The Belfast International Horror Festival previously known as the Dark Hedges Film Festival returns for a fifth year with a new name and its biggest ever programme!
This year’s highlights include the Irish premiere of Julie Pacino’s (Daughter of Hollywood legend Al) feature debut I Live Here Now, along with a special guest Shauna Macdonald, who will introduce a special screening of Neil Marshall’s The Descent, to mark the film’s 20th anniversary.
The theme of “Female Rage” runs throughout this year’s programme, it will be explored through a number of events, including a pop up ‘prom-themed’ screening of Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1976) at Ashfield Girls High school along with screenings of Jennifer’s Body (29th October) and Bride of Frankenstein (26 October). The screening of Jame Whale’s feature will be followed by a discussion, hosted by local author Victoria Brown which will examine how the horror/Sc-Fi genre represents the theme of female rage onscreen.
This year’s festival also features a new strand within the programme entitled “The Comedy of Horror,” which will look at some of the programmers’ favourite examples of movies that successfully manage to straddle the two very different genres.
There will be screenings of Peter Jackson’s Braindead (known as Dead Alive for American Audiences) and the cult classic Tammy and the T-Rex, starring Denise Richards and the late Paul Walker.
Both films will be introduced by a member of the festival’s team and will be accompanied by screenings of new films, including Irish filmmaker Zoe Kavanagh’s Demon Hunter: Time 2 Kill and Sander Maran’s absolutely bonkers Estonian horror-musical, Chainsaws Were Singing.
The festival will also pay tribute to the late Tony Todd, who passed away in November 2024 by screening two of the actor’s most iconic features, Candyman (1992) and Night of the Living Dead (1990) at Accidental Theatre.
The festival remains committed to its Short Film competition (7pm) with finalists in the International and Irish categories screening at the Accidental Theatre. Shorts within the festival’s ‘Official Selection’ category will also be available to watch online throughout the duration of the programme (22 – 31 October 2025).
On Thursday 30th October (7pm) the festival’s annual horror movie quiz returns once again (Accidental Theatre) and as always there’ll be a range of prizes and goodies up for grabs.
This year’s lineup concludes on Halloween night with a screening of The Craft onboard The Belfast Barge.
Check out more events within this year’s BIHF programme.
Partners and Collaborators
This year’s partner’s include funder’s Film Hub NI, Pixel Photography, filmmaker Jim McMorrow, Ellistration, Comic Book Guys, Visit Belfast. The Strand Arts Centre, Accidental Theatre, Movie House Cinemas, Belfast Film Festival & artist Gerard Torbitt.
Festival’s Team
The festival’s team consists of Jim McClean, Joe Mc Elroy, Victoria Brown, Adam Neeson, Dr Nicole Hamilton, Gavin Moriarty, Jim McMorrow, Aaron Flanagan, Chris Ellis & Anita Jurkovic.
