Below you will find Moviehooker’s first batch of top picks for Grimmfest & there is so much more I can’t wait to tell you all about!
Now that Frightfest and Fantasia are over, it’s time to set our sights on Manchester’s goregously gruesome GRIMMFEST – here’s my first batch of top picks! Trust me, add these to your watchlist, folks.
SELF DRIVER
A man who is down on his luck downloads a mysterious app that may hold the key to getting him out of debt. This app is like an Uber only there are a couple of differences: you must pick up your passenger and not engage with him/her. You then have to drive them to an unknown destination, let them carry out whatever it is they have to do and then get them back to their drop-off point. It’s only then you are paid. It quickly becomes evident that the money can be made…but at what cost?
This has been on the watchlist for a while now. It also played at Fantasia International Film Festival which opened to fantastic reviews.
Self Driver sounds like it is for fans of Wheel Man, Locke, Spree, or Nightride. The majority of the film is focused on the driver of a vehicle, with the camera very rarely leaving the car. I could be wrong but this is the buzz I’m getting. I am looking forward to it.
TRAUMATIKA
I had the pleasure of screening Traumatika as part of FrightFest 2024. This is the new feature from Pierre Tsigaridis, the director of the underrated Two Witches (which I urge you to hunt out if you have not done so).
Demonic possession takes the harrowing form of Trauma and tears apart a family, and anyone caught in its demonic crosshairs for generations of pure traumatic terror.
Traumatika has one of the strongest demonic pssoesssion openings that really set the bar high for what’s to come. The first ten minutes, in my opinion was better than the entirety of Evil Dead Rise.
This is a love letter to the horror we love and it is handled with an understanding of the genre. It takes an oversaturated sub-genre and adds its own unique spin that makes Traumatika stand out in the same way When Evil Lurks or talk To Me amazed horror fans.
BLACK CAB
Black Cab sounds like a lot of fun and this one stars the awesome Nick Frost taking on a far darker role
A cab driver unexpectedly takes his passengers down a dark haunted route where he starts to tell his petrified punters the routes haunted history and the true meaning on why he has brought them here.
SAYARA
Sayara is the new film directed by the brilliant, hellish nightmare Baskin. In Sayara, Evernol takes a stab at the bloody revenge sub-genre and will no doubt leave us all floored and wanting more.
The film follows Sayara, a gym cleaner from Turkmenistan who embarks on a bloody quest for vengeance when her sister is murdered by a group of politically connected rich kids.
Another welcomed bloodbath of chaos featuring an unstoppable, relentless and unapologetic female badass character. We need more of these!
Everything I have read so far about Sayara has been phenomenal proving that director Can Evrenol is capable of more than just horror and looks to have already mastered the brutal, bloody revenge sub-genre on his first attempt. Impressive.
BLEEDING
Vampire fans, listen up! Bleeding is a new unique tale of vampirism from Andrew Bell and it sounds bloody fangtastic!
Again, it looks like we have another director adding that special bit of vampire sauce to make Bleeding stand out from the rest of the films in the sub-genre.
Vampire blood is harvested and used as a drug – an addictive drug. The film follows two vampire blood crackheads on the run from a nasty blood dealer who stumbles on an abandoned house where someone is being kept captive.
Okay, folks, that is it for Moviehooker’s first batch of picks for this year’s Grimmfest. I hope you have added these gems to your watchlist.
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