Splat!FilmFest. The Scariest Films at the Scariest Festival

You’ll be picking your jaws up off the floor after watching Australia’s “Dead Eyes”, a horror film shot entirely from the protagonist’s point of view. He ventures into a sinister forest in search of his missing father and hoping to uncover the truth about his sister’s death. Along the way, he stumbles upon a terrifying secret, one he would have been much better off never discovering. This inventive horror, which bends the rules of the genre, is directed by Richard E. Williams and is guaranteed to haunt the dreams of everyone who sees it for weeks to come.

You’ll also be turning on every light in the house after watching the British horror “Abandoned”, a genuinely terrifying film in which two online content creators ignore the warning signs and venture inside an abandoned building. Perhaps they should have taken those warnings seriously? Audiences will get the chance to ask that very question, as three of the nearly 60 guests attending the 12th Splat!FilmFest are the people behind the film: director Joby Stephens, screenwriter Joe Bird and lead actress Grace Gallagher.

A more classic, exquisitely crafted kind of unease awaits in the Japanese horror “Never After Dark”, the story of a stoic medium who takes on the job of exorcising a spirit from an old hotel. It soon becomes clear that this is unlike anything she has encountered before. And audiences are in for the same surprise. “Never After Dark” delivers its scares through fresh, unconventional techniques, plays with audience expectations and remains an exceptionally elegant horror film throughout.

One of the most terrifying films in this year’s line-up is the Polish horror “ÒPI” by Marta Giec. A young woman is desperate to break free from the suffocating grip of her deeply devout mother, but her escape plans are thrown into disarray by an unexpected visit from long-forgotten relatives. “ÒPI” cleverly draws on Kashubian folk beliefs to tell a universal story of youth and rebellion, while scaring audiences to the bone. The people behind this chilling vision of Polish horror will be on hand to talk about how they brought it to life: director Marta Giec, screenwriter Dominika Kłoczewiak, and cast members Wiktoria Kruszczyńska, Gabriela Muskała and Magdalena Boczarska.

As part of its European premiere programme, Splat!FilmFest will also present the harrowing Kazakh horror “Ürei”. We won’t reveal too much about this one, just to make sure it delivers the full shock to our audiences. This is a film that has no regard for taboos or conventional limits on what can be shown on screen. You’ll need some time to recover afterwards. And that’s exactly the point. We’ll also be bringing back a shared, intergenerational Polish trauma with a big-screen screening of a film that left a lasting mark on Polish millennials: “Friend of the Jolly Devil”.

We’ll also be screening the unsettling South African horror “The Trek”, a brilliant and terrifying blend of the western and horror genres that proves surprisingly effective in an entirely different part of the world. Here, terror grows out of emptiness and mounting paranoia. What is unnamed and unknown is what inspires the greatest fear. “The Trek” is one of the brightest gems in this year’s programme.

And there are plenty more where that came from. This year, Splat!FilmFest will showcase nearly 100 films from all corners of the world. Among the festival’s guests are not only numerous filmmakers whose films we are presenting in their Polish premieres, but also some true legends: Julie Corman, film producer and longtime collaborator and wife of the legendary Roger Corman, and George Mihalka, director of the cult slasher “My Bloody Valentine”, who is coming to the 12th Splat!FilmFest to celebrate the film’s 45th anniversary with audiences.

This year, Splat!FilmFest is also taking a selection of its films on the road to nine other Polish cities. As always, the festival’s main edition will take place at Kinoteka in Warsaw, from October 22 to 31.