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

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

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 (1,250 seats ...

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth (; ) is a University town, university and seaside town and a community (Wales), community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and from Aberaeron, the county's other administrative centre. In 2021, the popula ...

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

, 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 (), also known as WOW Film Festival, is an annual celebration of world cinema held in Wales. The festival presents a touring programme that travels to towns across the country, including Bangor, Swansea, Cardigan, C ...

(WOW) for the UK premiere of the Argentinian supernatural thriller '' The Second Death'' (''La Segunda Muerte'').

Description

Abertoir the only film festival dedicated to horror films in

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

, and is a member of the

European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation European, or Europeans, 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 and other West ...

. 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 film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

s. It also includes a

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

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, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their featu ...

(2007) *

Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. Best known for his acting work on stage and screen as well as for co-creating television shows with Steven Moffat, he has received ...

(2008) *

Doug Bradley Douglas William Bradley (born 7 September 1954) is an English actor best known for his role as the Cenobite leader Pinhead in the ''Hellraiser'' film series. Early life Douglas William Bradley was born in Liverpool on 7 September 1954. He ...

(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 h ...

(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 memoir, ''The Way of Being Lost: A Road Trip to My Truest Self'' and ''Vincent Price: A Daughter's Biography''. She currently spends much of her time ...

(daughter of

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor. He was known for his work in the horror film genre, mostly portraying villains. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price ...

) (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 ''Gates of Hell'' tr ...

(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 Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists o ...

(2013, 2015 & 2016) * Luigi Cozzi (2014 & 2016) * Ian McCulloch (2014) * Dario Russo and David Ashby (creators of Danger 5) (2015) * Lynn Lowry (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, Italy, 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 f ...

(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 A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of educatio ...

(2017) * Gary Sherman (film director) (2019 & 2023) * John Scott (composer) (2019) * Norman J. Warren (film director) (2019) * Prano Bailey-Bond (film director) (2021) * William Crain (film director) (2022)

Notable premieres

The following films were premiered at the festival before general release: * '' Broken'' (2006) * '' Isolation'' (2006) * '' All The Boys Love Mandy Lane'' (2007) * ''

Dead Wood Dead wood may refer to: *Dead tree (disambiguation) * Dead wood, the "straight man" in a double act *Dead Wood (novel), ''Dead Wood'' (novel), a 2009 novel by Chris Longmuir * Dead Wood (film), ''Dead Wood'' (film), a 2007 British film See also< ...

'' (2007) * '' Planet Terror'' (2007) * ''

Colin Colin may refer to: * Colin (given name) * Colin (surname) * ''Colin'' (film), a 2008 Cannes film festival zombie movie * Colin (horse) (1905–1932), Thoroughbred racehorse * Colin (humpback whale), a humpback whale calf abandoned north of Sydney, ...

'' (2008) * '' The Uh! Oh! Show'' (2009) * '' Rare Exports'' (2010)

Notable bands

Notable bands which have played at the film festival include: * Daemonia (band of horror composer Claudio Simonetti) (2008) * Zombina and the Skeletones (2009 and 2010) * The Damned (2010) * Devilish Presley (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 in Wales