The British Horror Film Festival (BHFF) is an independent film festival that takes place annually in the United Kingdom and is one of four events hosted by the Film Festival Guild, including the British Animation Film Festival, the British Independent Film Festival and the International Film Festival of Wales. Founded in 2010, the festival celebrates the horror and thriller genres in film, both international and British horror films. The festival has previously been held in various locations throughout England, starting with Bournemouth in 2010 before having its roots in London, which most often screened at the Empire/Cineworld in Leicester Square before moving to the British Museum in 2022. The British Horror Film Festival has featured a number of notable films and filmmakers including Prano Bailey-Bond, who won the British Horror Award (best achievement on a low budget) alongside co-director Jennifer Eiss for the short film Short Lease as well as a Best Actress win for Marysia Kay.
The festival includes screenings with features, short films, music videos and student films. BHFF also recognises the achievements of filmmakers through awards in various categories, including Best Feature, Best Short, Best Director, and Best Actor/Actress amongst others.
The festival has attracted a growing audience of horror film fans, filmmakers and industry professionals over the years. In October 2022, the British Horror Film Festival was held at the British Museum and was sold-out at full capacity.
In addition to its typical in-person events, the British Horror Film Festival was also hosted online in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Awards (2010-)
2010 British Horror Film Festival Official Selection & Award Winners 2010 Film Nominees (8 Films)Award WinnersMutant Land (4mins, Dir. by Phil Tippett)Best Short FilmNursery Crimes (4mins, Dir. by L. Whyte)Audience AwardShort Lease (14mins, Dir. by Prano Bailey-Bond & Jennifer Eiss)Best Actress (Marysia Kay), British Horror AwardRoadkill (20mins)Best Student ShortNeedle (90mins, Dir. by John V. Soto)Best Cinematography, Best Special Effects, Best Supporting Actress (Jessica Marais)Devil's Playground (92mins, Dir. by Mark McQueen)Best Feature Film, Best Actor (Danny Dyer), Best Director, Best Producer (Jonathon Sothcott, Freddie Hutton & Bart Ruspoli)Black Death (102mins, Dir. by Dean Francis) Voodoo Lagoon (79mins, Dir. by Nick Cohen)Best Supporting Actor (John Noble)Unseen (Unproduced screenplay by Kristi Barnett)Best Unproduced Screenplay
2011 British Horror Film Festival Official Selection & Award Winners 2011 Film Nominees (12 Films)Award WinnersThe Reverend (98mins, Dir. by Neil Jones) Kill Keith (93mins, Dir. by Andy Thompson)Best MusicTell Him Next Year (12mins, Dir. by David Margolis)Best Short FilmSolving Problems (14mins, Dir. by Filipe Maciel) Merry Little Christmas (20mins, Dir. by Jose Manuel Marin Minguez) Rise of the Appliances (10mins, Dir. by Rob Sprackling)British Horror AwardLe Miroir (8mins, Dir. by Sebastian Rossignol) Envy the Dead (10mins, Dir. by Isa Swain) Facing Rupert (6mins, Dir. by Gregory Erdstein) The Holding (89mins, Dir. by Susan Jacobson)Best Cinematography, Best Actor (Vincent Regan), Best Actress (Kierston Wareing)Stalker (77mins, Dir. by Martin Kemp)Best Feature Film, Best Supporting Actor (Billy Murray), Best DirectorThe Hike (83mins, Dir. by Rupert Bryan)Best Supporting Actress (Barbara Nedeljakova)The Unseen (Unproduced screenplay by Dan Clifton)Best Unproduced Screenplay
2012 British Horror Film Festival Official Selection & Award Winners 2012 Film Nominees (15 Films)Award WinnersDemon (90mins, Dir. by Mark Duffield)Best Cinematography, Best Actress (Clare Langford)Three's A Shroud (77mins, Dir. by Dan Brownlie, David V. G. Davies & Andy Edwards)British Horror AwardArt of Darkness (90mins, Dir. by Steve Laurence)Best Feature Film, Best MusicDarkwood Manor (96mins, Dir. by Liam Hooper)Best Student FilmLove Bug (13mins, Dir. by Benjamin Kent)Best Short Film, Best Actor (Thomas Coombes)One Night in Sutherland Hill (7mins, Dir. by Michael Callaghan) Shoreditch Slayer (2mins, Dir. by Simon Levene) The Deadfall (25mins, Dir. by Nic Alderton) The Tunnel (5mins, Dir. by Ivan Radovic) Mother Died (7mins, Dir. by Neill Gorton) Between Friends (11mins, Dir. by Gerhardt Slawitschka) Just the 2 of Us (13mins, Dir. by Mat Brooks) Beneath (13mins, Dir. by Al White) Trid An Stoirm (8mins, Dir. by Fred Burdy) The Other Side (20mins, Dir. by The Santoro Brothers)Best Director, Audience AwardBlood and Fangs: The Bloodening (Unproduced screenplay by Dave McLeod)Best Unproduced Screenplay
2013 British Horror Film Festival Official Selection & Award Winners 2013 Film Nominees (18 Films)Award WinnersFortune Cookie Prophecies (113mins, Dir. by Henry Li) Spira (10mins, Dir. by Jon James Smith) Tumbling After (6mins, Dir. by Nicholas Humphries)Best Short FilmLeft Hand Billy in the Second Solution (30mins, Dir. by Gabriele Zuccarini) 82 (6mins, Dir. by Calum Macdiarmid) Honeymoon Suite (14mins, Dir. by Zao Wang)Best CinematographyThe Meeting (16mins, Dir. by Karen Lam) Moment of Clarity (2mins, Dir. by James Fisher) In the House of Flies (89mins, Dir. by Gabriel Carrer) Belly of the Wolf (21mins, Dir. by Mark Fisher)Best Actor (Finn Morrell), Best Director, British Horror AwardDia De Los Muertos (12mins, Dir. by Gigi Saul Guerrero)Best Actress (Adelita Rockhill)Vengeance Rhythm (3mins, Dir. by Christopher Ullens) Sleep Now in the Fire (21mins, Dir. by Sean Pollaro & Elliot Pollaro) Happy Birthday Mr. Zombie (7mins, Dir. by David Leclercq) Lonely Hearts (11mins, Dir. by Leon Chambers) Decapoda Shock (9mins, Dir. by Javier Chillon)Best MusicLot254 (2mins, Dir. by Toby Meakins) Entity (87mins, Dir. by Steve Stone)Best Feature FilmDepartment 18 (Unproduced screenplay by Mick Sims)Best Unproduced Screenplay
2014 British Horror Film Festival Official Selection & Award Winners 2014 Film Nominees (9 Films)Award WinnersApocalyptic (84mins, Dir. by Glen Trigs)Best Feature FilmThe Scopia Effect (130mins, Dir. by Christopher Butler)Best CinematographyDans Le Noir (12mins, Dir. by Kate Tuck)British Horror AwardThe Brain Hack (18mins, Dir. by Joseph White)Best Short Film, Best Music, Best Actor (Edward Franklin)The End (8mins, Dir. by Raj Pathak)Best Actress (Shelley Draper)The Jigsaw (8mins, Dir. by Sibling Films) The Stomach (15mins, Dir. by Ben Steiner) Tin and Tina (12mins, Dir. by Rubin Stein) Judas Ghost (75mins, Dir. by Simon Pearce)Best DirectorRegression (Unproduced screenplay by Shannon Hile & Richard Eden)Best Unproduced Screenplay
2015 British Horror Film Festival Official Selection & Award Winners 2015 Film Nominees (9 Films)Award WinnersChrysalis (100mins, Dir. by John Klein)Best Feature, Best Supporting Actress (Tanya Thai McBridge)The Substitute (20mins, Dir. by Nathan Hughes-Berry)Best Supporting Actor (Ben Kerfoot)The Herd (20mins, Dir. by Melanie Light)Best CinematographyEl Gigante (16mins, Dir. by Gigi Saul Guerrero) NOCT (15mins, Dir. by Vincent Toujas) Do Not Disturb (13mins, Dir. by Jon James Smith)Best MusicQuiet Zone (9mins, Dir. by Andrew Iondies)Best Short FilmCurse of the Phoenix (91mins, Dir. by Robert Young)Best Actor (Joseph Sentence)Demon Baby (70mins, Dir. by Coz Greenop)Best Actress (Carina Biurrell), Best Director, British Horror AwardDead West (Unproduced screenplay by Jeff Kussmann)Best Unproduced ScreenplayThe Walls (Unproduced screenplay by Kristi Barnett)Best Unproduced Screenplay (Honourable Mention)
2016 British Horror Film Festival Official Selection & Award Winners 2016 Film Nominees (13 Films)Award WinnersCapture Kill Release (95mins, Dir. by Nick McAnulty & Brian Allan Stewart) Death Walks (95mins, Dir. by Spencer Hawken)Best Music, Best Supporting Actor (Jon Guerriero)Girl #2 (9mins, Dir. by David Jeffery) Gene (10mins, Dir. by Nick Padley) FlySpy (21mins, Dir. by Daniel M. Smith) Chaste (10mins, Dir. by Mike Jones)Best Short FilmForget Me Not (9mins, Dir. by Andreas Avgousti) Summoned (6mins, Dir. by Victoria Angell) Playback (4mins, Dir. by Nathan Crooker) The Barber's Cut (12mins, Dir. by Mike Brocking)British Horror AwardUnder the Bed (2mins, Dir. by James Mansell) I Lived Here (6mins, Dir. by Martin Laurence) Fractured (80mins, Dir. by Jamie Patterson)Best Feature Film, Best Cinematography, Best Actor (Karl Davies), Best Actress (April Pearson), Best Supporting Actress (Louisa Lytton), Best DirectorKiller App v.2.0 (Unproduced screenplay by Joseph Ferrante)Best Unproduced Screenplay
2017 British Horror Film Festival Official Selection & Award Winners 2017 Film Nominees (24 Films)Award WinnersDevil Town (15mins, Dir. by Nick Barrett) Caught (75mins, Dir. by Jamie Patterson)Best Cinematography (Paul O’Callaghan), Best Supporting Actress (April Pearson)Health, Wealth & Happiness (11mins, Dir. by Nic Alderton) Redwood (75mins, Dir. by Tom Paton)Best Actor (Mike Beckingham), Best Actress (Tatjana Nardone)Delicious Perspectives (11mins, Dir. by Antonio Padovani) Once Upon a Time at Christmas (75mins, Dir. by Christopher Jolley) Salient Minus Ten (13mins, Dir. by Emma Dark) NightmARes (3mins, Dir. by James Mansell) The Unwilling (76mins, Dir. by Jonathan Heap)Best Supporting Actor (Lance Henricksen)Happy Anniversary (6mins, Dir. by Mark Kuczewski) Glasshole (3mins, Dir. by Jonathan Brooks)British Horror AwardBuzzard Hollow Beef (76mins, Dir. by Joshua M. Johnson) Dead Cool (19mins, Dir. by Simon Ross)Best Short FilmNothing to Declare (8mins, Dir. by Will Adams) Shortcut (5mins, Dir. by Prano Bailey-Bond) Roadkiller (13mins, Dir. by Kate Cheeseman) The Last Halloween (10mins, Dir. by Marc Roussel) I am Not the Devil (9mins, Dir. by Samuel Smith) Mayflower (7mins, Dir. by Christopher Goodman) Goodnight, Gracie (4mins, Dir. by Stellan Kendrick) Blindman's Lane (13mins, Dir. by Diego Indraccolo & Alive Gatti) Savor (1min, Dir. by Marc Cartwright) In Extremis (93mins, Dir. by Steve Stone)Best Feature Film, Best Music (John Koutselinis), Best DirectorSteven Berkoff's Tell Tale Heart (80mins, Dir. by Stephen Cookson)
2018 British Horror Film Festival Official Selection & Award Winners 2018 Film Nominees (13 Films)Award WinnersThe Familiar Fingers of Culture (20mins, Dir. by Conscian Morgan)Best Actress (Emma Connell)Another Game (9mins, Dir. by Riyad Barmania)Best DirectorFirst (9mins, Dir. by Darcia Martin)Best MusicThe Entity (7mins, Dir. by Martin Laurence) Meat (7mins, Dir. by Josef Bates)British Horror AwardOscar's Bell (12mins, Dir. by Chris Cronin)Best Short Film, Best Actor (Paul Bullion)Sweetie (11mins, Dir. by Ethan Evans & Sean Toshach) All You Can Carry (11mins, Dir. by Andrew Rose)Best Student Film, Best CinematographyRearview (4mins, Dir. by Chase Casanova) Doris (12mins, Dir. by Hayder Hasen) Baghead (15mins, Dir. by Alberto Corredor Marina)Best Supporting Actor (Julian Seager), Best Supporting Actress (Natalie Oliver)There's A Monster Behind You (10mins, Dir. by Evan Richards) Isabelle (80mins, Dir. by Rob Heydon)Best Feature FilmAmen Evil, The Possession (Unproduced screenplay by Steven Williams)Best Unproduced Screenplay
2019 British Horror Film Festival Official Selection & Award Winners