The Dark Hedges International Film Festival returns to Belfast just in time for Halloween with screenings and events running both physically and digitally from Monday 25th October until Sunday 31st October.
The festival continues to showcase an eclectic mix of cult classics alongside new features and short films within the horror, fantasy and sci-fi genres made from across the globe.
Firstly I’d like to thank everyone who’s helped make all this happen, including the festival’s team, venue organizers and our sponsors, notably Film Hub NI!
We’re really excited about this year’s programme, we believe we’ve delivered a fantastic programme and we can’t wait to enjoy these movies on the big screen with audiences this Halloween.
But for those horror fans who aren’t quite ready to return to cinemas just yet, our festival’s digital player will continue to provide them with content that can be enjoyed from the safety of their homes!
Jim McClean (Lead Programmer Dark Hedges International Film Festival)
This year’s programme includes screenings of Danielle Kummer and Lucy Harvey’s documentary Alien on Stage, a must-see for fans of Scott’s 1979 original Irish filmmaker Richard Water’s Bring out the Fear, which recently received its world premiere at FrightFest in London earlier this year, along with screenings of cult classics like Jennifer’s Body, Blade, Frankenstein (90th Anniversary) and a Halloween double-bill screening of An American Werewolf in London & The Howling, both of which celebrate the 40th anniversary of their release this year.
The festival still remains committed to its short film programme with screenings at the Strand Arts Centre in East Belfast for both finalists within the Irish and International categories of their Short Film Competition.
The festival’s digital player will continue to provide content for those horror fans that aren’t quite ready to return to cinemas just yet, with screenings of new features, including Chad Ferrin’s Night Caller and John Harrigan’s Lightships, alongside a selection of local and international short films and online panels discussing a range of subject matters.
2021 Festival Trailer
2021 Programme
Alien on Stage ( Monday 25 October, 7pm, Movie House Cinemas City Side)
Danielle Kummer and Lucy Harvey’s documentary is about a group of Dorset bus drivers who put on an amateur dramatics adaptation of Ridley Scott’s Alien in their local village and end up performing on London’s West End.
Alien (Monday 25 October, 9pm, Movie House Cinemas City Side)
On their voyage home to Earth, the crew of the deep space tug Nostromo are awakened from stasis when their ship’s computer detects a distress signal coming from a nearby planet. While investigating the desolate landscape, one of the crew (John Hurt) is attacked by an alien creature that latches to his face and is rushed back to the Nostromo to receive medical treatment.
Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), the ship’s warrant officer, advises that her injured colleague can’t be brought aboard due to quarantine regulations – but her orders are ignored, inadvertently bringing the Nostromo under threat from a mysterious extra-terrestrial life form with violent and lethal survival instincts.
Irish & International Short Film Competition Finalists ( Tuesday 26 October (International) & Thursday 28 October (Irish) at the Strand Arts Centre 8pm)
Over two nights at the Strand Arts Centre in East Belfast the Dark Hedges International Film Festival will be screening the finalists within their Irish and International short film competition; audiences will have a chance to crown the winners of the coveted ‘Audience Choice’ award within both categories.
Jennifer’s Body (Wednesday 27 October, 7pm, Movie House Cinemas City Side)
When small-town high-school student Jennifer (Megan Fox) is possessed by a hungry demon, thanks to a run-in with a Satan-worshipping rock band, she soon develops a taste for teenage flesh and the only person who can stop her is her nerdy best friend Needy (Mamma Mia’s Amanda Seyfried).
Terribly miss-marketed to teenage boys when it was released back in 2009 Karyn Kusama’s film, written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody, has since been re-evaluated and been championed by members of the LGBTQ + community for its representation of bisexuality onscreen within the horror genre.
Bring Out the Fear (Friday 29 October, 7pm, Movie House Cinemas City Side)
Fresh from receiving its world premiere at FrightFest London earlier this year the Dark Hedges International Film Festival is Fresh is proud to include Richard Waters’ Irish horror Bring Out The Fear within our programme.
Rosie and Dan are a couple in a doomed relationship. Deciding to call it a day in the least acrimonious way possible, they decide to take one last walk in a favourite destination, the local forest. But suddenly the endlessly winding paths lead nowhere, the trees never seem to end, the sun never sets and a sinister presence starts stalking and tormenting them, trying to drive them insane…
Blade ( Saturday 30 October, 7pm, Movie House Cinemas Cityside)
Travel back to 1998 as the Dark Hedges Film Festival screens Stephen Norrington’s Blade as part of Black History Month.
The film stars Wesley Snipes as the aforementioned Blade, a half-vampire, half-mortal man determined to protect the human race from a group of blood-sucking vampires led by Stephen Dorff’s Deacon Frost.
Blade was the first film to feature a black superhero and as such was a trailblazing achievement back in 1998, laying the foundations for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it today.
Frankenstein ( Sunday 31 October, 4:10pm, Strand Arts Centre)
Join The Dark Hedges Film Festival at the Strand Arts Centre for a screening of James Whale’s Frankenstein starring Boris Karloff to celebrate the film’s 90th anniversary.
Halloween Night Double Bill An American Werewolf In London/The Howling ( Sunday 31 October, The Black Box Belfast, 7 pm)
Celebrate the 40th anniversary of two iconic werewolf movies on Halloween night at the Black Box in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter as The Dark Hedges International Film Festival screens John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London and Joe Dante’s The Howling.
Festival’s Digital Player
The Dark Hedges International Film Festival’s player will host Chad Ferrin’s Night Caller and John Harrigan’s Lightships, alongside short films and online panels discussing a range of subject matters.
