Forbidden Worlds Film Festival

The Big Scream

The former Bristol IMAX Cinema, Bristol Aquarium

28–30 October 2022

Poster by Jim’ll Paint It

Big screams on the biggest screen

Forbidden Worlds Film Festival returns for three days of terror over the Halloween weekend with a bloody feast of classic and little-known horror movies on the biggest screen in the South West.

Horror fans are invited to Bristol’s former IMAX screen on 28–30 October 2022 to view a selection of classic and cult horrors whose VHS covers once intrigued and terrified in equal measure those browsing the aisles of their local video shop. 

The horrific line-up features a mixture of masterpieces and must-see curios celebrating the monstrous and the supernatural. Well-known and celebrated titles include Sam Raimi’s gonzo horror-comedy sequel Evil Dead II, which is celebrating its 35th anniversary, the original 1978 Halloween from the legendary John Carpenter, and 1985’s cult favourite Fright Night.

In order to make the event more accessible, some films will be presented with descriptive subtitles for the d/Deaf and hard of hearing.

Trailer created by Matt Harris-Freeth

At-a-glance schedule

Friday 28 October 2022

4.30pm: Night of the Eagle (12A)

7.30pm Evil Dead II (18) (Subtitled)

9.45pm: The Tingler (15)

Saturday 29 October 2022

12.30pm: Bride of Frankenstein (PG)

2.30pm: The Craft (15)

5pm: Halloween (15) (Subtitled)

8pm: Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (15)

10pm: The Slumber Party Massacre (18)

Sunday 30 October 2022

2pm: Sugar Hill (18)

4.15pm: The Boxer’s Omen (18)

7.30pm: Fright Night (18) (Subtitled)

10pm: Wolf Guy (18)

Festival Passes

Weekend Pass holders are able to attend ALL screenings over the course of the weekend.

Day Pass holders can only access screenings on that particular day.

Upon your arrival at the event, you will be given a festival lanyard for ease of access.

Early Bird Full Weekend Pass: SOLD OUT

Regular Full Weekend Pass: £75

Friday Day Pass: £20

Saturday Day Pass: £35

Sunday Day Pass: £30

Individual screening tickets: Now available

Festival Programme

Friday 28 October 2022

In order to make the event more accessible, some films will be presented with descriptive subtitles for the d/Deaf and hard of hearing.

For more information on subtitled films, please read the Accessibility section of our FAQs.

 
 

4.30pm: Night of the Eagle (12A)

Dir: Sidney Hayers | U.K. 1962 | 87 mins | Cert. 12A

A 60th anniversary screening of the British horror classic starring Peter Wyngarde.

Contains references to sexual assault

  • Peter Wyngarde stars as a psychology professor who discovers his wife is a witch who has been secretly practising magic for a number of years. Unable to reconcile this revelation with his rational mindset, he forces her to destroy all of her tools for sorcery… and then his troubles begin.

    A British black-and-white classic, Night of the Eagle is a suspenseful, atmospheric tale in the tradition of the Val Lewton’s spine-tinglers.

  • Click here to watch the trailer (Warning: Trailer contains spoilers)

    Please note that the trailer is hosted by an external site and may not be representative of our presentation in terms of audio and visual quality. All of our screenings are sourced from the best available masters.

 
 

7.30pm: Evil Dead II (18)

(Subtitled)

Dir: Sam Raimi | U.S. 1987 | 84 mins | Cert. 18

Sam Raimi’s cult horror classic presented in a 4K restoration courtesy of Park Circus and Studiocanal.

This film will be screening with descriptive subtitles for the d/Deaf and hard of hearing.

Contains strong bloody horror.

  • How do you follow up one of the greatest horror films of the 1980s? You make one of the greatest horror sequels of the 1980s!

    Join us as we celebrate 35 years of Sam Raimi’s gonzo comedy-horror classic, with Bruce Campbell returning as the hapless Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell), who once again finds himself battling horrifying demons in a secluded cabin in the woods.

    This screening will be introduced by Alice Taylor-Matthews, Evil Dead II enthusiast.

  • Click here to watch the trailer

    Please note that the trailer is hosted by an external site and may not be representative of our presentation in terms of audio and visual quality. All of our screenings are sourced from the best available masters.

 
 

9.45pm: The Tingler (15)

Dir: William Castle | U.S. 1959 | 81 mins | Cert. 15

Scream for your lives as Vincent Price stars in William Castle’s cult wonder.

WARNING: This film may cause shrieks of terror from audience members!

  • Scream for your lives as William Castle’s cult wonder screens for the late-night crowd!

    Within every human, a creature resides. Attached to the spine, it tingles in cases of fear and creates a tension that can only be released by screaming. When a deaf-mute theatre owner, without the ability to scream, is murdered, horror icon Vincent Price is able to get his hands on a ‘tingler’, but it escapes…

  • Click here to watch the trailer

    Please note that the trailer is hosted by an external site and may not be representative of our presentation in terms of audio and visual quality. All of our screenings are sourced from the best available masters.

Saturday 29 October 2022

In order to make the event more accessible, some films will be presented with descriptive subtitles for the d/Deaf and hard of hearing.

For more information on subtitled films, please read the Accessibility section of our FAQs.

 
 

12.30pm: Bride of Frankenstein (PG)

Dir: James Whale | U.S. 1935 | 75 mins | Cert. PG

The classic sequel to the original Universal Horror masterpiece.

  • Boris Karloff returns as ‘The Monster’, having survived the events of the first film. So, too, has Dr Frankenstein, who visits his former mentor (and fellow mad scientist) Dr Pretorious and now sets about creating a mate for his creature.

    This screening will be introduced by Professor Marysia Zalewski (International Politics, Cardiff University), who has specialist interests in feminist and critical theories, and film/popular culture. She is currently completing a co-authored book which works with the idea of the ‘Frankenstinian Subject’.

  • Click here to watch the trailer

    Please note that the trailer is hosted by an external site and may not be representative of our presentation in terms of audio and visual quality. All of our screenings are sourced from the best available masters.

 
 

2.30pm: The Craft (15)

Dir: Andrew Fleming | U.S. 1996 | 101 mins | Cert. 15

Carrie meets Clueless” – the cult teen supernatural movie starring Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell and Rachel True.

This will be the UK premiere of a brand new 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative by Sony Pictures

  • Sarah (Robin Tunney) is the new girl in town. Not only does she have to deal with a new school and making new friends, she also has telekinetic powers to contend with. Her gift catches the eyes of a trio of novice witches (played by Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell and Rachel True) who are looking to expand their coven.

    The Craft will be introduced by Gabriela Staniszewska, a local filmmaker specialising in the horror, action and sci-fi genres. Her multi-award-winning short film I Should Have Run (2016) will screen before the feature. To find out more about Gabriela and her films, please visit www.gabrielastaniszewska.com or find her on Twitter and Instagram.

  • Click here to watch the trailer

    Please note that the trailer is hosted by an external site and may not be representative of our presentation in terms of audio and visual quality. All of our screenings are sourced from the best available masters.

 
 

5pm: Halloween (15)

(Subtitled)

Dir: John Carpenter | U.S. 1978 | 92 mins | Cert. 15

With Halloween Ends hitting cinemas, see how it began in a restored digital master created under the supervision of the world-renowned cinematographer, Dean Cundey.

This film will be screening with descriptive subtitles for the d/Deaf and hard of hearing.

Contains violence and nudity.

  • Fifteen years after six-year-old Michael Myers was incarcerated in the Smith's Grove Sanitarium after brutally murdering his 17-year-old sister Judith on Halloween night… he has escaped! Pursed by psychiatrist Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence), Michael Myers heads towards his quiet hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois, where he looks for his next victims.

    Halloween will be introduced by Bristol-based horror writer and director Melanie Light, whose short films and music videos have played numerous festivals and earned multiple awards. To find out more about Melanie and her work, please visit www.melanielight.co.uk or find her on Instagram.

  • Click here to watch the trailer

    Please note that the trailer is hosted by an external site and may not be representative of our presentation in terms of audio and visual quality. All of our screenings are sourced from the best available masters.

 
 

8pm: Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (15)

Dir: James Signorelli | U.S. 1988 | 96 mins | Cert. 15

Horror hostess Elvira makes her feature film debut in this uproarous comedy-horror.

This film does contain excessive innuendo!

  • The feature debut of Cassandra Peterson’s much-loved Elvira character, who first graced American television screens as the hostess of Elvira’s Movie Macabre, a late-night show dedicated to B movies, especially those of the horror persuasion.

    In Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, she inherits a possibly mansion in a New England small town, as well as a book of witches’ spells and a poodle, prompting much consternation and excitement from the locals, not to mention many saucy double entendres along the way.

    An uproarious comedy-horror with an acute sense of its own silliness, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark is the perfect palate-cleanser between the slasher delights of Halloween and The Slumber Party Massacre.

  • Click here to watch the trailer

    Please note that the trailer is hosted by an external site and may not be representative of our presentation in terms of audio and visual quality. All of our screenings are sourced from the best available masters.

 
 

10pm: The Slumber Party Massacre (18)

Dir: Amy Holden Jones | U.S. 1982 | 76 mins | Cert. 18

The only eighties slasher movie to have been written and directed by women, presented in a 4K restoration by Shout Factory.

This film contains strong violence and nudity.

  • Directed by Amy Holden Jones and with a screenplay by prolific feminist author Rita Mae Brown, The Slumber Party Massacre stands out from most slasher movies of the 1980s for one very obvious reason!

    What begins as a typical teenage slumber party for Trish and her friends on the school basketball team, ends with an unexpected guest… an escaped mass murderer, who just so happens to brought a power drill with him.

    Prior to The Slumber Party Massacre, local horror writer-directors Sophie Mair and Dan Gitsham will introduce their award-winning horror short The Thing That Ate the Birds, funded by BFI Network, Gunpowder and Sky, which premiered internationally at SXSW 2021.

    For more information on Sophie and Dan’s work, please visit the Sketchbook Pictures website or find them on Twitter and Instagram.

  • Click here to watch the trailer

    Please note that the trailer is hosted by an external site and may not be representative of our presentation in terms of audio and visual quality. All of our screenings are sourced from the best available masters.

Sunday 30 October 2022

In order to make the event more accessible, some films will be presented with descriptive subtitles for the d/Deaf and hard of hearing.

For more information on subtitled films, please read the Accessibility section of our FAQs.

 
 

2pm: Sugar Hill (18)

Dir: Paul Maslansky | U.S. 1974 | 91 mins | Cert. 18

Voodoo zombies versus the Mob!

This film contains racist language and jive-ass honkies.

  • Following the success of Blacula and Scream Blacula Scream, American International Pictures turned to zombies for their next horror-blaxploitation crossover.

    Marki Bey stars as Diana “Sugar” Hill, the girlfriend of a murdered nightclub owner who turns to a voodoo queen and the Lord of the Dead so that she may exact revenge on the mobsters responsible – with an army of the undead!

    This screening will be introduced by Adam Murray of Bristol Black Horror Club.

  • Click here to watch the trailer

    Please note that the trailer is hosted by an external site and may not be representative of our presentation in terms of audio and visual quality. All of our screenings are sourced from the best available masters.

 
 

4.15pm: The Boxer’s Omen (18)

Dir: Chih-Hung Kuei | China 1983 | 105 mins | Cert. 18

The Shaw Brothers kung fu-horror classic presented in a brand-new restoration by Arrow Films. 

This film will be screened in Cantonese with English subtitles.

Contains gratuitous nudity, animal cruelty and scenes of crocodile sex.

Screening as part of In Dreams Are Monsters: A Season of Horror Films, a UK-wide film season supported by the National Lottery and BFI Film Audience Network.

  • Presented in a brand-new restoration by Arrow Films.

    If you like Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Kickboxer, but have always felt it needs more black magic, ancient mushrooms, and an army of possessed crocodile skulls, then The Boxer’s Omen is for you!

    Starting off as a traditional kung fu movie, the film sees a kickboxer travel to Thailand to avenge his brother who has been paralysed by a cheating Thai competitor (Bloodsport’s Bolo Yeung). Along the way, our hero is met by bizarre visions, entered into a Buddhist monastery, and begins a quest to save the soul of a deceased monk (his twin brother in a past life) who died at the hands of a powerful magician.

    Recalling everything from John Carpenter’s The Thing to Cannibal Holocaust, The Boxer’s Omen is a mad-ass jumble of genre ideas which equates to a fascinating, bonkers, totally unique kung-fu horror.

    © Licensed by Celestial Pictures Limited. All rights reserved.

  • Click here to watch the trailer

    Please note that the trailer is hosted by an external site and may not be representative of our presentation in terms of audio and visual quality. All of our screenings are sourced from the best available masters.

 
 

7.30pm: Fright Night (18)

(Subtitled)

Dir: Tom Holland | U.S. 1985 | 106 mins | Cert. 18

This will be the UK premiere of a new 4K restoration of the 80s cult classic from the original camera negative

This film will be screening with descriptive subtitles for the d/Deaf and hard of hearing.

Contains strong violence.

  • Inspiring a sequel, a remake, and a sequel to its remake, as well as comic books, a computer game and a stage show, Tom Holland’s original Fright Night is now a cult classic.

    Charley (William Ragsdale), a teenage horror fan, becomes convinced that his new neighbour (played by Chris Sarandon) is responsible for several recent disappearances and a member of the undead. When nobody believes him, he turns to the only person he feels he can trust: Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall), the host of Fright Night, a late-night TV horror show.

  • Click here to watch the trailer

    Please note that the trailer is hosted by an external site and may not be representative of our presentation in terms of audio and visual quality. All of our screenings are sourced from the best available masters.

 
 

10pm: Wolf Guy (18)

Dir: Kazuhiko Yamaguchi | Japan 1975 | 86 mins | Cert. 18

The legendary Sonny Chiba plays one of his most outrageous roles: a werewolf! 

This film will be screened in Japanese with English subtitles.

Contains strong violence, nudity and real surgical footage

  • Iconic Japanese actor and martial artist Sonny Chiba stars as a detective with a secret. Unbeknownst to his colleagues, he is also a lycanthrope – and when the moon is full, his skills of detection improve.

    A new case involving a series of savage murders leads him to uncover a strange, intricate conspiracy. Too strange to spoil here, in fact, so you’ll have a buy a ticket to find out more!

  • Click here to watch the trailer

    Please note that the trailer is hosted by an external site and may not be representative of our presentation in terms of audio and visual quality. All of our screenings are sourced from the best available masters.