ABOUT - FESTIVAL HISTORY
The Fantastic Films Weekend is the UK's fastest growing festival dedicated to horror, fantasy and sci-fi cinema and television.
This dynamic annual celebration of old, new, bloody and obscure is hosted by Britain's National Museum of Photography, Film & Television - a unique £60 million site operated by the UK government which boasts some of the finest projection facilities in the world.
Where else can film buffs experience the varied delights of Imax, Cinerama, 70mm and archive television - all under one roof? Only at the National Media Museum.
Nosferatu: Eine
Symphonie Des Grauens
The Fantastic Films Weekend began in 2002 as a weekend event focusing on classic ghost stories and the supernatural. Over the last five years it has evolved into a must-see event showcasing a disparate line-up of classic chillers, sci-fi shockers, fantasy epics, vintage TV shows and rarely seen gems from the vaults. FFW runs the gamut from the stark monochrome classics of the silent era through to the latest digital epics.
Bob Keen
Each year FFW focuses on different individuals who have made a real and lasting impact in the fields of science fiction, horror and fantasy. Since 2002 we have paid tribute to Terence Fisher, Nigel Kneale, Richard Matheson, George A. Romero and Douglas Adams and celebrated the work of special effects guru Bob Keen and Hammer make-up maestros Roy Ashton and Phil Leakey. FFW has also championed the booming 'indie' sector, screening an array of low-budget movies and shorts by hungry new talent from around the world.
The Wicker Man
We have dipped into the worlds of Hammer horror, Korean slashers, Asian Extreme, body shock and apocalyptic zombie holocausts. En-route there have been trips to Middle-earth, run-ins with possessed, vomiting children and the chance to be transformed into vampires, devils and drug addicts courtesy of our perennially popular make-up effects demonstration. Bullet holes, burns, weeping sores and livid scars are a speciality.
Our line-up of guests has included filmmakers Robert Fuest, Julian Richards, Robert Pratten, Julian Butler and Susannah Gent, writer and broadcaster MJ Simpson, film archivist Jonathan Sands and the cult figures of spfx 'supremo' Bob Keen and Robin ( The Wicker Man ) Hardy.
So join us - and feel the fear.
Screening history
The Wicker Man and Robin Hardy in person • Night of the Demon • The Thing from Another World • Three Cases of Murder • Cat People • Curse of the Cat People • The Thing 70mm • The Masque of the Red Death • The Haunting • The Innocents • Night of the Eagle • The Abominable Dr. Phibes • Dr. Phibes Rises Again! • The Haunted Palace • Darklands • House of the Long Shadows • The Stone Tape (TV) • The Quatermass Experiment (TV) • Quatermass II (TV) • The Hound of the Baskervilles (TV) • Beasts (TV) •
FearDotCom • Cypher • Dog Soldiers and Bob Keen in person • Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie Des Grauens • The Day the Earth Stood Still • The Incredible Shrinking Man • The Omega Man • Planet of the Apes • Avalon • The Beast Must Die • Solaris • All-Day Alien Frightfest • Ghosts of the Abyss 3D • Space Station 3D • T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous 3D • The Flipside of Dominick Hide (TV) • Adam Adamant Lives! (TV) • The Avengers (TV) • Doctor Who (TV) • The Prisoner (TV) • Curse of the Werewolf •
Battle Royale • Battle Royale II: Requiem • Gozu • Save the Green Planet! • A Tale of Two Sisters • Mostly Harmless: A Tribute to Douglas Adams (TV) • Douglas Adams: The Man Who Blew Up the World (TV) • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV) • Make-Up Effects Demonstration • The Lord of the Rings Triple Bill Spectacular • The Brides of Dracula • The Devil Rides Out • Greasepaint & Gore: The Hammer Monsters of Roy Ashton and Phil Leakey • Shorts: Weird, Surreal and Scary • Ghosts of the Abyss 3D • Bugs! 3D • Cyberworld 3D • Misadventures in 3D •
The Exorcist Quartet • 2001: A Space Odyssey 70mm • Zombies: Dawn of the Dead • Fritz Lang's Der Müde Tod • Saving Star Wars • Jelly Dolly • Hunt for the Yorkshire Grimace • Shallow Ground • Able Edwards • London Voodoo • Night of the Demon • Casting the Runes (TV) • The Matrix Trilogy on Imax • Europe in Shorts: Fantastique • Make-Up Effects Demonstration • Shorts Package • The Doll Master • Creepshow • Red Dwarf (TV) • Thriller (TV) • Blake's 7 (TV) •
Salem's Lot • The Wicker Man and Robin Hardy in person • The Hound of the Baskervilles • Theatre of Blood • Godzilla • The House That Dripped Blood • Darklands: The Director's Cut and Julian Richards in person • The Fantasist • Half Light • Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie Des Grauens • White Angel • Make-Up Effects Demonstration • The Ghoul • Strip Nude for Your Killer • Horror Express • Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow • And Soon the Darkness and Robert Fuest in person • The Final Programme • Short Films • Batman Begins • V for Vendetta • Nineteen Eighty Four (TV) • Horizon (TV) • Friends in Space (TV) • The War Game (TV) • Kinvig (TV) • The League of Gentlemen (TV) • The Year of the Sex Olympics (TV) • Out of the Unknown (TV) • Myths and Visions: The Art of Ray Harryhausen •