Tag Archives: British horror

Film Festivals, horror, Short films

The Suicide Shift (2026) | Award winning short horror film | YouTube release

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THE SUICIDE SHIFT (2026) – YouTube release

After a very successful year of festival screenings across the UK and around the world, I am not pleased to announce my short horror film, The Suicide Shift is being released on October 31st 2026 on YouTube.

I am very proud of the film as both a psychological horror story, but also as it is such a personal film to me. Please be aware the film contains themes relating to suicidal ideation so viewer discretion is advised.

Click on the link below to watch it.

Tagline

Connect. Process. Record. Never intervene.

Pitch

Banished to the “suicide shift” for breaking spirit call centre regulations, CARMILLA FERRY, now deals with the most tortured of souls moving from this world to the next. After being blasted by her line manager on the phone, Russell, Carmilla is feeling even more isolated and demoralised than usual. After a series of heart-crushing calls, culminating in a particularly stressful shift, Carmilla is then faced with the most heart-wrenching call of all.

Cast

Julia Florimo as Carmilla Ferry
Myles Horgan as Russell Schaeffer
Felicia Kaspar as Lucy Carpenter

Lost Souls (Voices) – Ashley Wong, Bai Ruiying, Bogdan Dima, Christina Leitner, Federica Ruggieri, Jyothi Gupta, Kay Abel, Maria Busz, Melissa Zajk, Paul Laight, Sanjay Batra, Szymon Bartoszek.

Crew

Director, Producer & Writer: Paul Laight
Cinematography: Petros Gioumpasis
Sound Recordist & Designer: Ali Kivanc
Camera Assistant: Ben Bogdan-Hodgson
Make-Up: Georgie Lang
Location Manager: Melissa Zajk
Editors: Oliver McGuirk & Petros Gioumpasis
Composer: Ben Randall
Poster designs: Jaffer Hashim & Gary O’Brien

Every 90 minutes in the UK, someone dies by suicide. But talking saves lives.

Call The Samaritans 116 123 – https://www.samaritans.org/

Festival Screenings & Awards

  • 9th International Folklore Film Festival 2026@INDIA
  • 2 COUNTIES INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL (2CIFF) – Nominee Best Horror
  • Aphrodite Film Awards – Finalist Short Horror
  • Bedford Independent Film Festival Award – Winner Best Drama Film
  • E14 Indie Film Festival
  • Fortean Film Festival
  • Global INDIE Filmmaker Awards – Nominated Best Horror Film
  • HorrorConUK
  • HorrorHound TV – Finalist Nominated
  • Horror-on-Sea Film Festival
  • International Celebration of Cinema – Nominated Best Horror Film
  • KeyBored Words
  • Lift Off Filmmaker Sessions Volume 12
  • London Independent Film Festival
  • London International Motion Picture Awards
  • London Night Film Festival – Award Winner Best British Short Horror
  • London Underground Independent Film Festival
  • Nightpiece Film Festival 2026 (Edinburgh Festival Fringe)
  • Performance Film Insurance – Nominee Best Short Horror Film
  • Portobello Film Festival
  • Romford Horror Festival
  • SamhainBaucogna International Film Festival – Award Winner Best Horror Short
  • Spring Time International Film Festival – Award Winner Best Short
  • Stockholm City Film Festival – Honorable Mention Best Horror
  • The Pittsburgh Moving Picture Festival: Thriller Picture Show – Nominee Best International Short Film
  • The White Rose International Film Festival – Award Winner Best Director
  • UK Film Awards – Nominee Best Sci-Fi Film
  • Unrestricted View Horror Film Festival

© 2026 – A Fix Films Production

Amazon Prime, Cult Cinema, Films That Got Away, horror

CULT MOVIE REVIEW: XTRO (1982)

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CULT MOVIE REVIEW: XTRO (1982)

Directed by: Harry Bromley Davenport

Screenplay by: Harry Bromley Davenport, Michel Perry, Iain Cassie, Robert Smith

Story by: Harry Bromley Davenport, Michel Perry

Produced by: Mark Forstater

Cast: Bernice Stegers, Philip Sayer, Simon Nash, Maryam d’Abo, Danny Brainin etc.

Cinematography: John Metcalfe

*** MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS ***

Being a fan of the horror genre never fails to spring surprises, especially if you also love trashy-B-movie-exploitation-video-nasties too. Because what often occurs is a hidden or buried or previously banned film will reanimate and be located on one of the many streaming platforms we have today. I am both surprised and even more joyous if I find I have never even seen the said film. This is certainly the case with low-budget alien monster film, XTRO (1982).

There I was pressing play via Amazon Prime, thinking it was another schlocky American indie I had missed from yesteryear, only to discover Xtro (1982) is actually a bizarre British film which twists and riffs on the box office hit that was ET: Extra Terrestrial (1982). Xtro (1982), directed by Harry Bromley Davenport, is not a comforting family science fiction drama like its more famous counterpart though. Instead, it is a gory sci-fi shocker with many outrageously violent set-pieces and a budget lower than E.T.’s lunch bill.

Critically damned at the time, Xtro (1982), when released on home video in 1983, was subject to a prosecution case in relation to British obscenity laws and labelled a “video-nasty”. Watching it now I have to admit it is quite shocking still, but the practical effects are so gloriously over-the-top they are more humorous than sickening. Having said that there are some memorably gruesome moments involving alien births, crazy clowns, a live “Action Man” doll, weird space eggs, and transformative man-into-monster effects.

The film doesn’t hang about establishing character but propels, from the opening scene of a father playing in the garden with his son, straight into the disappearing parent plot. The father (Philip Sayers) vanishes without a trace and three years later his wife (Bernice Stegers) and son are attempting to repair their lives. Yet, the boy is suffering horrific nightmares when suddenly his father reappears attempting to reconcile. The familial drama within the script itself could have been further developed to some emotional impact. However, while Bernice Stegers gives a decent dramatic performance, the film soon descends into a mix of surreal and insane set-pieces, combined with the father’s metamorphosis into something from another world.

There’s much to like and much to loathe about, Xtro (1982), notably the gratuitous nudity sprinkled throughout. Yet, if you are drawn to exploitational B-movies there is much sick entertainment to be found in the blend of impressive practical effects and creature moments. Philip Sayer and Bernice Stegers keep the shlocky elements of the plot in check with sane acting performances and despite some eccentric writing throughout Harry Bromley Davenport and his team have delivered an out-of-this-world bona fide B-movie cult classic.