(Southend-on-Sea) No red carpets or glamorous awards: UK horror film festival Horror-on-Sea has, however, gained international acclaim in its 10-year history by spotting independent productions .
“We had decided from the start that it was pointless to copy all the big horror film festivals”, explains to AFP Paul Cosgrove who created in 2013 this meeting in Southend-on-Sea, in east London.
“Winter is dead” here, he adds, referring to the coastal town, known for its pontoon that stretches over two kilometers into the Thames estuary.
“I thought to myself: let’s look at the new independent horror films, the ones that will probably never make it to the big festivals. […]those that are a bit rough around the edges,” he says.
Each year, the festival is held in a large hotel that is a little outdated and deprived of other guests during the winter months.
Horror-on-Sea has become a benchmark for niche horror movies that often get crowdfunded.
This year, for six days until January 22, 36 feature films and 44 short films are on the program, selected from hundreds of productions.
For the specialized site Dread Central, Horror-on-Sea was last year one of the best horror festivals in the world.
But in the deserted streets of Southend, nothing suggests such an appointment.
Loyal audience
“We have a very loyal audience that will forgive us a low-budget production if the script is good,” says Dani Thompson, an actress who appears in six of the screened films.
Debbie Blake, a 49-year-old employee in a wind turbine company, has attended the last four editions “because of the new films that we don’t get to see elsewhere”.
She watches six films a day, despite uncomfortable chairs, a homemade projection system and a microphone that often fails when the directors present their works.
There are no formal question-and-answer sessions after the screening, but everyone can chat with the directors, screenwriters or actors at the sea-view bar.
“In 2013, the first edition of the festival selected our first feature when no one else was really interested,” recalls director Mj Dixon. “It really launched my career,” he says ten years later, with now a dozen feature films and several awards to his credit.
Italian director Christian Bachini has already seen his short film Climbing to be screened at other festivals but was keen to present it at Horror-on-Sea due to the venue’s reputation.
Many foreign directors, however, do not travel to the south-east of England for lack of means.
The type of films screened – gore, with dark humor and many sexist stereotypes – managed to thrive despite the difficulties affecting the cinema.
“Last year, many of the films that applied were related to COVID-19,” says Cosgrove.
“People who make low-budget films are more creative because they don’t have a lot of money and they’ve all suddenly said to themselves, ‘If we go to the streets, there’s no one there, we can make a film about empty streets and it’s free,” he says.
Horror films are often a reflection of society, believes Mr. Dixon, while judging that they allow “escape” from current crises and social conflicts.