Four Irish horror films to look forward to
Posted: 31st October 2023
As the scariest night of the year draws near, Screen Ireland is proud to present four Irish horror films to look forward to – coming to a cinema near you very soon.
Double Blind
This first feature debut from director Ian Hunt-Duffy rests on a chilling concept: fall asleep and you die. Seven strangers enrol in a seemingly routine drug trial at a pharmaceutical facility, but soon discover an unexpected side effect – they are unable to fall asleep. Concerned for her patients’ safety, the supervising doctor advises the pharmaceutical representatives to stop the trial, though they are more interested in the drug’s potential on the market than the safety of some “lab rats”.
From the team behind the award-winning short films Low Tide and Gridlock, Double Blind received its World Premiere this year at the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival (NIFFF), followed by an Irish Premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh. Described as a “savvy fusion of Agatha Christie suspense and David Cronenberg body horror” by Screen International, the film recently received its US Premiere as part of the Newport Beach Film Festival’s Irish Spotlight, where Narayan Van Maele won the Jury Award for Best Cinematography for his work on the film.
Directed by Ian Hunt-Duffy and written by Darach McGarrigle, Double Blind is produced by Simon James Doyle for Failsafe Films. Main cast includes Millie Brady, Akshay Kumar, Diarmaid Noyes and Pollyanna McIntosh. Executive producers are Emma Scott and Dearbhla Regan for Fís Eireann/Screen Ireland, Patrick Ewald and Katie Page for Epic Pictures and Patrick O'Neill for Wildcard Distribution.
Fréwaka
Northern Irish director Aislinn Clarke’s second feature Fréwaka is a story of home care worker, Shoo, who, haunted by a personal tragedy, is sent to a remote village to care for an agoraphobic woman who fears the neighbours as much as she fears the Na Sídhe – sinister sprites who she believes abducted her decades before. As the two develop a strangely deep connection, Shoo is consumed by the old woman's paranoia, rituals, and superstitions, eventually confronting the horrors from her own past.
Fréwaka is funded through the Cine4 scheme, supported by Screen Ireland, TG4, Coimisiún na Meán (formerly the BAI), and Section 481, and is the first Irish language horror film to be released. Production on the feature took place in Ravensdale and Carlingford in Co. Louth.
The feature stars Clare Monnelly, Bríd Ní Neachtain, and Ukrainian actress Aleksandra Bystrzhitskaya. Fréwaka is produced by Dermot Lavery for DoubleBand Films and Patrick O’Neill for Wildcard. New Europe Film Sales recently boarded international sales.
The Damned
A tense psychological horror, Thodur Palsson’s The Damned follows Eva, a 19th-century widow who is tasked with making an impossible choice when, in the middle of an especially cruel winter, a ship sinks off the coast of her isolated fishing post. Eva and her crew must choose to either rescue the shipwrecked or survive the winter with their last remaining food. Facing the consequences of their choice and tormented by their guilt, the inhabitants wrestle with a mounting sense of dread and begin to believe they are all being punished for their choices.
In addition to lead actress Odessa Young, the film’s cast includes Joe Cole, Siobhan Finneran and Rory McCann. The script was written by Jamie Hannigan. It was developed with the support of Screen Ireland and is based on a story by Thordur Palsson. The film wrapped principal photography in Iceland this year.
The Damned is produced by Elation Pictures, Wild Atlantic Pictures and Tim Headington and Ley Line Entertainment. The co-producers are Iceland’s Join Motion Pictures and Belgian’s Wrong Men. Protagonist Pictures executive produced the picture. Ley Line Entertainment is financing, alongside BCP. Niamh Fagan is executive producer for Screen Ireland.
The film is proudly supported by Screen Ireland, Wallimage and the UK Global Screen Fund financed by the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport and administered by the BFI.
Feed
Inspired by Bram Stoker’s Dracula and the Irish legend of Dearg-Due, Feed sees a group of twentysomething social media influencers battle for their lives at a remote contemporary mansion when they awaken the world’s original female vampire.
Metro International Entertainment is handling international sales on on the project from writer and director Marco van Belle. Ripple World’s Jac Kerrin and Dominic Wright are producing with Umedia as co-producers. Niamh Fagan is executive producer for Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland.
Confirmed cast includes Daisy Jelley (How to Have Sex), Clinton Liberty (Normal People, Red Election) and Niamh McCormack (The Witcher, Willow).