The South African HORRORFEST is the only event of its kind in the country (if not the continent)
featuring new, classic and rare movies, literature, live soundtrack performance, Halloween dress-up, a market and more.
Submissions for the 12th South African HorrorFest are closed details here or via Click For Festivals
TAKE A LEISURELY SCROLL DOWN FOR ALL THE 2016 S.A. HORRORFEST DETAILS, OR JUMP TO DESIRED CHAPTERS AT THE MENU ABOVE
The 12th Annual SOUTH AFRICAN HORRORFEST
HALLOWEEN SEASON
26 October - 4 November 2016
Labia Theatre (68 Orange Str, Gardens Cape Town)
MOVIES / LITERATURE / LIVE SOUNDTRACK PERFORMANCE /
SHORT FILMS / HALLOWEEN ACTIVITIES /
MARKET / GIVE-AWAYS
Join & Follow
the
HORRORFEST
at
:
2016 S.A. HORRORFEST WINNERS
FEATURE FILMS :
Best Feature Film
LIGHTS OUT
Audience Choice
OUIJA: Origin Of Evil
Best Director
Mike Flanagan
"
OUIJA: Origin Of Evil "
Best Anthology Feature Film
SOUTHBOUND
Best 'Documentary' FURY OF THE DEMON
Goriest Moment
NIGHT OF THE VIRGIN
Best Poster Design
FURY OF THE DEMON
Hall Of Fame
ROGER CORMAN
SHORT FILMS :
Best Short Film
Best Director
Best Screenplay
QUENOTTES
(Pearlies)
Best Animated Short Film
MACABRE
Best Stop-Animated Short
UNDER THE APPLE TREE
Best Ensemble Cast
Special Legend Award: Roddy Piper
PORTAL TO HELL!!!
Most Disturbing
ARCANA
Most Creepy
BEHIND
Best Cinematography
Best CGI
EL PESCADOR
(The Fisherman)
Best Monster
PESANTA
Best Scare
LIGHTS OUT
Gross-Out Award
EAT MY SHIT
Funniest Short Film
Special Sacrilege Award (Remixing A Sacred Classic)
THE CHICKENING
The 2016 S.A. HORRORFEST line-up will endeavour to bring you everything from
vampires, ghosts, the undead, possession, and the psychologically unhinged,
to demons, an anthology piece, a genre documentary, classics,
dozens of short films & more. Most movies make their African premiere.
Click poster thumbnails below to jump to movie details, or scroll down for a full overview.
ROCKY HORROR
PICTURE SHOW
+ audience
participation
Produced by Blumhouse (Insidious, Paranormal Activity, The Purge, Sinister) and Michael Bay (remakes of Friday the 13th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare On Elm Street)
Directed by Mike Flanagan (who made Oculus, Hush and Before I Wake - DVD of the latter will be up for grabs at the screening!)
In 1965 Los Angeles, a widowed mother and her two daughters add a new stunt to bolster their séance scam business and unwittingly invite authentic evil into their home. When the youngest daughter is overtaken by the merciless spirit, this small family confronts unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side.
Across 12 HorrorFest events we've screened hundreds of some of the most amazing short films you're unlikely to see on any cinema (or home) screen in South Africa. They come from every corner of the globe.
New, fresh exciting, innovative, daring, creepy, scary, crazy, funny, strange and simply a must-watch, these feature length collections of (often award winning) shorts deliver every time.
What is Halloween season without the Rocky Horror Picture Show?
The cult classic musical film the Rocky Horror Picture Show has been thrillig audiences for over 4 decades! And is still as irresistibly fun and fresh as always. Join us for an exciting Halloween night audience participation screening to get your evening of trick & treating started.
The rousing party atmosphere of this gem will light up the Labia Theatre again this Halloween weekend, the audience encouraged to arrive dressed as any of the Rocky Horror characters, or anything wild, exotic & crazy, and bring the various accessories needed to interact with the scenes on screen (from rice and newspapers, to water pistols and toast).
For those who don't have time to accumulate these, The Lovecraft Experiment will be on hand with a stall outside the cinema where you can buy kits with everything you may need.
The movie will have onscreen prompts for those new to the interactive Rocky Horror Picture Show experience.
Starring Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Richard O'Brien, Barry Bostwick, Meatloaf
Crawling Horror.... Rising From The Depths of Hell... To Kill and Conquer!
In Florida a pair of gigantic, intelligent leeches live in an underwater cave.
They begin dragging locals down to their cave, where they slowly feed on them, draining their victims of blood!
Produced by Roger Corman
Directer by Bernard L. Kowalski
Starring Ken Clark, Yvette Vickers, Jan Shepard, Gene Roth
A young writer traumatized by the death of his wife and child, describes his disturbing experiences to a psychiatrist when a mysterious man, who hides under an umbrella, forces him to finish his painfully autobiography work regardless the cost of its consequences.
Written & directed by Matias Salinas
(Spanish with English subtitles)
VAMPYR- Makabra Ensemble Live Soundtrack Performance
In this visually stunning classic 1932 French-German film, Allan Grey (a student of the occult) enters the village of Courtempierre. It is under the curse of a vampire and he is drawn into a surreal experience as the elements of the evil vampire and the victims under its spell unfold.
VAMPYR is less known than other fan favourites (like Nosferatu or Cabinet Of Dr Caligari), but is a fantastic film in its own right, and has to be experienced. It utilizes great cameras techniques and atmosphere to tell an intriguing tale of supernatural horror.
The film is enhanced by a new original Makabra Ensemble soundtrack, performed live beneath the big screen.
Brooke makes a deadly mistake during a manic episode, forcing her lover and her to flee their home. But can Mel bring Brooke back, or is it too late...
Directed by Jessica Cameron
- Won Best Director (Jessica Cameron) at Genreblast Film Festival
- Won Most Shocking Feature Film at Kansas Crypticon
- Won Best Sound Design (Aaron M Lane) at Widescreen FF
- Won Best Actress (Elle Church) at RIP FF
- Won Best Horror Film at RIP FF
- Won Best Film at Los Angeles Underground Film Festival
- Won Audience award for Best Film at Los Angeles Underground Film Festival
- Won Best Actress (Elle Church) for Best Film at Los Angeles Underground Film Festival
- Won Audience award for Best Actor (Steve Lochowitz) at Los Angeles Underground Film Festival
- Won Best Film at Arizona Underground Film Festival
A young backpacker is lured through the third world paradise of Thailand searching for her kidnapped best friend and unknowingly she becomes the object of a sociopath's obsession.
(USA / Australia / Thailand)
Directed by Bradley Stryker
Starring Alexandra Turshen, Keenan Henson, Caitlin Cromwell
* WINNER, "Gold Lion", Best Direction, London Film Awards
* WINNER, "Diamond Award", Best Foreign Feature, California Film Awards
* WINNER, Best Micro-Budg et Feature, Toronto Independen t Film Awards
* WINNER, "Gold Award", Best Direction, Internatio nal Independen t Film Awards
* WINNER, "Gold Award", Los Angeles Film Review
* WINNER, "Gold Award", Best Screenplay , NYC Indie Film Awards
* WINNER, "Bronze Award", Best Direction, NYC Indie Film Awards
* WINNER, "Gold Kahuna Award", First Time Filmmaker, Honolulu Film Awards
* WINNER, "Golden Palm Award", Best Narrative Feature, Mexico Internatio nal Film Festival
* WINNER, "Northern Lights Emerging Filmmaker Award", Alaska Film Awards
* WINNER, Best Direction, American Movie Awards
* WINNER, Best Thriller/ Horror Feature, Filmmatic Film Awards
* WINNER, Spotlight Gold Award, Spotlight Horror Film Awards
* WINNER, "Award of Merit - Special Mention", Best Feature Film, IndieFest Global Film Awards
* WINNER, "Best Horror Feature", Northeast Film Festival
* WINNER, "Award of Merit", Best Feature Film, Accolade Global Film Competitio n
* WINNER, Best Actress, Philadelph ia Independen t Film Festival
Across 12 HorrorFest events we've screened hundreds of some of the most amazing short films you're unlikely to see on any cinema (or home) screen in South Africa. They come from every corner of the globe.
New, fresh exciting, innovative, daring, creepy, scary, crazy, funny, strange and simply a must-watch, these feature length collections of (often award winning) shorts deliver every time.
We cap off the Halloween weekend (a few hours before the official Halloween date on Monday) with this new chiller of a feature film, flowing from director David Sandberg's virally popular short (which will also screen in the HorrorFest's Shadow Realm Short Films Vol. 1 chapter)
The DVD releases on 4 November - Come catch it on the big screen a week before it does!
When Rebecca (Teresa Palmer) left home, she thought that her childhood fears were behind her. As a young girl growing up, she was never really sure of what was real when the lights went out at night. Now, her little brother Martin (Gabriel Bateman) is experiencing the same unexplained and terrifying events that jeopardized her safety and sanity.
Holding a mysterious attachment to their mother (Maria Bello), a supernatural entity has returned with a vengeance to torment the entire family.
A small town strip club owner must defend her bar, her strippers and her life when violent infected patrons show up on the final closing night and all hell breaks loose.
Catch this exciting new anthology horror film on Halloween night! [From the creators of the V/H/S trilogy]
Five interlocking tales of terror follow the fates of a group of weary travelers who confront their worst nightmares and darkest secrets on a desolate stretch of desert highway.
The film unfolds in an endless loop through purgatory that plays out chronologically over the course of one never-ending day.
Also features SA-born actress Maria Olsen.
Directed by Radio Silence, Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, Patrick Horvath
NIGHT OF THE VIRGIN (La Noche Del Virgen)
Tuesday 1 November, 6:15pm African Premiere
BOOK HERE
In this gory horror-comedy, at a New Year’s Eve party, Nico, a naïve twenty year old, sets out ready to lose his virginity at all costs that same night. In the middle of the party, his gaze crosses Medea, a cunning and attractive mature woman. The feeling is immediate, and Medea ends up taking Nico back to her apartment.
Once at Medea’s house, little by little Nico discovers that his hostess isn’t a current woman. Strange events start to take place… until, finally, what promised to be an epic sexual debut full of lust and lack of restraint ends up turning into his worst nightmare.
A nightmare full of blood, sweat… and varied discharges....extremely graphic and grotesque discharges!
A group of filmmakers travel to a cabin in a remote part of Central Texas to film the first ever 3D found footage movie. However, they find themselves becoming part of their film and battling for their lives as a real evil entity from their film begins to show up in their behind-the-scenes footage.
Produced by Texas Chainsaw Massacre co-creator Kim Henkel.
Directed by Steven DeGennaro
Franz Josef Gottlieb's early-'60s swinging London Soho setting has a mysterious knife wielding murderer with golden gloves and a skull mask breathes terror into the nightlife community. A Scotland Yard detective has to stop this killer.
This movie may have pioneered the killer Point Of View shot.
Let Her Out follows Helen, a bike courier who suffers a traumatic accident. As she recovers, she begins to experience strange episodic-black outs, hallucinations, and night terrors-that lead her to discover that she has a tumour, a benign growth that is the remnants of a “vanishing twin” absorbed in utero.
Over time, the tumour manifests itself as the dark and demented version of a stranger. As Helen’s emotional and psychological state begins to deteriorate further and further, she begins to act out in psychotic episodes that are influenced by her evil twin – making her a danger to herself and her best friend, Molly.
It’s only a matter of time before the evil side of Helen will take over completely.
Directed by Cody Calahan
Written by Adam Seybold
Starring Alanna LeVierge, Nina Kiri and Adam Christie
Across 12 HorrorFest events we've screened hundreds of some of the most amazing short films you're unlikely to see on any cinema (or home) screen in South Africa. They come from every corner of the globe.
New, fresh exciting, innovative, daring, creepy, scary, crazy, funny, strange and simply a must-watch, these feature length collections of (often award winning) shorts deliver every time.
An ancient, angry force is entwined in the wood of an antique bed. Four twenty-somethings find themselves stuck on this haunted bed, where leaving means suffering a gruesome death. Plagued with frightening hallucinations, they must figure out the bed’s secrets before they are ultimately picked off one by one.
Directed by Jeff Maher
Starring: Colin Price, Alyssa King, Gwen Cumyn, Dennis Andres
After Dr. Frankenstein is murdered by a monster he created, his daughter and his lab assistant continue his experiments.
This feminist take on the mad scientist movie is a hybrid of the '70s Hammer horror films' infatuation with nudity and sadism and the golden age of Italian horror's gothic period.
A captivating investigation that takes us on the traces of violent riots having taken place throughout the XIXth and XXth centuries, caused by a rare, fascinating and dangerous film: Fury of the Demon, attributed to French cineaste Georges Méliès.
Through conversations with journalists, filmmakers, historians, experts and psychologists, this new full-length documentary pulls back the veil on the most cursed and disturbing movie ever made. From mysteries to mysteries, from questioning to questioning, discover the truth about the lost movie that that shakes the film world for over a century.
A fascinating documentary investigation on the rarest and most controversial French movie in the history of early cinema: a lost fascinating short film, potentially directed by Georges Méliès, which causes violent reactions to those who watch it. Through conversations with journalists, filmmakers, historians, experts and psychologists, this documentary pulls back the veil on the most cursed and disturbing movie ever-made…
Directed by Fabien Delage
2016 South African HORRORFESTFilm Submissions Are Closed details
Win double tickets for a pre-release screening of RINGS!
(before the rest of the world)
in association with Flamedrop and UIP
Thursday evening 2 February 2017 at three cinema locations across South Africa
(Cape Town, Johannesburg & Durban)
+ free popcorn & softdrinks and selected merch prizes
SA HorrorFest's Paul Blom visited the set of RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER
for cast & crew interviews.
Check out his article at Coming Soon right here
HORRORFEST-linked movies featured at the first FLAMEDROP FILM FESTIVAL
(9 - 15 December, The Bioscope, Johannesburg) included :
SOUTHBOUND
SHORT FILMS
ESCAPE FROM
TOMORROW
Highlights from all Flamedrop related events included:
From X Fest : X FLIX: BEST X FEST SHORT FILMS
From Daring Doccies : THE NATURE
OF EXISTENCE
From Sound On Screen : BLACKHEARTS
A FAT WRECK - Punkumentary
PLACEBO: ALT.RUSSIA
From Celludroid : MONTAUK CHRONICLES
TRACEROUTE
BEST CELLUDROID SHORT FILMS
From the S.A. HorrorFest : SOUTHBOUND
SHADOW REALM: BEST SA HORRORFEST SHORT FILMS
ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW
We always try our best to get interesting local and international filmmakers, authors or anyone who can enhance
the festival experience to attend as guests and interact with the audience with Q&As, signings and more.
(Past guests have included Resident Evil franchise producer-director team Paul W.S. Anderson and Jeremy Bolt (UK / USA),
documentarian & lecturer Calum Waddell (UK), Cosmesis special make-up FX master Clinton Smith (ZA),
actress Fiona Horrigan (USA), producer Yash Patniak (India) and more.
The Bloody Parchment live literary event is now at the hub of the HorrorFest activity,
inside the Labia Theatre cinema 2, with local author readings, special guests, snacks / drinks /
mingling / networking, give-aways and more. RSVP HERE
Nerine Dorman is back to oversee the live literature night!
Get all 4 HorrorFest Bloody Parchment short story anthologies at Amazon, GoodReads and SmashWords.
Access the Bloody Parchment web page HERE
FILM FEST LIST
S.A. HORRORFEST made this Top 100 Horror / Fantasy Film Festival list see it here
This will also be the customary HorrorFest Halloween dress-up event and the HorrorFest market will be outside the theatre from noon until 9pm.
Like The Makabra Ensemble's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MakabraEnsemble Official site: www.terminatryx.com/makabra
FANGORIA INTERVIEW
Catch an extensive interview by Fangoria editor Chris Alexander
with South African HorrorFest creators Paul & Sonja access it here
HORRORFEST POSTER HISTORY
Click Here for the poster design history of the HorrorFest's first decade
HORRORFEST AFTER PARTY
News on a possible official HorrorFest after party will appear here.
See the haunting music video for the title track of the new studio album SHADOW
by MAKABRA ENSEMBLE creators TERMINATRYX :
INTERVIEW
with South African HorrorFest co-creator, Paul Blom Click Here or the image below
BOOK AT
1:45pm
4:00pm
6:15pm
8:30pm
WED 26 OCT
BLOODY PARCHMENT
LITERARY NIGHT
(6 - 8pm)
THUR 27 OCT
OUIJA: Origin Of Evil
(sneak preview)
FRI 28 OCT
SHORT FILMS Vol. 1
ROCKY HORROR
PICTURE SHOW
(audience participation)
SAT 29 OCT
ATTACK OF THE
GIANT LEECHES
PRESAGIO
(Omen)
VAMPYR
with Makabra Ensemble
live soundtrack
SUN 30 OCT
MANIA
LAND OF SMILES
SHORT FILMS Vol. 2
LIGHTS OUT
(DVD launch screening)
MON 31 OCT
PEELERS
SOUTHBOUND
TUES 1 NOV
NIGHT OF THE VIRGIN
(La Noche Del Virgen)
FOUND FOOTAGE 3D
(2D screening)
WED 2 NOV
PHANTOM OF SOHO
LET HER OUT
THUR 3 NOV
SHORT FILMS Vol. 3
BED OF THE DEAD
FRI 4 NOV
LADY FRANKENSTEIN
FURY OF THE DEMON
BOOK AT
or reserve seats at 021 424 5927
All movie bookings can be made on-line at : Quicket.co.za
And from 20 October booking can also be made by phone on 021 424 5927
This year we'll have a Mini Market feature a variety of exciting items
from The LoveCraft Experiment and HorrorFest merch (incl T-shirts, DVDs etc.)
This year there is no official HorrorFest after party
See the werewolf inspired music video for the song "VIRUS"
by MAKABRA ENSEMBLE creators TERMINATRYX :
This
DVD
contains
the
full
1922
silent
vampire
classic Nosferatu with
its
new,
original
soundtrack
as composed
and
performed
live
to the
screen
at the
2006
festival
by Terminatryx and
very
special
guests
(Simon
&
Sean
from Lark,
Francois
from K.O.B.U.S. & Voice
Of Destruction,
and
Matthijs
from Dawntreader).
The
DVD
also
contains Terminatryx music
videos,
photo
galleries, HorrorFest extras,
and
the
short
film imPERFECTION. ORDER
HERE !
a
Flamedrop
Productions
/ ENT
Entertainment
release
HorrorFest Sticker packs include:
SkullMoon Logo / Crest Design / HorrorFest Text
Various pizes and give-aways will include
Penguin Random House Books and Ster Kinekor DVDs
DVD GIVE-AWAYS from NEXT ENTERTAINMENT:
CLASSICS
NEW RELEASES
SERIES
DVD give-aways will include:
BEFORE I WAKE, SINISTER 2, THE SACRED, RITUAL, CLOWN, CRUSH, ALL ALONE, PRANK,
EVIDENCE, BEDLAM, IT NEVER SLEEPS, 13 SINS, ASYLUM, THE OCCUPANTS,
THE POSSSSION OF MICHAEL KING, BONE BOYS,
GANGSTERS, GUNS & ZOMBIES
BEARD OILS & TONICS FROM
DARK WATERS
For an overview of the 2015 HorrorFest click here or the image below
Related film festivals you may enjoy:
Get in the mood for Halloween and watch the short film "Marked", made by the HorrorFest organizers.
(all festival info further down)
OFFICIAL
HORRORFEST
PROMO CLIP
[ director:
paul blom
/ star: sonja
ruppersberg
/ make-up
fx: clinton
smith / dop:
marnus tredoux
/ editor:
leon visser
]
> this clip is beeen expanded into the short film "Marked", and the Terminatryx "Virus" music video <
Browse the
scrolling
gallery below
for some
of movies
screened at
past S.A.
HORRORFEST
events.
Buy them from
Amazon by
clicking on
the movie
of your choice.
Search
Amazon below
for the Horror
movies of
your choice
ABOUT THE SOUTH AFRICAN HORRORFEST
In 2004 Paul Blom and Sonja Ruppersberg decided to rectify the issue of the absence of a dedicated Horror event in South Africa.
The first S.A. HorrorFest (then also known as the Horror Festacular) launched in 2005.
Besides being a Horror / Chiller / Thriller film festival (screening feature films and short films from around the world),
from the start it made a point of expanding into a broad Halloween event by incorporating
new live soundtrack performances to classic silent films by The Makabra Ensemble,
the Bloody Parchment literary chapter, Halloween dress-up competition, a night market and more.
HorrorFest organizers Sonja & Paul at the Zombie Walk, with their boy Zoltan