Halloween night out: Horror film director hosts star-studded Horrorthon event at East Sussex cinema

Fresh from directing the second series of Gangs of London, local filmmaker and friend to Picture House Uckfield, Corin Hardy, who directed The Nun, The Hallow and Gangs of London, has washed off the fake blood in time to curate a 2021 Halloween weekend of movies and fun that he calls The Horrorthon.

Corin isn’t just a master of the horror genre, he’s also a bona fide horror geek, a font of knowledge on films both famous and obscure. For the Halloween Horrorthon he’s lined up a terrifying mix of classic horrors, which many cinema-goers may never have had the chance to see on the big screen, as well as a stop-motion animated family spook-fest and a brand new, just released horror movie from one of the most beloved directors in the UK.

Corin has other trick-or-treats to make these Halloween screenings not to be missed.

He said: “I’ve been putting on my own ‘Horrorthon’ at home for the past 30 years. It’s always a special night of non-stop horror movies, steaming hot pumpkin soup and a good dose of spooky spirits to create the perfect Halloween atmosphere.”

“This year The Picture House Uckfield offered their cinema to bring my Horrorthon to the big screen – and their wonderful restaurant opposite is even going to serve up the pumpkin soup! But to make this year’s Horrorthon even more special, I have asked some of my film-maker friends to help introduce the movies with me, to make each screening a one-off experience.”

The weekend kicks off on October 29 with a 40th anniversary screening of the howling mad masterpiece that is An American Werewolf in London, featuring a live zoom introduction from its legendary director John Landis. The second on the bill for the late-night slot is a rare cinema screening of Dan O’Bannon’s punk rock comic-book horror The Return of the Living Dead, that Corin call’s ‘the ultimate Halloween party movie’.

For Saturday’s first show on October 30, they will screen Edgar Wright’s brand-new London-set psychological chiller Last Night In Soho launching its opening weekend, and even more excitingly it will be introduced by Edgar himself, speaking to Corin and the Picture House crowd via Zoom.

The second screening is Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, hailed as one of the greatest, most terrifying horror films of the last 40 year – and with good reason. Introducing an unsuspecting world to the razor-fingered phantom, Freddy Kreuger. Corin will introduce the film with the one and only Heather Langenkamp, live on Zoom from LA, who played the lead role of Nancy in the movie.

On Halloween itself, October 31, there’s a special family matinee screening of Laika’s beautiful and inventive zombie stop-motion model animation ParaNorman, before the final film of the weekend marks the second of Wes Craven’s box office hit Scream, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Across the weekend The Picture House Restaurant will be hosting the Horrorthon bar, with spooky specials including Corin’s own soup and creepy cocktails, before and after the film. There will be free fun-sized popcorn for cinema-goers wearing fancy dress and a Picture House voucher for the best costume.

The cinema is now back to full seating capacity following forced Covid-19 closures for a total of 11 months over the last two years – a personal horror story for Picture House owner Kevin Markwick – which saw the cinema face the biggest crisis in its 105-year history.

He said: “I’m really excited and can’t wait to put on this amazing event, especially as Corin is one of our favourite regular customers and a true cinephile.

“Our shared passion for movies means we can have some excellent fun in my cinema and everyone benefits. This will be a weekend to remember.”

Book at www.picturehouseuckfield.com.