Season of Gothic cinema shockers will provoke screen screams across NI

JUST as the nights start to draw in and the temperature drops, an uncanny cache of celluloid horrors has been unleashed, threatening to chill cinema goers across the land.

As part of thexa0nationwide BFI blockbuster projectxa0GOTHIC – The Dark Heart of Film, Gothic NIxa0is an ambitious NI-wide programme of film, dedicated to all things horrific, heinous and downright hellish. Screenings will be held in locations from Belfast to Ballymena and from the City of Culture to creepy old castles, and will include horror classics old and new, as well as a few sideways shockersxa0xa0- all screened for NI audiences.

Thexa0Gothic NIxa0programme is supported by the British Film Institute’sxa0xa0Programme Development Fund and is presented by Film Hub NI, part of the BFI’s Film Audience Network.xa0Gothic NIxa0xa0is part of a wider UK programme of frightening film in the coming months, and finds the leading exponents of NI cinema coming together to lay on a truly, deliciously dark programme of film.

Susan Pickenxa0of QFT said: “As a life-long horror fan, Gothic NI is a diabolically delightful box of treats which includes some of cinema’s most chilling classics. Our programme is full of surprises, shocks and thrills, giving a unique local twist to the Gothic theme. We’ve had fun programming the films – we hope everyone has fun watching them.

Queen’s Film Theatre presents such sinister delights asxa0Nosferatu The Vampyre, Werner Herzog’s chilling remake of the FW Murnau classic, starring the deranged Klaus Kinski.xa0Burn Baby Burn!xa0at the QFT is a mini-season of diabolical cinema including the rarely screened and utterly compellingxa0Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages,xa0the long-banned 1922 Swedish documentary on Witchcraft, featuring grave-robbing, possessed nuns and a Satanic Sabbath.xa0Rosemary’s Baby,xa0The Witches, Witchfinder Generalxa0andxa0Black Sundayxa0are all indisputable cult classics of the horror genre and complete the QFT’s distinctly witchy take on the Gothic programme.Thexa0Cinemaxa0Cityxa0programme in Derry/ Londonderry is also taking part in the Gothic NI fun, exploring the macabre in movie history. Local audiences can enjoyxa0Don’t Look Now,xa0The Night of the Hunterxa0andxa0Thexa0Shiningxa0as well as three different versions ofxa0Bram Stoker’sxa0Dracula.

There will also be a variety of outdoor screenings at Ebrington and pop-up venues across the city, featuring such big screen terrors asxa0American Werewolf in Londonxa0andxa028 Days Later.

Shakespeare Gothicxa0will feature a number of film versions ofxa0Macbethxa0as well as an opportunity to see local director Steven Cavanagh’s Derry-centric adaptation ofxa0Hamlet.

But the highlight of Derry’s Gothic season might just be the premiere of the new short filmxa0Stumpy’s Braexa0- a Gothic horror in the Ulster Scots language.

Braid Theatrexa0inxa0Ballymenaxa0has screened Mel Brook’s comedy horror classicxa0Young Frankensteinxa0and offers up director Nic Roeg’s red-hooded-psycho-dwarftasticxa0Don’t Look Nowxa0for horror-hungry audiences in Mid-Antrim.

Belfast Film Festivalxa0presentsxa0The Haunted Screenxa0– a series of classic creepy screenings in manors, castles and other suitably sinister venues across the north.

Draculaxa0will be shown in the Harbour Commissioners Office, Belfast,xa0Rebeccaxa0at Hillsborough Castle,xa0The House on Haunted Hillxa0andxa0The Innocentsxa0at Lissan House Cookstown, andxa0Night of the Demonxa0at Ballywalter Park Newtownards.

Cinemagicxa0also lays on a series of ghoulish film evenings and monstrous film events for kids at the QFT, includingxa0Tim Burton’sxa0double-bill ofxa0The Corpse Bridexa0andxa0Frankenweeniexa0and the all-singin’ all-carnivorousxa0The Little Shop of Horrors.

Need a post-Halloween thrill-fix? Come down to the Woods/ QFT/ Braid Theatre if you dare!