Celebrating its 10th anniversary, the IFI’s Halloween Horrorthon promises a gory line-up of films from Irish and international directors from the 25 -29 October. David Slade’s vampire flic ‘30 Days of Night’ opens the 2007 scream fest.
Based on the celebrated comic of the same name, ‘30 Days of Night’ stars Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbour, The Black Dahlia) and Melissa George (Mulholland Dr., Waz). The film is set in the Alaskan town of Barrow, which plunges into darkness for 30 days every winter. This winter, a host of bloodthirsty vampires appear ready to feed on the town’s inhabitants, while the town’s sheriff (Hartnett) and his estranged wife Stella (George) do everything they can to survive until daylight.
The Horrorthon comes to a bloodthirsty end at 8.30pm on 29th October with Robert Rodrigeuz’s zombie flick ‘Planet Terror’. Jeff Fahey (Wyatt Earp, Absolute Zero) plays a restaurant owner who is trying to perfect his recipe for barbecue sauce, when Sheriff Hague, played by Michael Biehn (The Rock, Borderline), seeks refuge with a number of the unaffected, and the place becomes a magnet for the undead.
Major Irish highlight is the spoof horror-thriller ‘Botched’ from Irish director Kit Ryan. Starring Stephen Dorff (Blade, World Trade Centre) as professional thief Ritchie Donovan, who is sent to Russia to steal a priceless antique cross. Ritchie and his psychotic Russian accomplices faces unforeseen obstacles on the way, including a serial killer descended from Ivan the Terrible. Partly shot on location in Ireland last year, the gore-fest also stars Irish actress Bronagh Gallagher (The Commitments) and Hugh O’Conor (Speed Dating, Showbands).
Classic films to be screened include Terence Fisher’s ‘Dracula’, Spielberg’s ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’ and John Mc Tiernan’s ‘Predator’
Special guests this year are ‘Driftwood’ director Tim O’Sullivan and ‘Botched’ director, Kit Ryan.
For a full line-up go to www.irishfilm.ie.
