Looking for horror movies in 2010? Look no further. Back in 2000, niche movie forums and horror movie download sites were thin on the ground unless you divided your waking hours between a computer and a darkened room lit by the eerie blue glow of a home projector.

More than ten years later, it’s considerably easier for a dedicated lover of horror films to source eclectic, free-spirited and essentially brave horror movies. Just find a niche horror movie forum filled with opinions you can trust. Or spend an hour or two on bit torrent. Or – and we’ll love you so much we’ll keep you for ever and ever and ever and ever and ever if you do this – attend as many niche film festivals as you can, and talk to the other attendees. The films’ directors are usually up for a conversation at the bar, too.

There is an explorer’s delight in discovering unknown horror movie territory and planting a flag in it. Essentially, in the fondest way imaginable, planting one’s flag consists of: ‘Hey, you guys. I’ve just seen this. Have you checked it out yet? No, of course you haven’t. Because I’m the arch explorer, dude. I PLANTED MY FLAG.’ Flag planting is what helps to keep underexposed films beloved and seen by as many as possible. Once you’ve planted your flag, there’s a terse joy in seeing the rest of the world get its grubby mitts on it. And in viewing warily from a distance as Hollywood producers pick your precious discovery up and do a box office friendly remake.

Many of us are drawn to the fear of the unknown on celluloid. Fear keeps you guessing. It keeps you sharp. With all that adrenalin flow, time slows down and life speeds up. Fear is so much more palatable on a movie screen than in your own back garden. On a screen, as you watch the gorgeous sets of Suspiria, the slow snikt-snikt-snikt build of Audition or the excess of hair in Ringu, it’s easy to forget mundane worries and welcome true fear into your life… fear that reminds you that life is precious. Because life means you have more minutes in which to watch horror movies.

Although horror movies are themselves considered a niche, ‘horror movie’ is an umbrella term covering a wealth of sub-niches. Gore-porn. Slasher flicks. Suspense. Asian ghost stories. Monster movies. Hammer horrors. Psychological horrors. Big-name sequel-heavy franchises and tiny, crazy little foreign jewels, just waiting to be discovered by the dedicated movie hunters, adulated, re-discovered by Hollywood and watered down into something less crazy, less innovative, more same-same-but-different – and more commercial.

This is where FrightFest comes in.

Some of the horror films showing at FrightFest 2010

The Last Exorcism

The Final

FrightFest – The thinking man’s horror film festival

FrightFest is set up by people who love horror movies for people that love horror movies. It’s an active supporter of independent films and under-exposed foreign horrors.

FrightFest is a giant annual gathering of like minds in Leicester Square. Specialising in World, European and UK premieres, FrightFest has helped shape the popularity of so many wonderful horror films we take for granted today. When it opened its doors to the public in 2000, it gave us the UK premieres of Scary Movie, Pitch Black and Audition. It’s also premiered Donnie Darko, Dark Water. Insomnia, One Hour Photo, My Little Eye, Battle Royal, Jeepers Creepers, Brotherhood of the Wolf, The Devil’s Backbone, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Cabin Fever, House of a 1000 Corpses, Bellboy, Switchblade Romance, Old Boy, Land of the Dead, 2001 Maniacs, Night Watch, Seed, Eden Lake, Freakdog, Wolf Creek, Autopsy and Martyrs.

FrightFest is a chance for producers and consumers to come together and froth. In 2007, Guillermo Del Torro chose FrightFest for his UK premiere of Pan’s Labyrinth. Was he in attendance? Yes he was.

Incidentally, if you’ve not heard of any of the films mentioned above, you’ve come to the wrong page.

FrightFest promotes the best (and the quirkiest) horror films on the festival circuit. It’s a chance to share the premiere of something breathtakingly groundbreaking or elegant with like minds. Sometimes, as you watch a valiant and love-filled effort to create a home-made monster movie on the big screen, it’s your chance to dip into the past. Back to when you watched a Troma film for the first time and realised horror was a dish best served raw.

When FrightFest began in 2000, it showcased its films in the Prince Charles theatre in Leicester Square. Nestled behind the flagship titans of Empire, Vue et al, Prince Charles has a rich tradition of being THE cinema to go to in London if you love late-night showings, indie films, arthouse and rare releases. A scoop indeed – but FrightFest is now so big that it scores the best seats in the house. In 2009 FrighFest moved to 150 yards up the road to the Empire Cinema at the top end of Leicester Square. Voted on of the ten best cinemas in the world, the massive 1300 seat cinema is an ideal location to watch films as they should be seen on a massive screen with sound to die for.

FrightFest Film Listings

If you want the full FrightFest 2010 film times and listings, go and visit the FrightFest site. We’ll kill you and dispose of the evidence if you don’t.

Films of particular interest to Best For Film are:

MONSTERS

9.00PM -SATURDAY 28TH AUGUST

Director Gareth Edwards’ sensational debut is an emotional road movie, an engaging romantic drama, a scary creature feature, a provocative post-Apocalyptic parable and an all-round remarkable achievement. For he dreamed up the affecting and compelling story and created all the visual effects on his laptop. But the amazing result gives his potent sci-fi fable an impressive epic look for a micro-percent of the usual Hollywood blockbuster budget. Six years ago a NASA probe returning to Earth with samples of alien organisms crashed over Central America. Soon after, new life forms began to appear there and half of Mexico was quarantined. Today the American and Mexican military struggle to contain the giant creatures. It’s through this perilous infected zone that a cynical journalist must escort his stranded boss’ daughter to U.S. border safety. MONSTERS is involving and satisfying as it is surprising and moving, something utterly unique, original and awe-inspiring.

Monsters movie trailer 2010

AMER

6.35PM -SUNDAY 28TH & 11.00AM MONDAY 30TH AUGUST

A huge hit at FrightFest Glasgow earlier. Gialli fans will absolutely not want to miss co-directors Helene Cattet and Bruno Forzani’s immaculately executed flawless valentine to the 70s thriller genre popularized by Dario Argento, Mario Bava and Lucio Fulci. Recreating the motifs, clichés and visual codes from the vintage Italian back catalogue (including A LIZARD IN A WOMAN’S SKIN, SUSPIRIA and BLACK SABBATH), the Belgian-based duo unfold a virtually dialogue free tale of frightening obsession, sexual sensation and stunning black-gloved murder as the three faces of fear throughout an enigmatic woman’s life unfold in dazzling style. Scored to recycled Italian soundtrack selections in the grand Tarantino tradition, the hypnotic and ethereal allure of the classic gialli lives again in this boldly imaginative cult phenomenon.

Amer movie trailer

Book tickets, horror film fans. No. Quicker than that. Frighfest is THE place to catch horror movies in 2010, especially if you’re interested in up and coming horror film directors. Get thyself to FrightFest and book them now. Going, going, gone…