UK genre festival FrightFest (August 23-27) has unveiled the seven names comprising the long-list of the 2018 edition of its Screen Genre Rising Star Award.

anna and the apocalypse c blazing griffin

Source: Blazing Griffin

Ella Hunt in ‘Anna And The Apocalypse’

There are three directors and four actors. On the filmmaking side, names include Kevin Chicken, whose Perfect Skin will premiere at FrightFest this year, Aislinn Clarke, whose The Devil’s Doorway will play the festival, and Mike Mort, whose stop-motion feature Chuck Steel: Night Of The Trampires premiered at animation festival Annecy earlier this year and will now travel to FrightFest.

The four actors are Hannah Arterton (Safe, Heretiks), Ella Hunt (Anna And The Apocalypse), Sam Gittins (Await Further Instructions), and producer/actor Marcia Do Vales (Heretiks, Ibiza Undead).

The names will be whittled down to five nominees, with the winner presented during the festival.

Previous winners of the award include Alice Lowe and Danny Morgan.

Now approaching its 19th edition, FrightFest will this year take place at London’s Cineworld Leicester Square and the Prince Charles Cinema. The festival will open with The Ranger, the first female-directed opener in its history.

Two further titles have now been added to the line-up: David Barker’s erotic thriller Pimp and a 4k restoration of John Carpenter’s classic horror Halloween.