What to Watch - FilmFear returns to Channel 4

FilmFear is back on Channel 4 with a collection of unmissable tricks and treats this Halloween.

A selection of first plays, familiar favourites, cult films and classics, this year’s FilmFear offering is full of terrifying tricks and treats led by the network premieres of director Edgar Wright’s Film4-backed Last Night in Soho; last year’s cinema success, Late Night with the Devil; and Ti West’s creepy character-piece Pearl.

Plus, if you’re Manchester-based, why not pop along to HOME, which returns with a season of in-person screenings across five nights. To celebrate a ‘Half-Century of Horror’ this year, the showcased films look back to the very scary movies of the ‘70s. Book Tickets.

SAINT MAUD – Screening Now

Film4-backed, BAFTA-nominated psychological horror from writer-director Rose Glass. Nurse Katie (Morfydd Clark) finds herself at a crossroads in both her personal life and career when a patient in her care dies, and she decides to make some changes, including becoming a devout Roman Catholic and even changing her name to Maud. Caring for a terminally ill atheist woman called Amanda (Jennifer Ehle), she resolves to save her godless soul from an eternity with Satan. This proves difficult, as Amanda shows that her true colours are a far cry from the ailing, friendly woman that Maud first encounters.

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THE INNOCENTS (1961) – Screening Now

Jack Clayton’s film, based on Henry James’s “The Turn of the Screw,” follows Miss Giddens (Deborah Kerr), a governess to orphans Miles and Flora. She learns from housekeeper Mrs Grosse about the previous governess, Miss Jessel, and the valet Peter Quint—both now dead. Miss Giddens begins seeing their ghosts and fears they want to corrupt the children, but it is unclear if the threat is real or a product of her own troubled past.

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THE POPE’S EXORCIST – Screening from October 25

Supernatural horror starring Russell Crowe, (very) loosely based on the memoirs of a real-life exorcist. A case of demonic possession in Spain connects to dark secrets from the Inquisition.

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PEARL – Screening from October 25 for 30 days (network premiere)

The second part of Ti West’s horror trilogy from 2022, which began with X (screening on Film4 on October 24) and concluded with last year’s MAXXXINE. Mia Goth returns as a young woman whose dreams of becoming a movie star push her into murderous madness.

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BITCH ASS – Screening from October 25 for 30 days

Directed by Bill Posley. A gang initiation goes wrong when a group of four recruits break into a house of horror, as they’re all forced to play deadly games for their lives. Win and you live – lose and you die.

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BAD HAIR – Screening from October 25

Bad Hair is a 2020 American satirical black horror comedy film written, directed, and produced by Justin Simien. In 1989, an ambitious young woman gets a weave in order to succeed in the image-obsessed world of music television. However, her flourishing career may come at a great cost when she realises that her new hair may have a mind of its own.

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A BANQUET – Screening from 25 October

Directed by Ruth Paxton, A BANQUET sees a widowed mother tested to the limit when her teenage daughter insists a supernatural experience has left her body in service to a higher power. This horror stars Sienna Guillory, Jessica Alexander, and Ruby Stokes.

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THE INNOCENTS (2021) – Screening from October 25

THE INNOCENTS is a supernatural dark fantasy thriller horror written and directed by Eskil Vogt. During the bright Nordic summer, a group of children reveals their dark, mysterious powers when the adults aren’t looking. In this original and gripping supernatural thriller, playtime takes a dangerous turn.

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SMILE – Screening from October 26

A psychiatrist’s life unravels when a disturbing encounter with a patient exposes her to a relentless evil presence marked by a terrifying grin. This horror was written and directed by Parker Finn.

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LAST NIGHT IN SOHO (Film4 production; network premiere) – Screening from October 26

Film4-backed LAST NIGHT IN SOHO, directed by Edgar Wright, is a psychological thriller that moves back and forth between contemporary London and Soho in the ‘Swinging 60s’. Stylish, surprising and full of amazing practical special effects, the film stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, and Matt Smith. It’s also notable for featuring the final film performances from British screen icons Diana Rigg and Terence Stamp.

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M3GAN – Screening from October 27

This American science-fiction horror film was directed by Gerard Johnstone and written by Akela Cooper, based on a story by Cooper and James Wan.

When robotics engineer Gemma becomes the guardian of her orphaned niece, Cady, she thinks her invention—a robotic AI—will be a good companion. However, M3GAN begins to behave in unexpected and shocking ways. This film stars James Wan, Allison Williams, and Violet McGraw, with Amie Donald physically portraying M3GAN and Jenna Davis voicing the character.

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THE NIGHT HOUSE – Screening from October 27

Reeling from the unexpected death of her husband, Beth (Rebecca Hall) is left alone in the lakeside home he built for her. She tries as best she can to keep it together — but then nightmares come. Disturbing visions of a presence in the house calling to her, beckoning her with a ghostly allure. Against her friends’ advice, she begins digging through her husband’s belongings, yearning for answers. What she finds are secrets both strange and disturbing — a mystery she’s determined to unravel. THE NIGHT HOUSE is directed by David Bruckner.

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BARBARIAN – Screening from October 28

Barbarian is a 2022 American horror film written and directed by Zach Cregger, whose latest film, WEAPONS, has been one of the surprise cinema hits of the year. The film stars Georgina Campbell, Bill Skarsgård, and Justin Long. In this film, a young woman travelling to Detroit for a job interview books a rental home. But when she arrives late at night, she discovers that the house is double-booked, and a strange man is already staying there. Against her better judgment, she decides to spend the evening, but soon discovers that there’s a lot more to fear than just an unexpected house guest.

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ISOLATION – Screening from October 28

Irish actor John Lynch stars in director Billy O’Brien’s Film4-backed 2005 creature-feature, in which murky, muddy goings-on down on the farm manifest in the form of a terrifying genetic mutation.

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LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL (network premiere) – Screening from October 29

This marks the network premiere of the 2023 independent supernatural horror film written, directed, and edited by Colin and Cameron Cairnes. Johnny Carson’s rival, Jack Delroy, hosts a syndicated talk show, ‘Night Owls’. However, ratings for the show have plummeted since the tragic death of Jack’s beloved wife. Desperate to turn his fortunes around, on October 31st, 1977, Jack plans a Halloween special like no other-unaware he is about to unleash evil into the living rooms of America.

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