Film4 Frightfest Short Film Showcase Line-up Revealed

The line-up for the Short Film Showcase presented by The Horror Channel at this years Frightfest has been revealed and appears to be  a nice selection of weird and wonderful shorts from the UK, Canada, Spain, Portugal and Australia. After looking around, a few of these are already online on various sites but if, like me, you want to experience them first on the big screen at the Empire, ignore them in their online form and allow the descriptions below to tide you over until that last week in August.

Alistair from Australian director Aaron Cartwright focuses on two ruthless killers who pick the wrong house to break into. The tagline 'Being an only child can be Hell' hints that we might expect the title character to be something of a Australian cousin to Damien. Whether 10 minutes is enough time to impose a feeling of paedophobia on the Frightfest crowd, we'll have to wait and see.

Demonitron: The Sixth Dimension comes from Canada and is directed by Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell. The film follows a dancer who descends on a hellish journey into madness after a visit from a 'messenger of the sixth dimension'.What is the Sixth Dimension? Well, the 4 minutes and 25 seconds running time seems a little tight to fully answer that but with a title like Demonitron, who cares? Some reports suggest the film could be a fake trailer, like the Machete and Hobo With a Shotgun trailers, that take the form of a homage to features from the 1970s; showcasing some so-bad-its-funny special effects and dialogue. Whether, like Hobo and Machete it spawns a feature length film, we shall see.

Brutal Relax from Spain is about Mr Olivares. A man who is advised by his doctor to take some time off, find a little piece of heaven and relax. Unfortunatley, it seems that his holiday is destined to end in blood, guts, gore and the undead. Find a trailer here: http://www.imdb.com/video/wab/vi516136217/

Banana Motherfucker. Yes. I'll let that title sink in for a moment. All the way from Portugal and by the people behind the popualar short film Papa Wrestling. I would put up a plot description but I think if the title hasn't ignited an interest, then trailer will suffice - http://www.adverblog.com/2011/07/07/banana-motherfucker/
And here is Papa Wrestling. Enjoy -  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPZMmjRceqM

Axelle Carolyn's British short The Last Post feautures an old lady in a nursing home who is visited by a man that no-one else. Whether he is hooded, has a penchant for chess and carries around a sickle remains to be seen.

Cold Call, a film by Clive Ford, takes place in the dead of night when two women and a baby are visited by an enthusiastic preacher and his assistant. They believe the world is about to end are will offer the trio salvation, reagrdless of whether they want or it not. Heres the trailer - http://vimeo.com/15196608 and a link to Ford's previous short film, Mothers Day - http://vimeo.com/10394832

Lovable Beetle Herbie is no where to be seen in Love Bug, the short film from Benjamin Kent. Frank believes his blind date is well out of his league. That is until she contracts a strange virus that signals his luck may be about to change. Unfortunately for Frank, as soon his luck begins to change, so does she - into a homicidal maniac.

Portugese short Bats in the Belfry won Best Portugese Horror Short at MOTELx 2010, Best Animation at Shortcutz Lisboa 2010 and won Joao Alves (who graduated in Marine Biology in 2005 and learnt his directing and animation skills through online tutorials and DVD extras) Best Young Director at Fantasporto 2011. This animated short features Deadeye Jack attempting to resume a botched heist with dark consequences.

Flesh Art from directors Nicholas Thompson and Chris Goodman revolves around a lone survivor of a zombie apocalypse using the body parts of others to make his own warped form of body art.

From the director of the upcoming feature length film Elfie Hopkins starring Ray Winstone and his daughter Jamie, comes the short Little Munchkin, a film that has been deemed 'Orphan meets We Are What We Are'. A superficial couple get their hands on what they see as the ultimate accessory - Margaret, their newly adopted daughter. Hell ensues when she is left alone with a babysitter on her first night in her new home. 

Is Demonitron: The Sixth Dimension good enough for a feature length version? Will Banana Motherfucker live up to the promise of that title? Who will triumph is the battle of the little shits, Little Munchkin Margaret or Australian Alistair? By the end of Sunday 28th of August, we will know all.