Horror film fest returns to Southend – bigger and bloodier than ever

Southend’s hugely successful Horror-on-Sea Film Festival is returning for a third-successive year.

With demand for this year’s ‘scarefest’ running so high, the decision was made to spread the 2015 festival across two weekends; giving fans of the genre more chances to enjoy a gore-packed programme of feature and short films, plus meet actors and directors.

The festival starts on Friday 23rd January at the Park Inn hotel located at the top of Southend’s Pier Hill, with the second part – ‘the Rest of the Fest’ – running from Friday 30th January at the White Bus Cinema, in the TAP building, on North Road, Southend.

“The reputation of the festival is already such that I was inundated with entries for next January’s event”, explains Paul Cotgrove, the organiser of the event. “The standard of the submissions is so good, that I just had to give the work the audience it deserves – and that meant making the festival bigger.”

The 2015 edition of Horror-on-Sea will feature nearly sixty brand new, independent horror films from thirteen countries around the world; including the USA, Belgium, Finland, Serbia, Portugal and Australia.

The line up promises all kinds of spine-chilling terror including zombies, serial killers, vampires, werewolves and conjoined twins running amok.

Highlights will include a screening of Spencer Estabrooks’ monsterific Sharkasaurus (from 3pm, Sunday 25 January) followed by a discussion with the cast and crew, a Grime House Premiere (from 8pm, Sunday 25 January) – in which a short made during the Festival will be screened for the very first time.

Paul said: “To think that the guys who made ‘Sharkasaurus’ are travelling all the way from Canada to join us shows how important the festival is becoming for this area of film-making. What’s more, Horror-on-Sea is becoming an important date in the calendar – not just for fans of the genre but also budding writers, producers, directors and actors.”

He added: “To have something that is not only brilliant fun and great value entertainment but also inspiring and educational is very satisfying.”

Prices are £5 per film or £20 for a Day Pass. For the serious fans a Weekend Pass that gets you into everything is available for £50. For a full list of all the films and to book tickets, visit: www.horror-on-sea.com