horrorfest south africa

The South African Horrorfest enters its 18th edition after surviving the pandemic and making international “Best Horror Film Festival” lists such as those of US publications Movie Maker Magazine and Dread Central.

Once again, we’re bringing horror fans an incredible selection of new, indie, rare, classic, and short films from around the world, both in theaters and on demand. The Horrorfest will be the African / South African premiere for the majority of the new releases.

Cinema & Streaming

A dozen in-cinema shows will be shown at the SA Horrorfest’s long-standing venue partner, The Labia Theatre in Cape Town, while those outside of the city and across South Africa can also access the event via Quicket, which will stream 11 movies and 5 short film collections.

Highlights

The festival kicks off with a live performance of the Makabra Ensemble’s live score for Nosferatu’s centenary screening; a special 16mm projection of Bela Lugosi’s classic Dracula; a Rocky Horror Picture Show audience participation screening; a South African feature film screening of Pou with cast and crew; and four documentaries on subjects such as Stephen King and Chucky.

Festival Jury

The international jury comprises of: Chris Alexander (filmmaker, musician, Fangoria- and Delirium magazine editor), Kat Ellinger (editor in chief of Diabolique Magazine, horror cinema aficionado and writer, and cohost of their Daughters of Darkness podcast), Nicholas Vince (actor known as Chatterer Cenobite in Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, and Kinski in Nightbreed) as well as Horrorfest creators Sonja and Paul. 

This Year’s Line Up

In Cinema

HALLOWEEN ENDS (14 Oct, 8pm)
Special warm-up pre-release premiere screening

NOSFERATU (18 Nov, 9pm)
Centenary with a live Makabra Ensemble soundtrack performance

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (19 Nov, 9pm)
Audience participation screening

DRACULA (20 Nov, 6:15pm)
Special 16mm film projection of the Bela Lugosi classic

MAD HEIDI (20 Nov, 8:30pm)
Wild new take on the Swiss culture icon

INFLUENCER (21 Nov, 6:15pm)
Careful who you follow…

POU (21 Nov, 8:30pm)
New Afrikaans film with cast & crew attending

THE HARBINGER (22 Nov, 6:15pm)
An intriguing blend of the pandemic era with demonic forces

LIVING WITH CHUCKY (22 Nov, 8:30pm)
Documentary on the legacy of this killer doll

EATING MISS CAMPBELL (23 Nov, 6:15pm)
Troma madness, not for the easily offended

KING ON SCREEN (23 Nov, 8:30pm)
Fantastic new Stephen King documentary

GHOSTS OF THE OZARKS (24 Nov, 6:15pm)
Post-Civil War terror feat. David Arquette

TERRIFIER 2 (24 Nov, 8:30pm)
Art the crazy clown’s intense new sequel

Streaming Online

EXTRANEOUS MATTER
Surreal Japanese sci-fi-horror trip

FEED ME
An ‘as funny as it is dark’ cannibal comedy

NIX
Sharknado’s director gets more serious

ON THE EDGE
The Soska sisters’ new dark psycho-sexual chiller (adults only)

RAZZENNEST
Almost too unique a concept to describe!

A LIFE ON THE FARM
Jaw-dropping real found footage documentary

FOLLOW THE DEAD
Irish zom-com

AGATHA
Trippy live action / animation blend

RONDO AND BOB
Documentary on Texas Chain Saw Massacre art director Robert Burns and character actor Rondo Hatton

Shadow Realm Short Films

5 feature length volumes of innovative, ambitious, unique and mind-blowing shorts from all parts of the globe, compiled into 5 streaming volumes, including:
BUG BITES, TWO SISTERS, ANGEL CITY HORROR, ABLE BODIES, 665, HUNGER, PART FOREVER, INTRUDER, RISE & SHINE, UNDER THE ICE, THE ABYSS OF THE SOUL, LISTEN TO ME, THE PEY, THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM – A Musicabre, ZMIENA, …LOVEHOTEL…~The Guide to Japanese Midnight Culture~, KICKSTART MY HEART, ALIEN DICK, LETHALOGICA, ESCALATION, UNHEIMLICH, GROUNDED, THE LAST CHRISTMAS, SINK AWAY, TUNNEL RAT, DEATH IN A BOX, IVI ELV, TERATOMA, EAT THE RICH, THE ORDER, GAS STATION LULLABY, BELFAST 1912, MAGGOT PARTY, WHY WE DON’T VISIT ANYMORE, THE MICROSCOPE, STUCK, FROM BEYOND, FEAR ABIDES NIGHTLY GLISTENS, ULFHEDNAR, RUTA, INSANE ESCAPE, CUT IT OUT, TERMINATRYX “Suiker”