Romford Horror Film Festival (aka HORRHIFFIC) is an independent horror

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

founded in 2020 by festival director

Spencer Hawken Spencer Hawken (born 6 May 1973) is a British film producer, director, writer, and former film critic. His work includes '' Death Walks'' and ''No Reasons''. Career Hawken has worked as a retailer and fashion director at Debenhams, during which ...

. The festival takes place annually in

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and is hosted at Premiere Cinemas inside The Mercury Mall. The festival celebrates the showcasing of the best horror independent British and International films. The festival provides a platform for established and emerging

filmmakers Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screenwritin ...

in showcasing their work, discover new talent, and

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

with industry professionals. The festival also bring a variety of horror themed workshops, talks and stalls as well as giving the audience opportunities to engage with filmmakers through live Q&A's. The festival includes screenings from first-time filmmakers to some of the most established names on the independent horror film circuit with

features Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature recognition, could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (machine learning), in statistics: individual measurable properties of the phenome ...

and

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 ...

s. The festival recognises the achievements of filmmakers through

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

s in multiple categories. The festival has attracted a growing audience of filmmakers and industry professionals over the years including

Eileen Dietz Eileen Dietz is an American actress who is best known for her appearances in many horror films such as the face of the demon in ''The Exorcist'' and for her portrayal of characters on the soap operas ''Guiding Light'' and ''General Hospital''. ...

, Dani Thompson, Ayvianna Snow,

Silvia Collatina Silvia Collatina (born 14 January 1972 in Rome, Lazio, Italy) is an Italian actress who appeared in several movies of the late 1970s and 80s. She is best known for her roles in The Great Alligator, The House by the Cemetery and Murder Rock. C ...

Giovanni Lombardo Radice Giovanni Lombardo Radice (23 September 1954 – 27 April 2023) was an Italian actor, screenwriter and theatre director. He was best known to film audiences for his roles in horror films, several of which became cult classics. He was sometimes cr ...

History

In 2020 the Romford Horror Festival announced to be taking place in summer 2021 and was taking submissions prior to the event. The festival Is developed by the festival director

who also developed the Romford Film Festival. In 2021, the 1st festival was held from 5–6 June 2021 and hosted 60 independent horror feature and short films. The festival was one of the first physical festivals in the UK post COVID-19 outbreak. As part of the festival that year

Guns Akimbo ''Guns Akimbo'' is a 2019 action comedy film written and directed by Jason Lei Howden. It stars Daniel Radcliffe, Samara Weaving, Ned Dennehy, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Grant Bowler, Edwin Wright, Rhys Darby, Milo Cawthorne, Richard Knowles, an ...

was screened which starred

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

’s

Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. Radcliffe rose to fame at age twelve for portraying the title character in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. He starred in all eight films in the series, from '' Harry Potter a ...

. It also saw

introduce the special guest video introduction to ‘The Exorcist: Directors Cut’. The team behind the festival that year was invited to attend Tashkent Film Festival where they were the first UK film delegation to attend. In 2022, the 2nd festival was held from 25 to 27 February 2022 and hosted 80 independent horror feature and short films. The

Extraneous Matter which won best short film in 2022, was reimagined into a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

by Kenichi Ugana. The festival recorded to have had over 400 audience members during the weekend event after restrictions was lifted as part of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Artists Rick Melton and Noufaux was in attendance as part of the festivals meet and greet. As part of the 2021 festival season in the previous year Manos: The Hands of Fate was screened. As part of the 2022 festival season the sequel Manos Returns was screened at the festival. The festival screened “The Ogress” a 25-minute short film. The film is inspired by serial killer Amelia Dyer, who over a thirty-year period, is believed to have killed hundreds of babies through her work as a baby farmer. In 2023, the 3rd festival was held from 23 to 26 February 2023 and hosted 101 independent horror feature and short films over two different screens. The festival was host to local talent with a screening of feature film Videoshop Tales of Terror, largely shot at the Mercury Mall where the festival takes place. Films included international Pou as South African film and the uncanny from United States. This also saw the director Clara Gabrielle and actress Marie Laurin fly in for the event. The festival also hosted a long unseen interview with acclaimed director

Lucio Fulci Lucio Fulci (; 17 June 1927 – 13 March 1996) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Although he worked in a wide array of genres through a career spanning nearly five decades, including Commedia all'italiana, comedies and spagh ...

which was recently uncovered. As part of this screening two Italian actors who worked with the director,

and

, was at the festival throughout the weekend, both did exclusive interviews with Live Q&A along with public signings for festival pass holders. In an interview with Festival Director

, Collatina revealed she didn't expect to still be going places and talking about

The House by the Cemetery ''The House by the Cemetery'' () is a 1981 Italian supernatural slasher film directed by Lucio Fulci, co-written with Dardano Sacchetti and Giorgio Mariuzzo, and starring Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, Ania Pieroni, Giovanni Frezza, Silvia ...

film 40 years later.

’s last public appearance was at the 2023 festival alongside

. In 2024, the 4th festival was held 29 February – 3 March 2024. In 2025, the 5th festival will be held 28 February – 2 March 2025.

Awards

The Romford Horror Film Festival recognises the achievements of filmmakers in variety of the following awards. *Best Feature Film *Best Short Film *Best Director *Best Screenplay *Best Actor *Best Actress *Best Cinematography *Best Score *Best Visual Effects *Best International Film *Best Foreign Language Film *Best Local Film *Best Documentary Film *Best Animated Film *Best Anthology Film *Best Comedy-Horror Film *Best Film with a budget between £1,000 - £10,000 *Best Film with a budget of between £10,000 - £100,000 *Best Film Under 5 minutes *Best Cheap Thrills *Best Student Body Film *Best Short Sharp Shock *Jury Prize Award *Alternative Awards *Special Commendation

Official selection

References

External links

Official Website

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{{Cinema of the United Kingdom Annual events in London Film festivals in London Film festivals established in 2020 2020 establishments in England

History

Awards

Official selection

See also

References

External links