Horror-on-Sea returns to Southend once again in 2020 with its biggest blood-soaked line up yet of independent film as the fest celebrates its eighth year. One of the UK’s biggest independent film festivals, it was originally formed to promote independent horror films. The fest gives an opportunity to fright-fare features and shorts that are not normally played on the big screen.
Taking place at The Park Inn Palace Hotel (Southend-on-Sea), the festival will run over two weekends, from Friday, January 10 to Sunday, January 12, and then Friday, January 17 to Sunday, January 19. Many of the screenings of more than 36 features and 62 shorts will include introductions by the filmmakers themselves.
I have reviewed the incredible Bloodsucker’s Planet for Horror Fuel (read here), and can highly recommend adding that film to your must-see list. Among the other announced features that I am greatly looking forward to are Peruvian fear-fare anthology Witch Tales, U.K. home invasion horror outing Nefarious, U.K. shocker Millennial Killer, U.K. anthology The Numbers, Canadian cannibal offering She Never Died, and U.S. slasher comedy One Must Fall.
Festival Director Paul Cotgrove said, “Since we started Horror-on-Sea eight years ago, it has gradually built up to become a major event within this particular aspect of the movie industry. Every year now, we receive submissions from both established and up-and-coming filmmakers and producers [and] we can easily screen six feature films per day [at] the event. For horror film lovers, that equates to a 12-hour frenzied feast of slicing, dicing, drilling, killing and general murderous mayhem each day of the festival!”
You can see the full festival listing for both weekends below, and you can find more details and purchase tickets from the Horror-on-Sea website https://www.horror-on-sea.com/.
Friday, January 10
10:00am
Witch Tales (Cuentos De La Bruja) – 1h 18m / 2019 / Peru / Mike T. Lyddon
+ Shorts
Souvenir – 12min / Spain / Dir – Luis Orti
Upir – 13min / France / Dir – Laura Rembault-Ribeiro
12.30pm
Death Day – 1h 25m / 2018 / USA / Dir – J. Horton
+ Shorts
Boo – 15m / USA / Rakefet Abergel
The Appieorth – 9min / Spain / Dir- Eli Breeshaw
3pm
The 16th Episode – 1h 33m / 2019 / USA / Dir – Jerome Cohen Olivar
+ Short
The Last Minutes – 11min / Spain / Dir – Bora Barroso
5.30pm
Awoken – 1h 28m / 2019 / Australia / Dir – Daniel J. Phillips
+ Short
Strange Clown – 11min / USA / Dir – Michael Paul
8pm
Nefarious – 1h 19m / 2019 / UK / Dir – Richard Rowntree
+ Shorts
Off Fleek – 6min / UK / Dir – Steven Dorrington
Shredders – 18min / UK / Dir – Darren A. Furniss
10:30pm
Chickens Blood – 2019 / USA / Dir – Korey Jordan
+ Short
Lonnie Knutsengripper: Man, Myth and Movies – 10min / UK / Richard Rowbotham
Saturday, January 11
10:00am
The Numbers – 48m / 2018 / UK / Dir – Andrew Elias
+ Shorts
Deliver Us from Evil – 4m / UK / Dir – Peter Boyce
Be Uncertain – 15min / UK / Jack Carrivick
Ruby Rain – 18min / UK / S N Sibley
12.30pm
Live or Let Die – 1h 49m / 2019 / Germany / Dir – Manuel Urbaneck
+ Short
Nana – 10min / Spain / Bel Armenteros
3pm
Bride of Violence – 1h 23m / 2018 / USA / Dir – Travis Mills
+ Shor
Equals – 20min / Spain / Dir – Javier Yanez Sanz
5:30pm
She Never Died – 1h 30m / 2019 / Canada / Dir – Audrey Cummings
+ Short
Cursed Granny – 19min / Spain / Suso Imbernon & Juanjo Moscardo Rius
8pm
Exit (World Premier) – 1h 25m / UK / 2020 / UK / Dir Michael Fausti
+ Shorts
Clean as you Like – 15min / UK / Dir – Theresa Varga
The Cold Caller – 4min / UK / Dir – Lee Charlish
10:30pm
Day of the Stranger (World Premier) – 1h 19m / 2020 / UK / Dir – Tom Lee Rutter
+ Short
Skeleton in the Closet – 11min / Finland / Dir – Tomi Malaki
Sunday, January 11
10am
The Devil’s Familiar – 58m / 2019 / UK / Dir – Kieran ‘Ran’ Edwards
+ Shorts
Dark Soon – 5min / UK / Dir – Nina Romain
Dead Air – 17min / UK / Dir – Geoff Harmer
Jack – 17min / UK / James Wilsher
12:30pm
Tenants (Inquilinos) – 1h 32m / 2018 / Mexico / Dir – Chava Cartas
+ Shorts
The Pit – 18min / UK / Dir – Jonathan Zaurin
3pm
D-Railed – 1h 30m / 2018 / USA / Dir- Dale Fabriger
+ Shorts
Bitten – 11min / USA / Dir – Sarah K Reimers
Adam – 8min / UK / Dir- Gemma Paul
5:30pm
The Truth Will Out – 1h 26m / 2019 / UK / Dir – Jessica Hunt & Sam Mason Bell
+ Shorts
Bleed for Me – 8min / UK / Dir – Sam Mason Bell
Degrade – 2min / UK / Dir – Sam Mason Bell
The Trade – 2min / UK / Dir – Sam Mason Bell
I Scream on the Beach (World Premier) – 1h 27m / 2020 / UK / Dir – Michael Holiday & Alexander Churchyard
+ Shorts
Blood Shed – 14min / UK / Dir – James Moran
6 Shooter – 3min / UK / Dir – David Wayman
10pm
Post Apocalyptic Commando Shark – 1h 23m / 2018 / USA / Dir – Sam Qualiana
+ Short
Retch – 5min / UK / Dir – Keir Siewert
Friday, January 11
10am
Bloodsuckers Planet – 1h 7m / 2019 / USA / Dir – Mark Beal
+ Shorts
Night Owls (Noctambulos) – 8min / Spain / Dir – Romen Rivero
The Desolation Prize – 16min / Canada / Dir – Shane Day
12:30pm
The Psychics – 1h 14m / 2018 / Norway / Dir- Tomas Sem Lokke- Sorensen
+ Shorts
My Brother Juan – 10min / Spain / Dir – Cristina & Jose Martin
I Confess – 7min / Spain / Dir – Saul Gallego Mateo
3pm
The Final Ride – 1h 18m / 2019 / Canada / Dir- Mike McMurran
+ Shorts
Claudia – 9min / Spain / Dir – Miguel Angel Caro
Your Last Day on Earth – 13min / Spain / Dir – Marc Martinez Jordan
5:30pm
The Lullaby – 1h 27m / 2017 / South Africa / Dir- Darrell James Roodt
+ Shorts
The Cabin – 11min / USA / Dir – Joe Grisaffi
8pm
UK Haunters (World Premier) – 1h 32m / 2019 / UK / Dir – Dan Brownlie
+ Shorts
Diversion – 23min / UK / France / Dir – Matieu Megemont
10:30
Klaus – The Devil’s Primate – 1h 10m / 2019 / UK / Dir – S N Sibley
+ Shorts
Caged – 6 min / Northern Ireland / Dir – Mark Nugent
Saturday, January 11
10am
One Must Fall – 1h 26m / 2018 / USA / Dir – Antonio Pantoja
+ Shorts
Big Man – 9min / UK / Dir – Ramman Gautam & Kaushy
Without Light – 17min / UK / Dir – Velton J Lishke
12:30pm
A Stranger Among the Living – 1h 43m / 2019 / USA / Dir – Christopher Wesley Moore
+ Shorts
The Vampire of Soho – 8min / UK / Dir – Andy Edwards
3pm
Echoes of Fear – 1h 30m / 2018 / USA / Dir – Brian Avenet-Bradley
+ Shorts
Bitter was the Dessert – 20min / Spain / Dir – Diego H. Kataryniuk
5.30pm
Bite Night (World Premire) – 1h 35m / 2019 / UK / Dir – Maria Lee Metheringham
+ Shorts
The Rhythm – 8min / UK / Dir – Debbie Lane
Last Stop – 7min / UK / Dir – Steve Jolley
8pm
PandaMonium – 1h 25m / 2020 / UK / Dir – Mj Dixon
+ Shorts
The Dead Ones – 19min / UK / Dir – Stefan Georgiou
The Front Door – 7min / UK /The Front Door / 7min / UK / Dir – Andrew Rutter
10:30pm
The Hart Break Killer – 1h 9m / 2019 / USA / Dir – Sean Donohue
+ Shorts
Murderabiliac – 11min / USA / Richard Karpala
Sunday, January 12
10am
Inner Ghosts – 1h 29m / 2018 / Portugal / Dir – Paulo Leite
+ Shorts
Long Pig – 8min / UK / Dir – Sam & Tom Connelly
One Touch – 14min / UK / Dir – Steven Lancefield
12:30am
We Wait In the Woods – 46m / 2019 / UK / Dir – Joe Duncombe
+ Shorts
Deep Shock – 30min / UK / Dir – Davide Melini
Bleed – 10min / UK / Dir – Andre Harrison
The Lost reel – 14m / UK / Dir – Simon Cluett
Idle Hands – 5min / UK / Dir – Simon Cluett
3PM
Monster Island – 1h 31m / 2019 / USA / Dir – Mark Atkins
+ Shorts
This Mourning – 15min / UK / Dir / Molly Brown
The Call of the Moon – 3min / UK / Dir – Richard Constable
5:30pm
Millennial Killer – 1h 11m / 2019 / UK / Dir – Sam Mason Bell
+ Shorts
Slaypril Fools 82 – 10min/ UK / Dir – MJ Dixon
Trick – 9min / UK / Dir – MJ Dixon
Wink – 13min / UK / Dir – MJ Dixon
8pm
The Barge People – 1h 20m / 2019 / UK / Dir – Charlie Steeds
+ Shorts
No Strings – 12min / UK / Dir – Pablo Raybould
Tolerance – 14min / UK / Dir – Paul Laight
10:30pm
Blood Tulips – 1h 20m / 2019 / Holland / Dir – Randy Kent & John Luksetich
+ Shorts
Screaming – 2min / UK / Dir Richard Constable
You can keep up to date with news for Horror-on-Sea on the following social media:
Twitter – https://twitter.com/HorrorOnSea
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/horroronsea/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/horroronsea