Review of Grimmfest Manchester's premier horror & sci-fi festival

Grimmfest is Manchester's festival of horror movies. It takes place at the end of October to co-incide with Halloween. The first Grimmfest was held in October 2009 and the second was held from the 28th to 31st October 2010. The venue was the Dancehouse Theatre, on Oxford Road Manchester.

Click here to see a 3D slide show of images from the festival, with accompanying music. You'll need red/cyan glasses to see the images in stereo.

Many thanks to Bill Volker Schülbe for presenting the slide show using his excellent p2gStereoStage display system.

I was at the press launch for the festival, which took place on Thursday 7 October at Odder bar on Oxford Rd Manchester at around 1pm

Isabella Calthorpe and Simeon Halligan

In his introduction, Festival director is Simeon Halligan gave a foretaste of the festival, which offers premiers of 25 movies from all round the world.

We saw an excerpt from 13 Hours, starrting Isabella Callthorpe, who was also present.

Simeon told me the main aim of Grimmfest is to bring to the north west exciting and interesting films from around the world, particularly those that are less conventional and fall outside the realm of straight drama.

"Cinema is perfect medium to express psychology and the workings of the mind, that's what I'm interested in." he said

Simeon Halligan and Isabella Calthorpe

Simeon Halligan is a director of several shorts and feature films, including Splintered.

Isabella Calthorpe is a screen and stage actress as well as a model. She played the lead role in the film 13 Hours which is to be premiered at the festival.

At Grimmfest you will get to preview a selection of new and classic horror movies in the setting where movies were intended to be seen - in the cinema. Many of the films can normally only be seen on DVD or BluRay.

Please note: The majority of the films are rated 18. There are virtually no films suitable for children.

But there won't be just films. There will be also be exhibitions including prosthetics, film stills and there will be opportunities for gaming.

Namco are presenting new their game called Splatterhouse (rated 18), which will be available to play on XBox and PS3.

The festival has been made possible thanks to the tireless work of volunteers. I heard about the festival and decided to help promote it, as I'm always happy to support independent, northern-based events, particularly in the area of film.

Supporting the festival are Manchester-based Your Brand Reality who have devised a kind of virtual treasure hunt game. People are invited to search for virtual ghoulish characters hidden in secret locations around the city centre. The characters will only be visible on the smartphone screen and from only a short distance away. Winners get free tickets and other prizes. More info at www.monsterhunt.co.uk.

Anyone in Manchester who enjoys independent film, and specifically horror or sci fi, should get along to the Dancehouse Theatre on Oxford Rd, opposite BBC Manchester on one of the three festival days and enjoy the buzz. It promises to be a groovy and (in the best possible sense) gruesome event!

The 2010 festival takes place on Thursday 28th, Friday 29th and Saturday 30th of October.

The official Grimmfest website is here: www.grimmfest.com

Follow Grimmfest on Twitter.

See also www.simeonhalligan.com.

2010-10-07