Frightfest Glasgow 2025: Here's the full 12 film lineup for the horror festival at the GFT


Pigeon Shrine FrightFest is part of the Glasgow Film Festival, which starts on Wednesday, February 26, with a yet-to-be announced Opening Gala.
The horror festival organisers will be taking over GFT1 all day on Friday, March 7, and Saturday, March 8, with 11 spooky, gory and scary films, along with numerous guests, Q&As and giveaways.
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Hide AdAnd, as has become traditional, there will also be a bonus opening film on the evening of Thursday, March 6.
Here’s what fright fans have to look forward to. Festival passes go on sale here at 10am on Friday, January 17.
Thursday, March 6
8.55pm: Psyche
Trapped in limbo during a near-death experience, Mara and a vintage 1980s computer she finds buried in the sands of time ally to figure out the meaning of life from discarded memories of friends, family and fantasy. Together, they navigate through a dystopian world of surreal, broken realities, deciphering cryptic clues and puzzles before them, causing Mara to embark on a profound quest of self-discovery and mind-bending redemption. Confronting her deepest fears by facing all the traumas in her life, her journey becomes a poignant exploration of isolation, psychological tension, survival and human vulnerability.
Director - Stephon Stewart.Cast - Sarah Ritter, Eva Ariel Binder, Rodrigo Varandas and Danielle Cichon.USA, 2024 , 1hr 11m.
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Hide AdFriday, March 7
1pm: House of Ashes
Imagine being jailed for an everyday occurrence beyond your control, something your body decides for you. In the USA, ‘Land of the Free, ’ this could happen to you if you have a uterus, depending on where you live. The terrifying rise of the treatment of women is the socio-political backdrop for this cautionary tale, where Mia is under house arrest but must also contend with the suspicious death of her husband. There, Mia experiences strange phenomena that could be man-made or supernatural. Or both? One thing is clear: Mia is in danger and cannot leave her home.
Director - Izzy Lee. Cast - Fayna Sanchez, Vincent Stalba, Mason Conrad and Joe Lynch. USA, 2024, 1hr 35m.
3.30pm: The Last Sacrifice
Did you know the real-life 1945 witchcraft killing of Charles Walton was the terrifying event that inspired the classic shocker The Wicker Man? From filmmaker Rupert Russell comes an incredible documentary looking into the dark heart of Britain and finding a country in a deep and frightening identity crisis – with an almost national descent into madness reflected in the strand of cinema it produces. A brave, new exploration of how events within society can become mirrors of the times they occur in, this unsettling true-crime interrogation probes into the eerie, enigmatic cultural undercurrents that shaped the 1970s folk horror genre.
Director - Rupert Russell Cast - Geraldine Beskin, Gavin Bone, Janet Farrar and Adam Godley. UK, 2024, 1hr 30m.
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Hide Ad6.15pm: By The Throat
Drying to get over a profoundly distressing attack that ended in fatality, Lizzy Roberts agrees to act as a carer-cum-housekeeper for Amy and Alex Cummings at their remote country home. But with Alex on a business trip and Amy still clearly traumatised by the accidental death of their only child, Lizzy finds her new job not quite as straightforward as she’d hoped. Yet Amy seems to be improving under Lizzy’s watchful eye, and normality seems to be returning to the Cummings household until Lizzy starts having nightmares and hallucinations and finds evil outside forces are twisting that normality.
Director - David Luke Rees Cast - Patricia Allison Jeany Spark, Rupert Young and Matt Cottle. UK, 2025, 1hr 18m.
8.30pm: The Doom Busters
It’s 1940 and war rages across Europe. Britain prepares for the coming invasion. But the war is a dull affair for Arthur Roundtree, a young man serving in the Home Guard. He dreams of action and adventure, but he remains stuck in a small, sleepy English village miles away from war due to a medical condition. However, when an extra-terrestrial creature crashes on the outskirts of the village, a training exercise suddenly turns into a deadly game of cat and mouse. Soon, Arthur and his companions realise they are fighting for their lives and to save the entire Galaxy!
Director - Jack Lawrence McHenry. Cast -Tom Bailey, Margaret Clunie, Timothy Renouf and Jessica Webber. UK, 2025, 1hr 20m.
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Hide Ad10.45pm: In Our Blood
Nothing is what it seems when filmmaker Emily Wyland teams up with cinematographer Danny to shoot an intimate documentary about reuniting with Emily’s estranged mother. When her mother suddenly goes missing, possibly succumbing to the addictions that first tore her family apart, the duo must piece together increasingly sinister clues to find her before it’s too late. Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Pedro Kos’ feature debut masterfully blends psychological mystery with chilling horror, weaving a twisted tale of reconciling with the ghosts of our past and confronting the complicity we share in creating a world preying on the most vulnerable.
Director - Pedro Kos. Cast - Brittany O'Grady, E. J. BonillaKey, Alanna Ubach, Krisha Fairchild. USA, 2024, 1hr 28m.
Saturday, March 8
10.45am: A Mother’s Embrace
IIn 1996, young firefighter Ana and her team were called to an old people’s home at risk of flooding during the worst storms ever to hit Rio de Janeiro. As they try to evacuate the elderly, Ana soon finds something sinister lurking beneath the surface, and the residents are not as innocent as they first seem. For the home has been built on the grounds of an ancient temple, the site of a timeless rite to an infernal god, and entangled in their insidious web, she must face her traumatic childhood complete with a maternal monster.
Director - Cristian Ponce.Cast - Marjorie Estiano, Pablo Guisa Koestinger, Javier Drolas and Rafael Canedo. Brazil, 2024, 1hr 31m.
1pm: Short Film Showcase
Seven spooky short films.
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Hide Ad3.20pm: Hearts of Darkness: The Making of The Final Friday
In 1993, Jason Voorhees went to hell in one of the most polarising instalments in the Friday the 13th franchise. In this probing documentary, director Adam Marcus (helmer of the FrightFest Presents attraction Secret Santa) takes you behind the scenes for a never-before-seen look at the controversial ninth episode in the iconic series. Insightful interviews with the cast and crew explore the unique landscape of pressures and studio scrutiny surrounding the franchise at the time. The hopping from Paramount Pictures to New Line Cinema paved the way for the eventual Freddy Vs Jason crossover.
Director - Michael Flesher.Cast - Kane Hodder, Adam Marcus, Howard Berger and Deborah Voorhees. USA, 2025, 1hr 47m.
6pm: The American Backyard
Pupi Avati, director of the cult shockers The House with Laughing Windows, Zeder and The Arcane Enchanter, returns to his gothic thriller roots with a tale of absolute fear. Based on Avati’s 2023 novel and informed by the infamous true crimes of The Monster of Florence, a troubled young man falls in love with an American army nurse during the Italian 1945 Liberation. Moving to America, he finds himself living next door to the object of his unrequited affections. Only she has completely vanished, and so begins an incredibly tense investigation into the most terrifying situations surrounding her disappearance.
Director - Pupi Avati Cast - Filippo Scotti, Rita Tushingham, Roberto de Francesco, Chiara Caselli. Italy, 2024, 1hr 47m.
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Hide Ad8.30pm: Scared To Death
Jasper is a young, opportunistic filmmaker yearning to climb the Hollywood ladder. Working as a lowly production assistant, he seizes his chance to be a ‘real’ director when he suggests to his cantankerous boss that the crew and actors from their upcoming horror film attend an actual séance in an old haunted house for research. They chose an abandoned children's shelter closed for 70 years since the mysterious murders of five children in 1942, apparently discovered scared to death. Once the séance begins, the motley crew find themselves trapped and haunted by the children ... and something possibly worse.
Director - Paul Boyd. Cast - Lin Shaye, Bill Moseley, Rae Dawn Chong and Olivier Paris.USA, 2024, 1hr 38m.
10.45pm: Rumplestiltskin
A haunting tale of the scariest villain from our collective childhoods returns - only darker, bloodier and nastier this time. Once upon a time, Miller attempted to marry his daughter off to the King by promising she could spin straw into gold. With the help of a demonic imp, she completes the task, but the King becomes greedy and wants more. So she promises the imp her firstborn in return for yet more favours. But when it comes time to honour her bargain, dark forces merge when the Imp makes a deal with the devil.
Director - Andy Edwards Cast - Hannah Baxter-Eve, Adrian Bouchet, Jennifer Lim, and Joss Carter. UK, 2025, 1hr 27m.
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