We want to make sure that everyone’s happy before diving into our programme of films and events. We appreciate that everyone’s different – some of you will want to go in cold, while others might want a little warning in case of distressing content.
The guide below outlines, broadly, the themes and content of the films and events that are screening at the festival. It does not specify particular narrative or plot points, however do be aware there are potential spoilers.
Please presume that all films screened at Abertoir are likely to contain a degree of violence, gore, nudity, blasphemy, and bad language. We have not specified any of these in the guide below.
We presume that everyone watching the festival is over the age of 18. Where there is no BBFC rating we presume a blanket advisory rating of 18+, anything different is noted below.
This guide is not designed to be exhaustive. Please bear in mind that we might have missed something if it’s been a while since seeing a film and writing this guide!
If you have anything more specific you’d like to know about that isn’t listed below, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Nia by email on nia@abertoir.co.uk, via social media or in-person.
The list is in alphabetical order.
FEATURE FILMS
Auxilio (Tamae Garateguy, Argentina 2022, 80 mins) – strong themes of institutionalisation and systemic ableism; themes of religious fundamentalism; ableist language; rape and sexual violence; scenes of torture; brief scene of pig butchery
Blade (Stephen Norrington, USA 1998, 120 mins) – child endangerment; implied incest; fatphobia; language and themes relating to the purity of blood
Darklands: Director’s Cut (Julian Richards, UK 1996, 85 mins)– scene of a pig being slaughtered (unsure if real!); xenophobia; anti-Traveller sentiment; sexual assault; needles
Enter the Clones of Bruce (David Gregory, USA 2023, 100 mins) – animal violence (snake)
Ganja and Hess (Bill Gunn, USA 1973, 112 mins) – strong addiction theme; description of a suicide attempt; depiction of suicide by gun; some out-dated racial language; child endangerment; depictions of sex work; one very snotty scene
House on the Edge of the Park (Ruggero Deodato, Italy 1981, 91 mins) – strong scenes of sexual violence and sexual threat; scenes of degradation; repeated use of homophobic language; ableism and ableist language; racism; asphyxiation
Humanist Vampire Seeks Consenting Suicidal Person (Ariane Louis-Seize, Canada 2023, 92 mins) – suicide theme (including scenes of group therapy and discussions of death); school bullying; animal violence (bat, not real); ableist language
If Footmen Tire You, What Will Horses Do? (Ron Ormond, USA 1971, 52 mins) – nationalist propaganda; anti-communist propaganda; vomiting; sexual threat; child endangerment
It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This (Rachel Kempf & Nick Toti, USA 2023, 83 mins) – flippant references to paedophilia and suicide; toddler-play fetish scene; vomiting; strobe/flashing lights; reference to homophobia
It’s Coming (Shannon Alexander, USA 2023, 95 mins) – child endangerment
Mancunian Man: The Legendary Life of Cliff Twemlow (Jake West, UK 2023, 124 mins) – no additional notes
Monolith (Matt Vesely, Australia 2023, 94 mins) – no additional notes
Nicko & Joe’s Bad Film Club (???) – unknown
Psychosis (Pirie Martin, Australia 2023, 98 mins) – strong mental health theme and depictions of auditory hallucinations/hearing voices; suffocation; drug misuse
Raging Grace (Paris Zarcilla, UK 2023, 100 mins) – immigration theme; racism; themes of domestic servitude and poverty; implied sexual violence; child endangerment
Red Rooms (Pascal Plante, Canada 2023, 118 mins) – graphic descriptions of the serial rape and murder of children in the context of a criminal trial; flashing/strobe lighting
River (Junta Yamaguchi, Japan 2023, 86 mins) – no additional notes
SCALA!!! Or, the Incredibly Strange Rise and Fall of the World’s Wildest Cinema and How It Influenced a Mixed-up Generation of Weirdos and Misfits (Jane Giles & Ali Catterall, UK 2023, 96 mins) – frequent discussion of drug misuse; discussion of suicide; one very brief hardcore scene
She Is Conann (Bertrand Mandico, France 2023, 105 mins) – necrophilia; one instance of Sinophobia; extensive Nazi-inspired imagery; snakes; cannibalism; needles/injections
The Dragon Lives Again (Law Kei, Hong Kong 1977, 90 mins) – no additional notes
The Exorcist – Director’s Cut (William Friedkin, USA 1973, 132 mins) – extended and graphic scenes of hospitalisation and medical treatments, including injections and the use of restraints; scenes of institutionalisation and psychiatry; loss of a parent; child distress and endangerment; references to Nazi war crimes; sexual violence; homophobic language; implied xenophobia
The Moor (Chris Cronin, UK 2023, 120 mins) – central theme of loss of a child; frequent references to a serial killer of children; discussions of grief and trauma; depiction of panic/anxiety; animal violence (sheep)
The Sin-Eater (Kelly Holmes, UK 2023, 17 mins) – loss of a child
The Tomb of Ligeia (Roger Corman, UK 1964, 81 mins) – strong gaslighting theme; casual sexism; scenes of fox hunting (non-graphic images of pursuit only; a fox corpse is seen later)
The Vampire Lovers (Roy Ward Baker, UK 1970, 91 mins) – no additional notes
The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, UK 1973, 88 mins) – implied child endangerment; animal endangerment; hare corpse
The Wyrm of Bwlch Pen Barras (Craig Williams, UK 2023, 17 mins) – no additional notes
Tiger Stripes (Amanda Nell Eu, Malaysia 2023, 95 mins) – bullying theme; misogyny theme; child endangerment; off-screen animal violence (corpses seen of a frog and squirrel).
Vice Squad (Gary Sherman, USA 1982, 97 mins) – strong violence against women theme; sexual violence; depictions of sex work and vice theme; strong racist language; homophobic language
SHORT FILMs
Alicia (Tony Morales, Spain, 6 mins) – child endangerment
Caraoscura (Germán Sancho, Raúl Cerezo, Spain, 10 mins) – child endangerment
Detox (Alex Hanno, USA, 8 mins 40 secs) – no additional notes
Don’t Talk To Strangers (Imanol Ortiz López, Spain, 5 mins 12 secs) – child murder; implied child abuse
Geronimo (Geraint Morgan, UK, 14 mins 22 secs) – anxiety theme; medical settings
Honeymoon At Cold Hollow (Nat Rovit ,USA, 14 mins 4 secs) – implied domestic violence
Knit One, Stab Two (Alison Peirse, UK, 9 mins 40 secs) – no additional notes
Lands Of Steel (Cyril Vrancken, Belgium, 9 mins 40 secs) – genocide theme
Lord of the Free Range (Simon Dymond, UK, 14 mins) – domestic violence; homophobic language; implied animal violence
Maria Jose Maria (Chico Noras, Portugal, 15 mins) – religious fundamentalism ; matricide
Nap (Javier Chavanel, Spain, 14 mins 30 secs) – no additional notes
Ride Baby Ride (Sofie Somoroff, USA, 7 mins 28 secs) – misogyny theme; implied sexual violence
Spoor (Sunita Soliar and Statten Roeg, UK, 15 mins) – strong depiction of long-term care responsibility; generational trauma theme; colonialism theme
Still Up There (Joe Loftus, Ireland, 4 mins 26 secs) – no additional notes
Stop Dead (Emily Greenwood, UK, 8 mins) – police over-reaction; use of a taser
The Hounds of Annwn (Beth B Hughes and Bryony Evans, UK, 8 mins 20 secs) – no additional notes
The Old Young Crow (Liam LoPinto, Japan/Iran, 11 mins 50 secs) – no additional notes
To the Marrow (Van Poynton, Ireland, 8 mins 9 secs) – domestic violence theme throughout; threat to a child; threat to a pregnant woman
Toad Boy (Phillip J McLaughlin, USA, 13 mins) – bullying theme; child endangerment
Valley of Souls (Edileuza Penha de Souza and Santiago Dellape, Brasil, 15 mins) – child endangerment
Villain (Sparky Tehnsuko, UK, 10 mins 10 secs) – threat of fire and burning
EVENTS
Bad Film Club – unknown
Blade – off-site at Pier Pressure nightclub + afterparty – strobing and flashing lights; loud noises
Blood, Toili, Tears and Sweat: Death Customs and Morbid Folk Beliefs in Wales – a presentation by Dr. Delyth Badder – unknown
Classifying The Horror Film – a presentation by David Hyman – unknown
David Gregory…Exploited –– unknown
Gary Sherman and Jeremy Dyson – A Top Secret Event! – unknown
Pub Quiz – unknown
Robin Ince’s Bibliomaniac: Horror Special – unknown
Robin Ince’s Uncanny Hour: Abertoir Special – unknown
Sing-along-a-Wicker Man – this will involve some audience interaction and the use of props