Abertoir: The International Horror Festival of Wales is an annual horror and

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

festival held in the

Aberystwyth Arts Centre Aberystwyth Arts Centre (Welsh: ''Canolfan y Celfyddydau Aberystwyth'') is an arts centre in Wales, located on Aberystwyth University's Penglais campus. One of the largest in Wales, it comprises a theatre (312 seats), concert hall (900 seats), s ...

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location in ...

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...

, Wales.

History

The festival began as a three-day event in 2006, expanding since to a six-day programme of films and events. In 2014, Abertoir collaborated with the

Wales One World Film Festival Wales One World Film Festival ( cy, Gŵyl Ffilm WOW "Cymru a’r Byd yn Un" ), also known as WOW Film Festival, is an annual film festival that takes place in the Aberystwyth Arts Centre in Aberystwyth, Wales, UK. It is the longest-running Briti ...

(WOW) for the UK premiere of the Argentinian supernatural thriller ''

The Second Death ''The Second Death'' is a 2000 in film, 2000 Cinema of Ireland, Irish short film written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, and starring Liam Cunningham. The film is McDonagh's film debut as both writer and director. Plot James Mangan (Li ...

'' (''La Segunda Muerte'').

Description

Abertoir the only film festival dedicated to horror films in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, and is a member of the

European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...

. The festival screens new big-budget horror films, along with classics and

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

s. It also includes a

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

competition, screening entries from around the world. It often also features music concerts, stage productions and masterclasses. It maintains a partnership with the WOW Film Festival.

Notable guests

Notable guests of honour have included: *

Lloyd Kaufman Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz (producer), Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director ...

(2007) *

Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series ''Doctor Who'', '' Sherlock'', and '' Dracula''. Together with ...

(2008) *

Doug Bradley Douglas William Bradley (born 7 September 1954) is an English actor and author, best known for his role as the lead Cenobite "Pinhead" in the ''Hellraiser'' film series and for narration on various Cradle of Filth albums. He is also starri ...

(2008 and 2009) *

Herschell Gordon Lewis Herschell Gordon Lewis (June 15, 1926 – September 26, 2016) was an American filmmaker, best known for creating the " splatter" subgenre of horror films. He is often called the "Godfather of Gore" (a title also given to Lucio Fulci), though hi ...

(2009) * Robin Hardy (2006 and 2010) *

Victoria Price Mary Victoria Price (born April 27, 1962) is an American public speaker and the author of the inspirational memoir, ''The Way of Being Lost: A Road Trip to My Truest Self'' and ''Vincent Price: A Daughter's Biography''. She currently spends much ...

(daughter of

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

) (2011 and 2015) *

Catriona MacColl Catriona MacColl (born 3 October 1954) is an English actress who has worked extensively in both film and television across Europe. She is best known for her work in Italian horror films, as she has appeared in Lucio Fulci's ''City of the Living ...

(2012) *

Richard Johnson Richard or Dick Johnson may refer to: Academics * Dick Johnson (academic) (1929–2019), Australian academic * Richard C. Johnson (1930–2003), professor of electrical engineering * Richard A. Johnson, artist and professor at the University of ...

(2013) *

Fabio Frizzi Fabio Frizzi (born 2 July 1951) is an Italian musician and composer. Born in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, he is best known for his film scores and was a frequent collaborator with horror director Lucio Fulci. Frizzi is the older brother of the ...

(2013, 2015 & 2016) *

Luigi Cozzi is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's masc ...

(2014 & 2016) * Ian McCulloch (2014) * Dario Russo and David Ashby (creators of

Danger 5 ''Danger 5'' is an Australian action comedy television series which premiered on SBS One on 27 February 2012. The men's adventure-magazine-inspired series was created by Dario Russo and David Ashby. The first series is set in a bizarre, campy, ...

) (2015) *

Lynn Lowry Linda Kay "Lynn" Lowry (born October 15, 1947) is an American actress, screenwriter and producer. She is perhaps best known for her work in horror films, having appeared in the cult films '' I Drink Your Blood'' (1970), George A. Romero's '' Th ...

(2016) *

Sergio Martino Sergio Martino (born 19 July 1938) is an Italian film director and producer, notable for his contributions to the giallo genre. Martino is the brother of the late producer Luciano Martino (who died in 2013). They collaborated frequently in their ...

(2017) *

Lamberto Bava Lamberto Bava (born 3 April 1944) is an Italian film director. Born in Rome, Bava began working as an assistant director for his director father Mario Bava. Lamberto co-directed the 1979 television film ''La Venere d'Ille'' with his father and in ...

(2017) *

Brian O'Malley Brian Kevin O'Malley (22 January 1930 – 6 April 1976) was a British Labour Party politician. O'Malley was educated at Mexborough Grammar School and Manchester University. He was a teacher and lecturer and a trade union official. From 19 ...

(2017) * Gary Sherman (film director) (2019) * John Scott (composer) (2019) * Norman J. Warren (film director) (2019)

Notable premieres

The following films were premiered at the festival before general release: * '' Broken'' (2006) * '' Isolation'' (2006) * ''

All The Boys Love Mandy Lane ''All the Boys Love Mandy Lane'' is a 2006 American slasher film directed by Jonathan Levine and starring Amber Heard, Michael Welch, Whitney Able, and Anson Mount. The plot centers on a group of popular high schoolers who invite an attractive o ...

'' (2007) * ''

Dead Wood ''Dead Wood'' is a 2007 British horror film, written, produced and directed by Richard Stiles and David Bryant and starring Emily Juniper, Fergus March, Rebecca Craven, Nina Kwok and John Samuel Worsey with Bryant appearing in a small role. ''D ...

'' (2007) * ''

Planet Terror ''Planet Terror'' is a 2007 American action horror film written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. Set in Texas, the film follows the survivors of a biochemical outbreak as they battle zombie-like creatures and a rogue military unit. It stars Rose ...

'' (2007) * '' Colin'' (2008) * '' The Uh! Oh! Show'' (2009) * ''

Rare Exports ''Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale'' is a 2010 Finnish fantasy film, fantasy action film, action horror comedy film written and directed by Jalmari Helander about people living near Korvatunturi who discover the secret behind Santa Claus. The film ...

'' (2010)

Notable bands

Notable bands which have played at the film festival include: * Daemonia (band of horror composer

Claudio Simonetti Claudio Simonetti (born 19 February 1952) is an Italian musician and film composer. He moved with his family from Brazil to Italy at the age of 11. The keyboardist of the progressive rock band Goblin, Simonetti has specialized in the scores for I ...

) (2008) *

Zombina and the Skeletones Zombina and the Skeletones are an English rock band from Liverpool, formed in 1998 around the nucleus of vocalist Zombina and songwriter Doc Horror. , their last recording was a self-released EP in 2017, and their official website is dismant ...

(2009 and 2010) * The Damned (2010) *

Devilish Presley Devilish Presley are an English gothabilly band from London, England. History A gothabilly band that formed in East London in 2002, they released six albums on their own label November Tenth Records and toured constantly for eleven years bui ...

(2011) *

and the Frizzi 2 Fulci Band (2015, 2016)

References

External links

*{{official, http://www.abertoir.co.uk/ Aberystwyth Film festivals in Wales Fantasy and horror film festivals in the United Kingdom Autumn events in Wales