[Editorial] What to Watch at This Year's Cine-Excess International Film Festival 2023

Kicking off on Tuesday 17th October, the 2023 edition considers the cinematic, social and cultural significance of the possessed, supernatural and unclean body onscreen. In-keeping with the festival’s established mission to integrate academic and industrial film perspectives, this year’s theme of ‘Raising Hell: Demons, Darkness and the Abject’ focuses on landmark scholarly texts as well as anniversaries and restorations of cult cinema classics that deal with this subject.

“Cine-Excess 2023 is the biggest event we have staged in the festival’s 17-year history. It runs for two weeks online and in cinemas with screenings in Birmingham and Kidderminster, extending the festival’s commitment to access and inclusion.” - Director Xavier Mendik.

Here's what you have to look forward to if you’re grabbing tickets for the fest…

Hellraiser Stars Reunite

Three of cinema’s most recognisable cult horror stars will make special appearances on Thursday 19th and Friday 20th October.

All three actors are travelling to the West Midlands on Thursday 19th October to mentor film students from Birmingham City University (BCU), their trip will culminate with a special screening of Hellraiser at the Birmingham Electric Cinema. 

“Cine-Excess film festival is a unique and extraordinary festival. It will be great getting together with a couple of my fellow cenobites and celebrating the genius of Clive Barker and the Hellraiser films,” said Wilde.

“I think Hellraiser and Hellraiser II have lasted as they were so unique for their time, they're intelligent horror and more than jump scares, freaky makeup and costume,” added Vince.

Actor Doug Bradley, who played the iconic Pinhead character in Hellraiser will also participate in the event through a prerecorded film interview conducted from the USA following a screening of HELLRAISER II: HELLBOUND on Friday 20th October.

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Possessed Bodies, Monstrous Beings and the Abject: A Screening Season

To compliment this year’s festival theme, the Cine-Excess 2023 screening season features startling new film premieres and cult classics that focus on the unnatural, unholy and alienated body.

The screening season includes both in-person UK film premieres and exclusive screenings alongside a range of streamed releases, many of which are being made available for international audiences to watch:

The Devil’s Work (Dir Ursula Dabrowsky)

Charlie and Dustin plan to spend a tranquil weekend at their friend's countryside home, but their peace is shattered when a blood-splattered woman arrives and begins to stalk them. When Charlie realizes that the stalker is her sister, Lindy, things take a dangerous turn…​

Livescreamers (Dir Michelle Iannantuono)

In the screenlife found footage film LIVESCREAMERS, Michael Smallwood (Halloween Kills, Righteous Gemstones) leads a popular group of content creators who face a lesson in teamwork when a cursed video game kills them one by one.​

I am Monsters (Dir Nicholas Vince)

Hellraiser star Nicholas Vince’s acclaimed documentary is adapted from his 2019 autobiographical one-man-show. This remarkable film adaptation is a poignant and relatable story of growing up immersed in horror, while also providing an essential exploration of the challenges faced by gay individuals during the oppressive Thatcher era, where staying in the closet was often the safest choice.

Deleter (Dir Mikhail Red)

Censor meets The Ring in Mikhail Red’s chilling new film. After deleting a surfaced suicide video of her co-worker, a desensitized online content moderator fleeing from her troubled past is haunted by a vengeful presence.

Abruptio (Dir Evan Marlowe)

Les Hackel is a guy down on his luck who wakes to find an explosive device has been implanted in his neck. He must carry out heinous crimes in order to stay alive while trying to identify the mastermind manipulating the now twisted and strange world around him. Evan Marlowe’s innovative film is enacted entirely using life-size puppets and features horror luminaries such as Jordan Peele, Robert Englund and the late Sid Haig in prominent voice-over roles.

Cine-excess is also hosting an all-dayer of screeners at The Lume Cinema in Kidderminster including Soft Liquid Centre, It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This, How We Ended Us and a double bill of I am Monsters and Hellraiser (1987).

The screenings conclude on Saturday 28th October with the worldwide theatrical premiere of the new documentary The Exorcist Untold (Dir Robin Bextor), which will screen simultaneously across a range of Midlands cinemas.

Conference and Academic Panels

Throughout the course of the festival, there will be Themed academic conferences which include a live-streamed keynote address by Professor Barbara Creed (University of Melbourne), author of ‘The Monstrous Feminine’ and panels which include members of the Ghouls Magazine team on subjects such as ABJECT BODIES, THE SUPERNATURAL AND SUBURBAN TERRORS and ABJECTION AFTER CREED: NEW CASE STUDIES.

Cine-Excess 2023 takes place online and at the Birmingham Electric Cinema, Mockingbird cinema and Lume Cinema, Kidderminster between 17th-28th October. 

A full schedule of the Cine-Excess Film Festival and Conference can be found here.

Want a ticket for the event? You can grab your Cine-Excess 2023 Film Festival tickets here.

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