Grindfest 2026: Frankenstein, Vampires and Other Strange Things

My second trip to Dirt in the Gate's Grindfest, a horror and genre festival at Christchurch's Regent Centre, and once again the programme managed to combine cult favourites, strange discoveries and films that probably don't get nearly enough chances to be seen on the big screen.

This year I went for ten films across three days, mixing rewatches with first-time discoveries, a couple of classic Gothic literary reworkings, a mystery screening and a lost BBC horror. There were vampires, werewolves, 3D space adventures, Argento, Cronenberg and Alan Clarke, so pretty much something for every corner of my cinematic brain. Over the weekend, 12 of the 14 films were shown from film, which is a big part of what makes Grindfest special.

eXistenZ (1999) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A rewatch, and still a gloriously squelchy, reality-bending wild ride. I remembered loving it, but had forgotten quite how weird it gets. Which is probably the point.

Cronenberg's games within games and constant uncertainty over what is real still make it wonderfully slippery, with biological technology that is simultaneously fascinating and deeply unpleasant.

Vamp (1986) ⭐⭐⭐½

My first time seeing this very 1980s college vampire comedy, somewhere between sexploitation, horror and total camp nonsense.

Grace Jones, as a vampire queen, is obviously magnificent, but there is plenty of other 80s excess to enjoy. Exactly the sort of strange cult discovery Grindfest does so well.

Starchaser: The Legend of Orin 3D (1985) ⭐⭐

A rewatch from the original release, although apparently my brain decided to erase the experience entirely. It rang absolutely no bells. Not even the wildly inappropriate-for-a-PG "fembot".

The 3D was certainly an experience, but this was one childhood memory that might have been better left undisturbed.

Amira (2025) ⭐⭐⭐½

An atmospheric Gothic short set in an 18th-century music school where it is always dark. Javier Yañez Sanz builds the suspense beautifully, creating a strange and increasingly unsettling world.

I was completely with it until the ending, which didn't quite live up to everything that came before.

Frankenstein Unbound (1990) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A rewatch and still loved it. Time travel, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, Byron and a collision between science fiction and classical Gothic literature.

It's a wonderfully unruly literary mash-up, taking familiar characters and throwing them into a time-travel adventure. Exactly my sort of nonsense.

The Phantom of the Opera (1989) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Another time-travelling trip into Gothic literature, this time with Robert Englund getting his teeth into Gaston Leroux.

Gloriously excessive and very much a product of late-1980s horror cinema rather than a restrained literary adaptation. It was great fun to revisit.

Tenebrae (1982) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

A rewatch. Argento out-doing Argento.

Stylish, lurid and beautifully nasty, with every corridor, staircase and suspiciously empty room looking as though it is plotting something. There is something wonderfully ridiculous about how beautiful Argento can make murder look.

Fright Night Part 2 (1988) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The mystery movie revealed!

And I preferred it to the first one, which I absolutely loved. The sequel has a slightly different energy but works brilliantly as a vampire romp in its own right.

Silver Bullet (1985) ⭐⭐⭐½

Stephen King, werewolves, small-town America and a lovely pre-Twin Peaks Easter egg in the shape of Everett McGill wearing an eye patch.

Very 80s, very enjoyable and a suitably entertaining way to start the final day.

Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire (1985) ⭐⭐⭐½

Alan Clarke makes a musical about snooker. Alan Armstrong plays a vampire. Phil Daniels plays snooker.

Why is this not better known?

It's bonkers, gloriously British and somehow still not quite bonkers enough considering the premise. A particularly good Grindfest discovery.

No Such Thing as a Vampire (1968) ⭐⭐⭐½

A lost BBC Late Night Horror and a genuinely atmospheric way to finish the festival.

After three days of increasingly elaborate genre cinema, its reliance on suggestion and atmosphere was particularly effective. Properly old-school television horror.

And then I went home...

Then I legged it for the train, only to spend two hours at Christchurch station because of a points failure. Which did at least give me time to be extremely transgressive and watch The People Under the Stairs on my tiny tablet while everyone back at the Regent was watching it on the big screen.

The People Under the Stairs (1991) ⭐⭐

Turns out there was a reason I hadn't planned to stay for it.

I love the whole experience as much as the films: physical film, communal cinema, obscure discoveries alongside popular favourites, and enthusiastic introductions, with cast and creators appearing either in person or on screen. There is something rather lovely about spending three days watching films with people who are just as happy to get excited about a lost BBC horror or a vampire playing snooker as they are about Argento or Cronenberg.

Although I could have done without the couple persistently snogging behind me!