If you want to be spooked, scared, or just generally disturbed, FilmPride is holding a celebration of queer filmmaking with ‘Scream Queens’ at the Actors Theatre on the night itself, Friday 30th October.
The event features a curated selection of 10 queer horror short films, spanning supernatural thrillers, body horror, dark comedies, witchcraft, and sci-fi.
Queer cinema and horror have long shared a deep connection. LGBTQIA+ filmmakers often use the genre as a vital canvas to channel real-world struggles, isolation, and trauma into cathartic, thrilling, triumphant stories. This collection highlights how contemporary queer creators reclaim and redefine horror tropes.
The programme includes:
- The Monster Within Me (Dir: Kuba Marczuk, UK)
A young man must battle his nature and emotions after an unexpected, tragic event. - Sleepeater (Dir: Amrita Acharia, UK)
Ahri and her wife Matilda institutionalise Ahri’s father to claim his house for themselves. But an exhausting cycle of guilt is awoken. Night after sleepless night, paranoia erodes the trust between them, until finally the insomnia destroys everything they love. - Son of God (Dir: Bruce Micallef Eynaud, Malta)
A Maltese priest, harbouring a secret, steals a valuable painting of Jesus from his church, hoping to sell it and start a new life abroad. - Love Spell (Dir: Lauren Vevers, UK)
In 1999, a teenage girl in a high school in Newcastle-upon-Tyne casts a spell to make her best friend fall in love with her. - Papergirl (Dir: Jack Warren, US)
Gender dysphoria gives way to terrifying metamorphosis when a lonely partygoer discovers that their skin is turning to paper. - Itch (Dir: Susannah Farrugia, Malta)
A novice nun develops a severe skin condition which continues to worsen, along with her mental state, as she struggles with her feelings for another nun. - Black Hole Barry (Dir: Alejandro Alberola, UK)
Facing his boyfriend’s move-in, Scott embarks on a self-destructive week of hookups – a decision he’s going to regret forever. - The Cost Of Living (Dir: Alice Trueman, UK)
Lily, a disconnected, neurotic fitness-freak, has a brush with death and comes face-to-face with her worst fear. But Death appears to Lily as a femme fatale, and Lily finds herself unexpectedly giddy with desire. - The Cruise (Dir: Richard Louprasong, US)
On Halloween night, a couple ventures into the woods rumoured to be haunted to conjure up an urban legend. But they’re about to meet a ghost from the past. - The Last Story on Earth (Dir: Aaron Immediato, US)
Trapped in a library during an alien invasion, a determined drag queen must use her storytelling and imagination to protect both her supporters and her protesters from terrifying extraterrestrial threats.
This relaxed, welcoming event aims to bring the local community together, and some may even want to dress up and get into the spooky atmosphere, but costumes are entirely optional!
The event takes place at The Actors Theatre, 4 Prince’s Street, Brighton on Friday 30th October between 7-9pm.
Tickets for this event are available here.
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