British Horror Film Festival 2025

Reviewer: Christine Stanton

This year, the British Horror Film Festival 2025 features two feature films and seven brilliantly varied, horror short films from a bunch of talented cast and filmmakers.

FEATURE FILM: Loner – 7.5/10
Runtime: 1hr 39min
Creatives: Charlie Robb, Douglas Tawn, Kat Johns-Burke
Angus Mattock, an aspiring vlogger, heads to a remote retreat in the wild to live off the land and show how easy it is to be ‘off-grid’. Less easy when it turns into a fight for his life after being held captive by a mysterious force. Charlie Robb is fantastically believable as a stereotypical travel vlogger, and even with his characters cliches, he’s a surprisingly likeable one! Robb brings out the comedy from the typical vlogger actions – such as signing off & walking off into the woods, then quickly popping back for his camera, or the multiple retakes for his pre-written speech. These little snippets of humour are expertly done and allow you to fully invest into Mattock’s vlog. There are some gorgeous landscape shots that set up the remote wilderness scene perfectly, and the horror moments are well-timed and not too over the top. Almost like a modern day Blair Witch Project – replacing snotty noses with drones and YouTube subscribers!

FEATURE FILM: Group Chat – 4.5/10
Runtime: 1hr 21min
Creatives: Dan Brownlie, Marcel Jortzik, Amy Tara, Toby Wynn-Davies, Georgie Rodgers, James Grimm
Really interesting premise for a horror, while there have been Zoom films like Host or ones that rely heavily on the ‘online’ visuals like Missing, adding the Role Play game aspect is a nice unique touch. The characters were introduced well, and there are some humorous parts, but overall it’s slightly too repetitive, and the horror scenes aren’t really delivered to the best of their ability. It would have been great to see more of the slow deterioration of the characters or some more tension to ramp up the intensity, as it stands the pace and energy remains quite static throughout. There are some great creative aspects though – the meta scene close to the end with the critics is very funny, and the credits as comments on a stream are absolutely genius, loved reading them alongside the interesting switches between streams. Lots of potential!

SHORT FILM: – The Face 5.5/10
Runtime: 8min
Creatives: Andreas Mortensen, Charlie Gustafsson, Emelie Dahlskog
Break-ups are always hard, especially when you can’t find the right words to say. In this instance, Mia lets a sock puppet do the talking, because Tim’s not the mild-mannered, nice guy he appears to be from the outset. An intriguingly creative way to show dual personas and hidden personality traits within a person. Initially sparks a comedic reaction, but as the film plays out, the intensity of the message within starts to take hold. An interesting watch.

SHORT FILM: Mould – Snails – 8.4/10
Runtime: 3min
Creatives: Martyn Thomas, Abby Williams
Great music video for a great song. Captivates an audience immediately, stunning lighting, well-paced, and with great use of blood & gore from Abby Williams. The zombies look fantastic and their lively little zombie rave looks almost worth being bitten for! Fits the song really well and one you can watch over and over.

SHORT FILM: Good Dog – 8.2/10
Runtime: 16min
Creatives: Richard Reg Macey-Cross, Matt Sheahan, Rosie Closs, Delphi-Rae Macey-Cross
Love a creepy slow-burn horror that leaves you feeling uncomfortable, and Good Dog definitely fits the bill. You immediately sense the underlying tension as the agoraphobic character is scared to leave the house, but even with all the horrors in the world that could be possible you still definitely don’t predict what happens next! Sinister, but with a few funny moments sprinkled through this barking mad little horror.

SHORT FILM: Release The Hounds – 5/10
Runtime: 3min
Creatives: Bil Richardson
Enjoyable song from Michael Shynes & Letra, and Bil Richardson’s visuals go really nicely with it. Some great cinematography, and nice transition shots, that really compliment the music.

SHORT FILM: Hard Cash – 5.7/10
Runtime: 20min
Creatives: David Füsgen, Damian Krajczuk, Miguel Abrantes Ostrowkski, Christian Harting, Marissa Möller, Patrick Berg
Sufferers of emetophobia – this one isn’t for you! While I’m not usually squeamish from vomit, watching a man throw up almost constantly for 20 minutes does become somewhat of a tough watch! Focusing on a financially struggling factory worker discovering his ability to throw up coins, it’s an interesting premise, but becomes a little repetitive when majority of the shots are him throwing up or fishing his hand down the toilet for more coins. Would have loved to have seen a bit more of how he used his new-found ability to really delve into the storyline more.

SHORT FILM: As Pale As Death – 9.2/10
Runtime: 15min
Creatives: Ryan Kukec, Alex Kerr, Morgan Gibson, Jess Isabel, Brianna Love, Mike Wonnacott
An absolute gem! Such a brilliantly random premise – a family prepping for their holiday to Florida, and desperate for their desperately pale child to get a tan beforehand. Taking him to a dodgy underground salon (unbeknownst to them, run by an ancient mummy draining her customers youth), becomes the worst decision they could have made. The characters are great, the situation is ridiculous, the location / design / cinematography is fantastic and each kill scene is expertly done. Horrific, Hilarious, Bizarre and Brilliant!

SHORT FILM: Cocoon – 8.5/10
Runtime: 22min
Creatives: Jack Chambers, Safiya Shamji, Eddie House, Myriam Laurent, Jai Armstrong
As a big fan of home invasion horrors, Cocoon is a wonderfully creepy, sinister addition to the genre. Unstable stranger Viktor has not only invaded their home and taken them hostage, but forces them to roleplay as his own family to fill the void of his own home life. Unsettling and unnerving it builds the tension extremely well, and puts the family dynamic under the spotlight in this excruciatingly intense situation. Would love to see more from this film and/or the creatives involved – a great end to a great selection of films.

The Film Festival Guild host a number of film festivals throughout the year, helping to shine a spotlight on emerging creatives and cast in a wonderfully supportive, inspiring and celebratory environment.