Now the dust has settled a little, a big thanks to everyone who came to Mayhem this year, especially our fantastic guests. Loved having so many terrific Q&As, and hoping very much to see all these filmmakers back at the festival in the future.

What did I love most at @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social? Let me tell you... 25yearslatersite.com/2025/11/05/m...

The @abertoirfest.bsky.social celebrates its 20th anniversary with a host of gothic-themed films, events and special guests, including Garth Marenghi, Victoria Price, and a special live music performance from Simon Boswell. Explore the whole programme and book your tickets here: abertoir.co.uk

My review of Mag Mag (dir Yuriyan Retriever, Japan), which had it's UK premiere at @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social: a homage to J-Horror and a protest against uncaring boys 25yearslatersite.com?p=29612

First review's in for GAME: ‘A gripping, darkly funny watch’ ★★★★ Rolling Stone UK Buy tickets for our Screening/Q&A tour here: linktr.ee/InvadaFilmsG...

It's #LetterboxdFriday peeps! Didn't manage to post my #LastFourWatched last week as I was at the @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social. So this week I'm posting my fave films of the fest and recommencement of #ACenturyOfCinema challenge. #filmsky #horrorsky #80sthriller #scifi

Had an amazing time at @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social last weekend as ever. Highlights: Bone Lake (a twisty erotic thriller with great gore effects), Dead by Dawn (an inventive and very Polish neo-giallo) and Redux Redux (lo-fi sci-fi with a Terminator vibe), plus Bulk, Portal to Hell and Mag Mag.

Thanks to @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social for hosting the UK Premiere of my film!

Thanks to everyone who came to @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social this weekend. Special thanks to all our great guests: @kierlajanisse.bsky.social, Ben Wheatley & Andy Starke, Marc Price and the cast of THE ARBITER, & all the team from GAME, including @robwilliams71.bsky.social, for some terrific Q&As.

Festival screenings for OCCUPANT so far: Just after the premiere at Sitges w/ producers David Gregory + Liane Cunje and pals Mariano Baino + Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni; DP Karim Hussain speaking at Toronto After Dark w/ actor Ben Petrie + producer Liane Cunje; UK premiere at Mayhem FF in Nottingham

Some fave reviews out of @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social "The best ghost story for Christmas since Stigma - absolutely stunning" (Stigma may be my favourite so this is high praise indeed!)

Bone Lake (Mercedes Bryce Morgan, USA) went down very well with the @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social crowd; and my teen (who had been wary of "erotic" in the description) had a great time. www.imdb.com/title/tt2678...

Day 4 film 2 @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social: HERESY (Witte Wieven). Set in a middle ages village, Frieda toils against misogyny, religious oppression & deadly superstitions. Very atmospheric & great score. #horrorsky #filmsky

Day 4 film 3 @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social: THE OCCUPANT IN THE ROOM an adaptation of a Christmas Ghost story. A confined room short mixing eerie visuals, jolting soundtrack & a heck of a finish. #shortfilm #ghoststory #horrorsky #horrorfilm

Witte Wieven (Didier Konings, Netherlands) was absolutely astounding. Without events like @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social, I don't know how else one would access films like this. wittewievenfilm.com

2nd #shortfilm program for @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social was more of a mixed bag but the heartfelt ZOE & the suburban nightmare of WHITCH really shone through! #horrorsky #horror #supportshortfilm

The Occupant of the Room (Kier-La Janisse, Canada) was an excellent adaptation of the Blackwood story. Thanks again, @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social. www.kierlajanisse.com/2025/07/30/t...

Very happy to have seen Portal to Hell on the big screen at @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social, and to have shown it to my teen. More poignant the second time around.

I have just survived three and a half days of dimension hopping, murder, ghosts and hell portals at @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social and I’m a bit tired. But I had an absolute blast! Nothing but hits all festival. Must now sleep. 😴 And in five days I’m doing it again at Forbidden Worlds! 😳

Day 4 film 5 @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social; PORTAL TO HELL mixes laughs with heavy pathos as a guy discovers a portal to hell in his local laundromat. Great creature design in Chip. #horrorsky #filmsky

Last film of @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social 2025: DEAD BY DAWN a Polish Slasher in which a group of actors are stalked by a mask-wearing killer. Shades of Stagefright & Evil Dead Trap.

Finally post for this year's @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social. it's been great; some awesome films in this year's lineup & looking forward to talking about them in more depth soon. We even made dome friends along the way! Cheers all, now let's see if I can finish off that CenturyOfCinema!

My full review of Game (John Minton, UK, 2025), following Thursday's premiere at @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social: 25yearslatersite.com/2025/10/19/m...

Day 3 film 2 @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social: MAN FINDS TAPE is a faux documentary (my fave kind of found footage flicks) about siblings investigating weirdness occurring in their small Texan town. A unique story for sure. #filmsky #horrorsky

Man Finds Tape (@paulgandersman.bsky.social & @peterhallhuman.bsky.social, USA) is suddenly my favourite film of @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social so far, despite recognising two actors. Even Ben Wheatley will have to beat that. www.imdb.com/title/tt3659...

Just watched the 1st of 2 short film programmes @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social Shout outs to Speak With The Dead, Night Whispers & The Man I Wave To but THE SECOND TIME AROUND really stood out. #Shortfall #supportshortfilm #horror #horror

Ben Wheatley’s new film Bulk is lots of fun, due in no small part to the DIY ethos involved in its making (miniatures, rear projection). Feels like his most tailor made for @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social film yet. Great cast with Noah Taylor being a highlight. I also asked a Q in the Q&A!

Day 3 film 4 @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social is a showing of EVENT HORIZON which looked & sounded fantastic on the big screen. Lots of the audience had never seen this unique space hell! #scifi #horror #classicfilm

Paradise lost: Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s erotic thriller BONE LAKE (2024) “sees a fracturing couple forced to share shoreline vacation space with seductive, predatory strangers”. Screens noon today at @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social, review for @scifinow.bsky.social www.scifinow.co.uk/reviews/bone...

"lost souls have their debts cleared – or at least cleaned – at a laundromat": Woody Bess’ diabolically schlubby comedy PORTAL TO HELL (2025) screens 6.30pm today at @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social. Very highly recommended. projectedfigures.com/2025/08/23/p...

(they're playing the theme to Katamari Damacy I see you @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social DJ and I love you)

Fun, freaky and affectionate: Mag Mag (dir Yuriyan Retriever) just screened its UK premiere at @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social. www.broadway.org.uk/whats-on/may...

Day 3 film 1 of @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social: MAG MAG starts as classic J Horror but 1st time director Yuriyan Retriever takes you on a wild ride. Great scares & dark humour abound. #Jhorror #Thirdwindowfilms #horrorfilm

Day 2 Film 2 of @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social: TRANSCENDING DIMENSIONS. A super-trippy film which defies description. But it's got @thirdwindowfilms.com logo on it so you know you're in good hands! #JapanesFilm #filmsky #mindfuck

Transcending Dimensions (Toshiaki Toyoda, Japan) @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social was different again. Maybe I want to understand it properly or maybe I would just discover that I already do. www.broadway.org.uk/whats-on/may...

Chess of the Wind (AKA شطرنج باد, Shatranj-e Baad, dir Mohammad Reza Aslani) @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social this afternoon was very interesting, thought about it more since it ended. And I would love to know where the title came from. www.imdb.com/title/tt0318...

Day 2 film 3 of @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social: THE ARBITER sees director Marc Price go all Timo Tjahjanto while riffing on his own Nightshooters. Great, great fun. #Actionsky #martialarts #filmsky #filmfestival

Do I dare call it early and say Redux Redux is the Film of the Fest at this year’s @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social? A lean and mean revenge film as a grieving mother travels from universe to universe to kill the man who killed her daughter. Definitely impressed.

This "hilarious take on J-horror and the body myth insists you not spurn the implacable erotomaniac(s) at its heart": Yuriyan Retriever’s lovesick curse movie MAG MAG (2025) screens noon today at @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social projectedfigures.com/2025/10/16/m...

"a community’s unwitting complicity and cover-up lets something Lovecraftian in to feed": Peter Hall & Paul Gandersman’s found footage MAN FINDS TAPE (2025) screens 2.30pm at @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social projectedfigures.com/2025/06/09/m...

Four characters in search of a narrative form: Ben Wheatley's mind-blowing multidimensional DIY 'reality quake' BULK (2025) screens 7.30pm tonight (+ Q&A) at @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social. Cinematic psychonauts, assemble! Review for @sightsoundmag.bsky.social www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-so...

Redux Redux (@kevinmcmanus.bsky.social and @matthewmcmanus.bsky.social, USA) was the first film to make me cry at this year's @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social. Damned impressive. www.imdb.com/title/tt3329...

Psychonautic mystery: Toshiaki Toyoda’s strange, ritualised spirit war chronicle TRANSCENDING DIMENSIONS "transports characters and viewers to inner and outer space". Screens 4.15pm today at @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social. Review for @scifinow.bsky.social www.scifinow.co.uk/reviews/tran...

Diamond (geezer) in the rough: Marc Price’s amped-up action gangland siege thriller THE ARBITER (2025) "endlessly makes fun of itself and its received tropes." Screens 7pm today at @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social with director's Q&A projectedfigures.com/2025/08/22/t...

"gradually brings its characters home from endless, empty vendetta": Kevin and Matt McManus’ universe-leaping repeat revenger REDUX REDUX (2025) screens 9.45pm at @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social projectedfigures.com/2025/03/09/r...

Started off my first ever trip to @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social with my first ever world premiere of a feature film, GAME. A delightful mix of nineties rave culture, Rear Window, The Most Dangerous Game and Penda’s Fen. It’s really good! boxd.it/bobVf9

Last night was the UK Premiere of GAME at opening night of the excellent @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social in Nottingham. Full house. Great cinema. Film seemed to go down really well.

2nd film of @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social : THE OLD WONAN WITH THE KNIFE a melancholic action film. An aging assassin contemplates her mortality when her past catches up with her. Great central performances & surprising action setpieces. #Koreanfilm #Actionsky

Rating all the films at @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social

Now seated for the first film of @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social for which I traveled all the way from Bristol. Current status: Anticipation!