The 5 most terrifying films to see at this year’s FrightFest

Late ’80s body horror ‘Society’ meets ‘Stranger Things’ in director Clark Baker’s sci-fi shocker about a mind control experiment gone wrong. It’s summer 1982 and a group of smalltown kids can’t wait to attend the test screening of a new blockbuster in their local cinema. But what they end up watching isn’t ‘The Thing’ or ‘Cat People’ but something far more sinister. Gleefully nostalgic, with dark humour and superior effects, ‘Test Screening’ expertly shifts the suspense into terrifying arenas.

Imagine ‘Lost Highway’ deconstructed by Stephen King and that might prepare you for the bleakest road trip through the backwoods of a damaged brain. When a photographer tries to revive his creativity in the vast Arizona wastelands, an odd encounter with a daredevil couple points him in a dangerous direction. Disturbing, ambiguous, scary and full of gasp-out-loud twists, this is the most deliciously unnerving thriller to emerge from the indie scene in ages.

One day in the deranged love life of a serial killer is told in six out-of-order chapters in a truly unpredictable chiller that mixes lush 35mm grandeur with visual urgency in a petrifying package of visceral thrills. Former shorts director JT Mollner’s electrifying feature debut subverts text-book terror with skilful panache. Knockout performances from Willa Fitzgerald and ‘Smile’ star Kyle Gallner anchor the double-edged fatalism with a mythic purity that drives a sharp nail into the collective psyche. Prepare for a shock to the system.

Big-time YouTuber Chris Stuckmann delivers the sneakiest attraction of FrightFest with this rug-pulling nerve-jangler. It focuses on the search for four paranormal investigators who went missing in the abandoned town of the title 12 years earlier. With a devastating turn by Camille Sullivan as one of the sisters of the missing, the result fuses beautifully etched character studies and creeping supernatural evil for a truly frightening found footage horror.

Noted TV actor Georgia Conlan directs the most provocative and compelling sensation of this year’s FrightFest line-up. Edgy to the point of being extremely upsetting, it follows young Charlotte as she flees from her abusive family into the home of a kindly neighbour. But no one is who they seem, and real and imagined crimes move centre stage. A nerve-shredding study of consent and deadly tangled emotions, it will leave viewers conflicted, unsettled and shaken to the core.

FrightFest runs Aug 22-26 at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square and Odeon Luxe West End. Head here for the full programme and to book tickets.