The end of November sees the award-winning Soho Horror Festival return to Brixton – 3 days of fresh and independent horror that is certain to make jaws drop, entertain and raise the flag for us horror weirdos. The line-up has something for everyone, dipping into many different sub-genres but here are some that I cannot wait to catch.
We kick off the Friday with three films to quench our thirst for what is to come; the highlight of the day has to be the UK premiere of House Of Sayuri a J-Horror about a vengeful ghost of a murdered girl haunting a family who have just moved into a creepy new house. From director Kōji Shiraishi who you may know is the mastermind behind the fantastic found footage Noroi: The Curse this is one that is sure to get the hearts beating on a Friday evening.
Next up on Saturday, there is a plethora of movies and events I cannot wait for. The two absolute highlights for me have to be the London Premiere of Strange Harvest (Dir: Stuart Ortiz) and Sayara (Dir: Can Evrenol). In Strange Harvest we follow two detectives on the pursuit of an infamous serial killer named Mr Shiny, who has terrorised Southern California for almost two decades – fans of Lake Mungo and Longlegs keep your eyes and ears open for this one it’s sure to be a highlight of the fest! Straight after we then settled down to watch Sayara a revenge movie that follows a woman seeking out the people who murdered her sister. Another highlight of the day that needs to be mentioned is the live presentation Dickstruction! hosted by the fantastic Gore Things Podcast – join hosts Ygraine Hackett-Cantabrana and Brad Hanson as they talk us through some penis trauma highlights throughout cinema.
The fun doesn’t end there as we have another fantastic line-up of films on the final day. The ones to look out for are In The Room Where He Waits and Parvulos. Both films look to be hard-hitting and emotionally draining but explore interesting concepts. When it comes to In The Room Where He Waits we are taken back to 2020 when we were all stuck in isolation, we follow the story of a queer theatre actor who waits in isolation about to attend his father’s funeral, as he waits, spooky goings on happens and he has to go face-to-face with his demons. For fans of Lord Of The Flies or The Last Of Us you may enjoy Issac Ezban’s Parvulos the story of 3 boys who struggle for survival in a secluded home after their parents leave, what choices do they make to survive? And what could be hiding in their basement?
As a whole Soho Horror Festival has a fantastic lineup, one of the best of the year – and what makes it even greater? The community that organiser Mitch Harrod strives to build. Soho is for everyone but in particular for members of the LGBTQ+ family, as well as championing queer horror for the in-person festival Mitch also hosts an online festival early on in the year Sohome Pridee, a 4-day online event that “will take a chainsaw to heteronormativity and bring you the very best voices in LGBTQ+ filmmaking”, then to top it off, not too soon after the in-person event we have one more online festival, Sohome, another 4-day online festival creating greater access to those who cannot make it to the in-person event. It is truly outstanding the amount of work Mitch puts into each of these festivals, always making sure that the films shown are independent and inclusive as well as creating an intimate and welcoming environment for all members of the horror community. If you haven’t been to any of the 3 annual festivals Soho Horror has to offer you are missing out and it should be put on your radar for next year.
Also playing at the event are the following titles which we have previously reviewed: Carnage for Christmas (Sohome), Frankie Freako, Birdeater, Chainsaws were Singing, and The Complex Forms.
You can buy ticket for specific films, days or for Soho Horror (or Sohome) Film Festival HERE
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