Last week saw the unveiling of Manchester’s international horror and cult film festival Grimmfest's 2020 Online Edition line-up (covered by Haunt here)… and now even more highlights have been announced! Audiences will be able to enjoy two thrilling programmes of new short films (with an additional programme for full festival pass holders!), as well as virtual appearances from more confirmed guests – plus another feature film amongst the selection!

Below: Shorts Stills Montage 

Shorts Stills Montage Grimmfest

The final feature film of the packed festival line-up is the much-anticipated international premiere of Monstrous, a creature-feature with a dark, genre-warping twist. This is set to be an ambitious and off-the-wall version of the well-known ‘Bigfoot’ legend, filled with tension and lots of character depth. This film will replace the original Grimmfest line-up feature of The Medium, sadly no longer available due to technical issues. Monstrous adds to line-up of over 20 film premieres, meaning that 2020’s virtual festival is sure to make an impression on horror fans.

Grimmfest is after all a festival that isn’t just dedicated to fantastic film, but is forward-thinking too. Part of this year’s content includes a panel on Iconic Women in Horror, with guests so far confirmed as Adrienne Barbeau, Pollyanna McIntosh, Caroline Williams, and Brea Grant.

Gender and identity is further explored in Grimmfest’s just-announced Short Film Programmes, with the first of this year’s selection entirely dedicated to women filmmakers. Short film programme One includes Jessica Fostekew's Shared Document, Megan Mead’s Every Corner, Yinghui Fu's Honour Thy Mother… and much more!

The Second Shorts Programme delves into the dark, forbidden and frightful – with plenty of twists along the way! Nikki Born’s Witches In The Window will have its World Premiere, whilst Farnoosh Abedi's Malakout offers a gothic-expressionist romance through the medium of animation. Viewers can also marvel at supernatural revenge short Platform and Jack Shillingford's shocking Dead End, amongst other inclusions. The full short film programme selections can be found on the Grimmfest website.

Grimmfest Full Festival Pass Holders can also enjoy an additional exclusive programme of short films! These include Titus Paar’s Fear Of The Woods, the darkly comic Frank & Mary from Paul Williams and Richard B. Pierre’s An Uninvited Guest, within the options.

For full festival passes, individual film tickets and more details, all can be accessed now from www.grimmfest.com and https://grimmfest2020online.eventive.org/welcome.

Emily Oldfield 

Image provided by Grimmfest, showing some stills from the short films that will feature in the festival