The time of year to celebrate the heart-pounding, pulse-racing feeling of watching riveting terror on screen is creeping up on us again; and this Halloween the main horror film offering is Ouija: Origin of Evil.

The film, which is a prequel to the 2014 film Ouija, is set in 1965 Los Angeles, where a widowed mother and her two daughters add a new stunt to bolster their séance scam business and unwittingly invite authentic evil into their home.  When the youngest daughter is overtaken by the merciless spirit, this small family confronts unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side.
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Aside from watching this supernatural thriller, which hits cinemas October 21st, what else are the perfect fright fest films to delve into? Well, horror franchises have produced some of the most petrifying films, let’s a take a look….

Just listening to the first Halloween film’s score sets the sinister tone for the ultimate horror franchise; a franchise which has led to ten films throughout the years since the first film in 1978.
The iconic silhouette of a masked Michael Myers, knife in hand, slowly chasing his victims with intent and defying all odds of being killed, resonates fear to this day and set the bar for slasher movies.
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Another Halloween film is reportedly in the pipeline with original director John Carter returning to reboot the franchise alongside Ouija: Origin of Evil producer Jason Blum

The violent Saw films are one of the highest grossing horror movie franchises ever. These psychological torture films attracted huge numbers at the box office since its first release in 2004, with $848 million generated worldwide.
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Seven of these dark, twisted and violent films focus on the crazed torture methods  used  on innocent victims who were caught up in the ‘games’ of  Jigsaw.   Jigsaw  traps his victims to see if they have the ability and will to survive and for them to learn from this horrid experience to value the importance of life. 

“In space no one can hear you scream”- this classic tagline is from Ridley Scott’s iconic 1979  sci-fi horror which was the catalyst for a new breed of horror film.

The first film not only became a cult classic, but it won several accolades, including Oscars and BAFTAs, and is often cited as one of the best films of all time.
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This space horror has spawned four films and two spin offs and launched the acting career of Sigourney Weaver, who appeared in all four Alien films as Ripley, the protagonist of the films.
The next installment of Alien is due next year with the highly anticipated release of Alien: Covenant.

The 1990s saw a revitalization of the horror film genre when the 1996 film Scream was released.

The film directed by Wes Craven, who was responsible for the 1980s hit franchise Nightmare on Elm Street, took on a modern approach towards the slasher serial killer story. In this film a bunch of teenage friends, led by Sidney Prescott, try to unmask the Ghostface maniac who is stalking their town.
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The popular thriller franchise, which was heavily embedded in popular culture at the time, continued for another three films and a future Scream film has not been ruled out. The film also spawned a parody film Scary Movie which also became a popular franchise.

One of the most successful supernatural horror franchises is Paranormal Activity.
The film, which was released in 2009, focuses on a family terrorised by a demon. The use of camera recordings and ‘found footage’ give this franchise plenty of jumpy moments and tense builds up throughout. 

The first film cost roughly $15,000 to produce and earned $193 million for Paramount. Six films were made and released within quick succession of each other before the culmination of the franchise in 2015.

Adding to his producer credentials on horror title’s, Ouija: Origin of Evil’s Jason Blum has produced every film in the Paranormal Activity franchise.

A few years back Snakebite Reviews covered a very interesting documentary named 'On Tender Hooks', a film I personally loved. In the process of reviewing the documentary and telling anyone in could around frightfest about it that year, I managed to have a chat with the film's director Kate Shenton. Now years on we have caught up with friend of the site Kate on her upcoming horror feature Egomaniac and find out more on her upcoming projects.


1. How did you come up with the idea for Egomaniac?

Egomaniac was inspired by my personal experiences in the film industry between making my first feature film On Tender Hooks and beginning to write Egomaniac. It is a satire about the independent film-making industry and it is semi autobiography. It is about filmmaker Catherine Sweeney who is determined to make zombie horror romantic comedy but everyone keeps telling to put a talking dog in the film so that she can raise the finance. Though it is based on my own personal experience it is heavily fictionalized and I will never say what is fact and what is fiction. It is up to the audience to decide. However the more surreal it gets the closer to the bone it is. 

2. Why did you go for the sock puppet? Was it part of your original plan?

The talking dog puppy (princess) is an important part of the film. It's basically a symbol of how crazy the film industry can be sometimes. After writing the script I always thought that for the first screening it would be awesome to make all the audience members Sock Puppet. Not only because it’s a cool thing to do but it also really helps deliver home the message of the film. Also, I must confess, making 250 so it's ended up being quite a lot of fun! Though there was one moment when I was in the living room and I realised I couldn't exit because the whole floor was covered with sock puppets which had the glue drying on the!
 
3. How was the screening at frightfest? I have heard very positive reviews
 
The screening at Fright Fest was awesome. It was incredible to get such positive feedback and the audience have been incredibly supportive of the film. I really do believe the fright fest audience is one of the best audience you can get. 
 
4. What movies and Directors inspire you?
 
For me this is like answering how long is a piece of string. There's been so many movies and directors that inspired me for different reasons. Once of my favourite films of all time is Maryter and don't think I've ever recovered watching the Texas chainsaw massacre when I was 14. I recently watched The Voice which I thought was a truly brilliant as well as Ava's Possession. I also have to watch a lot of comedy and really enjoyed The Lobster recently. Directing wise I will always say that Tim Burton down as one of my biggest inspirations. I grew up in Burtons films and I really wouldn't be making films if it hadn't been been for that influence. 

5. Tell us a little bit about your up coming Bloody Burrito film. Is it still on the cards.
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Bloody Burrito is turning into a very exciting project indeed. I'm currently working with production company Breakneck who have been fantastic to work with. Sadly I'm not allowed to say too much the ball is definitely rolling and hopefully you'll be able to see the film soon. 
 
6. What is your favourite puppet movie.
 
Dark Crystal always have a special place in my heart. However I also have a soft spot for the Muppet Christmas Carol and the Muppet Treasure Island. I'm also very excited to see Cat Davies’s short film Connie just been getting fantastic reviews on the festival circuit. 
 
7. Whats next for Kate Sheton.
 
The next thing is very much Bloody Burrito. I'm super excited about making this film. However I also working on other projects. I've just written a short script which is going to be animated by the fantastic Sprankenstein and produced by Breakneck Films. I also have a number of other ideas that I'm beginning to write down. All in all it is very exciting time.