I Drink Your Blood
When: 15th – 20th November 2016
Where: Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth University, Penglais Campus, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales SY23 3DE
£: Festival passes cost £69. A limited amount of individual film tickets are also available. Tickets can be bought from Aberystwyth Arts Centre box office on 01970 623232.
What is it?
Abertoir, Wales’ International Horror Festival will take place at Aberystwyth Arts Centre in Wales, from Tuesday 15th to Sunday 20th November.
The Abertoir line-up will feature international guests, and international, European and UK premieres. This year’s festival will be a celebration of all things grindhouse, with a line-up of cult classics celebrating the cinemas and history of New York City’s infamous 42nd Street.
Abertoir will have a host of new films from all over the world; from as close to home as the Irish-Welsh production, A Dark Song, to the second ever horror film from Laos, Dearest Sister. The Inerasable and Karate Kill are two wildly different films from Japan, which will screen for the first time in the UK at this year’s festival.
The Beyond: The Composer’s Cut
The Inerasable is the latest film from Yoshihiro Nakamura (The Booth, Fish Story), and weaves an elaborate and subtle tale of an author’s investigation into the history of a supposedly haunted apartment block.
At the other end of the spectrum, Abertoir will host the UK premiere of Kurando Mitsutake’s Karate Kill. The film is an explosive love letter to 1980s martial arts schlock, featuring a breakthrough central performance from karate expert Hayate, and cult actress Asami.
Other premieres will include the new film by Italian genre legend Luigi Cozzi, Blood on Melies’ Moon, as well as a documentary on Cozzi’s career by Brazilian filmmaker Felipe M. Guerrera, Fantasticozzi. Cozzi himself will be a special guest at the festival to talk about his life, career and his new film.
Other highlights from the new films screening at the festival will include Julia Ducournau’s much talked about Raw, iconic J-horror smackdown Sadako vs Kayako, and the critically acclaimed possession epic, The Wailing.
Classic films will include the first European performance of The Beyond: The Composer’s Cut, which see the iconic Italian horror film screened in tandem with a live performance of a newly re-worked score by its original composer Fabio Frizzi and his band. Also screening in celebration of 42nd Street’s sleaziest heyday are Maniac and I Drink Your Blood, with cult icon Lynn Lowry in attendance.
In addition to the films playing at the festival, there will be two H. P. Lovecraft inspired events taking place. Polaris, a theatrical performance by Michael Sabbaton, and Tales of H. P. Lovecraft, a synth-heavy music and spoken word performance by The Duke St. Workshop and Laurence R. Harvey.
There will be talks by Stephen Thrower on Lucio Fulci, Dr. Steve Jones on 42nd Street, and cult journalist Gavin Baddeley on sin cities of the world. There will also be silent films with live accompaniment, the short films competition, filmmaker Q&As, and film introductions.
Abertoir is funded by Ffilm Cymru Wales, with the support of the BFI Film Festival Fund and The National Lottery Fund.
More info: www.abertoir.co.uk