - Zombie Nazis on flying sharks. With scenes filmed at Frightfest back in 2014 (or 2015?), and a lot of Frightfest hype, this seems to finally be complete as the makers brought it to this year's Cannes market.
SOMEWHAT LIKELY
Crawl - Alexandre Aja's take on the killer alligator film, with Kaya Scodelario battling the hungry reptiles in a flooding house. Not to be confused with the Australian film of the same name that played Frightfest Glasgow a few years ago.
Midsommar - Ari Aster's follow-up to Hereditary, with Florence Pugh and Will Poulter hiking to a Swedish village where Wicker Man-style shenanigans will inevitably be going on.
Freaks - There's always a couple of Frightfest Glasgow films that play the discovery screen. This one was the best of that festival and has a suitable release date.
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark - An anthology adaption of the children's supernatural horror stories. Frightfest tends to stay away from family fare, so that counts against it, but with Frightfest fan Guillermo Del Toro producing and Trollhunter's André Øvredal directing, it might stand a chance.
Relive - David Oyelowo is a police officer who starts getting calls from his dead niece, asking him to solve her murder. Somebody at Frightfest loves these X-Files-style sci-fi mysteries, so I wouldn't be surprised if it plays.
Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made - Some sort of meta-film about the reconstruction of a cursed film. Fulfils a couple of Frightfest indicators by being Canadian and distributed by Uncork'd Entertainment.
In the Tall Grass - Vincenzo Natali's adaptation of the excellent Stephen King and Joe Hill novella about an evil field of grass.
The Lodge - Riley Keough and Alicia Silverstone are snowed in at one of those cabins in the woods were spooky things happen.
Come to Daddy - Elijah Wood also goes to a cabin in the woods to reconnect with his father and bloody mayhem ensues.
Color Out of Space - Speaking of Elijah Wood, his company, SpectreVision is producing this adaptation of the classic Lovecraft story. Excitingly, this is directed by horror auteur Richard Stanley, returning to film direction for the first time since the disastrous production of Dr Moreau, 23 years ago. And Nicolas Cage stars!
Daniel Isn't Real - Another Spectrevision release, this one directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer, whose Some Kind of Hate received a polarising reception at Frightfest 2015.
The Furies - Gruesome Australian survival horror about women being chased through the forest by axe-wielding slashers.
Ghost Master - Japanese splatter-comedy about a director who goes mad and slaughters his cast and crew.
The Sonata - Gothic French/British mystery where Rutger Hauer is a deceased composer haunting his daughter.
Little Monsters - Lupita Nyong’o as a kindergarten teacher protecting her charges from a zombie invasion.
POSSIBLE
Lighthouse - Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe go mad in a lighthouse. From Robert Eggers (The Witch), this got rave reviews at Cannes, but seems like it would be more likely to play the London Film Festival.
It: Chapter 2 - Return of the interdimensional killer clown. Obiviously, it would be a huge coup for this to play, and it would be perfect for the festival, but in recent years the big studios have been reticent to premiere their tentpole horror releases at Frightest. Would be more likely to go the same route as the first installment, and play a week after the festival as a special preview.
Doctor Sleep Danny Torrance, the little boy with The Shining has grown up to become Ewan MacGregor and is investigating a cult. Quite a high profile release, directed by Mike Flanagan.
The Hunt - The latest version of The Most Dangerous Game, with working-class people being hunted down. Another high-profile Blumhouse release.
Little Joe - A high profile Cannes competitor wherein Emily Beecham and Joe Whishaw genetically engineer a mind-controlling plant. Seems more like a London Film Festival choice.
In the Trap - An Italian film about a man held hostage in his apartment by a supernatural force.
Are You Afraid Of The Dark? - Very similar to Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, this is an anthology adaption of the children's supernatural horror TV series, with Disturbia's DJ Caruso directing. I can't see both Scary Stories and Are you Afraid playing, and this one seems like the more mainstream one.
Zombieland 2: Double Tap - Weirdly this will be the second slacker zombie-comedy featuring Bill Murray released this year, as Jim Jarmusch's all-star The Dead Don't Die was the opening film at Cannes, where it received tepid reviews.
Child's Play - A remake of the 1988 original, even through the original franchise is still ongoing, and none of that cast/crew is involved in this one. The director and writer have no track record, and the only positive signs are that Aubrey Plaza and Mark Hamill star.
Grudge - Another Grudge film with Andrea Riseborough now being menaced by Kayako. This will be the 13th Grudge film, so there are now more Grudge films than there are Friday the 13ths!
In Search of Darkness - A documentary about 80s horror, could be quite likely for a discovery screen.
Cutterhead - Danish thriller about three people trapped in a burning metro tunnel under construction.
The Pool - More crocodile survival horror, this time from Thailand, as a couple find themselves trapped in a drained swimming pool.
The Dead Ones - Masked slashers chase some kids serving detention in a school.
Deadtectives - Comically inept reality-TV ghost hunters investigate Mexico's most haunted house.
Creep 3 - Another Creep film.
With that said, here are my guesses:
MOST LIKELY
Harpoon - A black comedy about three friends stranded on a yacht, this has been getting good reviews and has just been acquired by Arrow. Not to be confused with the Icelandic film of the same name that played Frightfest Glasgow a few years ago.
Rabid - A remake of Cronenberg's classic body horror, helmed by the Soska sisters. It's been 7 years since American Mary, and this has been getting a lot of hype from Frightfest, including previews and news of its production. Paul even mentioned at Glasgow that it wasn't quite ready for that. I expect this to play one of the most prestigious slots with the Soskas in attendance. Maybe even opening night?
Sky Sharks - Zombie Nazis on flying sharks. With scenes filmed at Frightfest back in 2014 (or 2015?), and a lot of Frightfest hype, this seems to finally be complete as the makers brought it to this year's Cannes market.
SOMEWHAT LIKELY
Crawl - Alexandre Aja's take on the killer alligator film, with Kaya Scodelario battling the hungry reptiles in a flooding house. Not to be confused with the Australian film of the same name that played Frightfest Glasgow a few years ago.
Midsommar - Ari Aster's follow-up to Hereditary, with Florence Pugh and Will Poulter hiking to a Swedish village where Wicker Man-style shenanigans will inevitably be going on.
Freaks - There's always a couple of Frightfest Glasgow films that play the discovery screen. This one was the best of that festival and has a suitable release date.
Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark - An anthology adaption of the children's supernatural horror stories. Frightfest tends to stay away from family fare, so that counts against it, but with Frightfest fan Guillermo Del Toro producing and Trollhunter's André Øvredal directing, it might stand a chance.
Relive - David Oyelowo is a police officer who starts getting calls from his dead niece, asking him to solve her murder. Somebody at Frightfest loves these X-Files-style sci-fi mysteries, so I wouldn't be surprised if it plays.
Antrum: The Deadliest Film Ever Made - Some sort of meta-film about the reconstruction of a cursed film. Fulfils a couple of Frightfest indicators by being Canadian and distributed by Uncork'd Entertainment.
In the Tall Grass - Vincenzo Natali's adaptation of the excellent Stephen King and Joe Hill novella about an evil field of grass.
The Lodge - Riley Keough and Alicia Silverstone are snowed in at one of those cabins in the woods were spooky things happen.
Come to Daddy - Elijah Wood also goes to a cabin in the woods to reconnect with his father and bloody mayhem ensues.
Color Out of Space - Speaking of Elijah Wood, his company, SpectreVision is producing this adaptation of the classic Lovecraft story. Excitingly, this is directed by horror auteur Richard Stanley, returning to film direction for the first time since the disastrous production of Dr Moreau, 23 years ago. And Nicolas Cage stars!
Daniel Isn't Real - Another Spectrevision release, this one directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer, whose Some Kind of Hate received a polarising reception at Frightfest 2015.
The Furies - Gruesome Australian survival horror about women being chased through the forest by axe-wielding slashers.
Ghost Master - Japanese splatter-comedy about a director who goes mad and slaughters his cast and crew.
The Sonata - Gothic French/British mystery where Rutger Hauer is a deceased composer haunting his daughter.
Little Monsters - Lupita Nyong’o as a kindergarten teacher protecting her charges from a zombie invasion.
POSSIBLE
Lighthouse - Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe go mad in a lighthouse. From Robert Eggers (The Witch), this got rave reviews at Cannes, but seems like it would be more likely to play the London Film Festival.
It: Chapter 2 - Return of the interdimensional killer clown. Obiviously, it would be a huge coup for this to play, and it would be perfect for the festival, but in recent years the big studios have been reticent to premiere their tentpole horror releases at Frightest. Would be more likely to go the same route as the first installment, and play a week after the festival as a special preview.
Doctor Sleep Danny Torrance, the little boy with The Shining has grown up to become Ewan MacGregor and is investigating a cult. Quite a high profile release, directed by Mike Flanagan.
The Hunt - The latest version of The Most Dangerous Game, with working-class people being hunted down. Another high-profile Blumhouse release.
Little Joe - A high profile Cannes competitor wherein Emily Beecham and Joe Whishaw genetically engineer a mind-controlling plant. Seems more like a London Film Festival choice.
In the Trap - An Italian film about a man held hostage in his apartment by a supernatural force.
Are You Afraid Of The Dark? - Very similar to Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark, this is an anthology adaption of the children's supernatural horror TV series, with Disturbia's DJ Caruso directing. I can't see both Scary Stories and Are you Afraid playing, and this one seems like the more mainstream one.
Zombieland 2: Double Tap - Weirdly this will be the second slacker zombie-comedy featuring Bill Murray released this year, as Jim Jarmusch's all-star The Dead Don't Die was the opening film at Cannes, where it received tepid reviews.
Child's Play - A remake of the 1988 original, even through the original franchise is still ongoing, and none of that cast/crew is involved in this one. The director and writer have no track record, and the only positive signs are that Aubrey Plaza and Mark Hamill star.
Grudge - Another Grudge film with Andrea Riseborough now being menaced by Kayako. This will be the 13th Grudge film, so there are now more Grudge films than there are Friday the 13ths!
In Search of Darkness - A documentary about 80s horror, could be quite likely for a discovery screen.
Cutterhead - Danish thriller about three people trapped in a burning metro tunnel under construction.
The Pool - More crocodile survival horror, this time from Thailand, as a couple find themselves trapped in a drained swimming pool.
The Dead Ones - Masked slashers chase some kids serving detention in a school.
Deadtectives - Comically inept reality-TV ghost hunters investigate Mexico's most haunted house.
Creep 3 - Another Creep film.