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Film Festivals, horror

Thanks to Horror Con 2026!

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Thanks to Horror Con 2026!

Earlier this month – appropriately running from 06.06.2026 to 07.06.2026 – myself and my wife attended the Horror Con 2026 event in Sheffield, England. My short film The Suicide Shift (2026) screened alongside many other great indie horror shorts there amidst a plethora of other wonderful happenings and people.

If you are a fan of all things horror from films, television, comic books, music, theatre, literature, posters, cos-play and also a memorabilia collector then this is definitely an event you should visit. As well as meet, greets and talks from horror stars, actors, writers, directors and musicians of now and yesteryear there are a myriad of stalls containing all manner of fantastic merchandise and collector’s items.

For more information check out their website here!

As well as the screening of The Suicide Shift (2026), the event was an opportunity to meet and hear from the legends of horror, cinema and TV more generally. I specifically met Fred Williamson, former American football star, actor from Black Caesar (1973), From Dusk til Dawn (1996), The Inglorious Bastards (1978) and many more blaxploitation and action films. He’s 88 years young and was so full of energy and it was amazing to meet and get his autograph.

Further, I also had the pleasure of meeting and speaking to self-proclaimed genius horror author, TV writer/producer/actor, Garth Marenghi, whose Channel 4 horror-comedy show Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place (2004) was an essential early-millennium watch. I spoke with him about his experience and knowledge working on the weird horror film Possum (2018). Garth remarked that was done by the ‘other guy’, Matthew Holness, and it nearly broke him as the writer and director of that feature film. It was a highly amusing experience, even just chatting for a short time, to a performer so fiercely staying “in character.”

My wife, Melissa, would herself meet and get the autograph of comedy and horror great, Reece Shearsmith on the Sunday. His creative partner, Steve Pemberton (Saturday only), was also in attendance along with such luminaries as Ian Ogilvy, Heather Langenkamp, Caroline Munro (who I met at Romford Horror Festival 2026), Camille Keaton, Nancy Loomis (Kyes), plus the most intriguing appearance from composer and longtime Lucio Fulci collaborator, Fabio Frizzi. Most pleasing of all was Fabio and a fellow guitarist gave a classical guitar performance in the event hall of many of his horror film compositions. Along with the talks from the hilarious, Garth Marenghi, and brilliant, Reece Shearsmith, Frizzi’s musical performance was one of the major highlights of the weekend.

If you love horror I can certainly recommend making the annual pilgrimage to the Magna Centre in the Rotherham area of Sheffield in the future. It has been going for over a decade now and grows ever popular.

Here is a slideshow selection of photos from the event.

Classic Film Reviews, Cult Cinema, Film Festivals

Romford Horror Film Festival 2026 & The Cannibal Man (1972) reviews!

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Romford Horror Film Festival & The Cannibal Man (1972) review

From 19th–22nd February 2026, Romford, Essex emerged not just as a venue, but as a creative crucible for genre storytelling as the Romford Horror International Film Festival — affectionately dubbed HorRHIFFic — returned to the Lumiere Cinema with its most ambitious programme yet – details can be found here: https://www.romfordhorrorfestival.com

This four-day celebration of horror cinema is rooted in the independent filmmaking spirit: championing works from emerging voices around the world, blending them alongside classic cult favourites, and generating an atmosphere of passion, community, and shared reverence for the genre. What makes this festival truly special isn’t just the size of its programme — though over 130 films certainly made for a thrilling schedule — but its wholehearted dedication to independent filmmakers who bring new ideas, daring vision, and personal passion to every frame.

Across its programme, the festival showcased a thrilling mix of guests and films that honour horror’s breadth including: Classic Retro Treats, Special Guests and Actors from Horror, New Independent Features & Shorts from countries such as South Korea, Canada, Spain, USA, and Italy, plus Creative Diversity — with screenings that embraced psychological depth, gory slashers, ghost stories, off-beat genre hybrids, and boundary-pushing work from both early-career filmmakers and seasoned indie pros.

Romford Horror Festival is also renowned for the community it builds. Horror fans come together not just to watch films, but to share experiences, meet creators, and feel at home in an environment that values innovation over commercialism. The Lumiere Cinema, itself a community-saved venue, became a home for filmmakers and fans alike — proving that in Romford, horror isn’t just screened… it’s commemorated. I for one am so grateful they screened my short horror film The Suicide Shift (2026).

As well as the short film showcases I watched a few retro classics including The Cannibal Man (1972) – (original title: La semana del asesino), directed by Eloy de la Iglesia. It is less a horror film than a slow, suffocating moral collapse. What begins as an unfortunate act of violence spirals into a weeklong descent into hell for Marcos, played with haunted fragility by Vicente Parra. Each subsequent killing feels less like cruelty and more like inevitability — the grinding machinery of fate closing in on a man already spiritually trapped.

Set against the decaying outskirts of Madrid in the final years of the Franco regime, The Cannibal Man (1972) doubles as a bleak portrait of a society rotting from repression. The slaughterhouse where Marcos works becomes an unsubtle but potent metaphor: under Francoism, bodies are processed, identities erased, dissent quietly carved up and discarded.

What makes the film especially daring is its undercurrent of homoerotic tension. Marcos’ wealthy, enigmatic neighbour Néstor hovers at the edges of the carnage, offering protection and silent understanding. Their charged glances and coded conversations suggest a longing that cannot safely speak its name under Franco’s moral authoritarianism. In this reading, Marcos’ spiral is not only about guilt but about internalized repression — desire twisted inward until it manifests as self-destruction. The horror is as much psychological as physical.

And yes, the gore is blunt and ugly. Bodies are dismembered with the same cold pragmatism as livestock. But de la Iglesia never lets the blood eclipse the tragedy. Marcos is not a monster in the conventional sense; he is a man cornered by circumstance, class stagnation, and a society that offers no mercy to the weak. By the end, his descent feels preordained — less a fall from grace than a revelation that grace was never available to him.

So, if you love horror films do check out indie film festivals such as – HorRHIFFic – whether it’s the electrifying surprises in the indie showcases or the nostalgic thrill of classic screenings, the Romford Horror Film Festival 2026 made it clear: independent horror cinema is alive, vibrant, and boldly inventive. This festival is a testament to the creativity and ingenuity of filmmakers who refuse to be confined by convention — and to the audiences who cheer them on.