UVHFF 2026
The 11th Unrestricted View HORROR Film Festival will take place 26th October - 1st November 2026. An independent Film Festival run by filmmakers.
UVHFF 2026
26th October (Screen on the Green)
26th October 8pm (Door at 7.30pm)
SHORTS 1
We launch our 2026 Horror Film Festival with a selection of fantastic UK shorts at the iconic Everyman Screen on the Green.
After Birth (Amy Cudden UK)
Grandma is Thirsty (Kris Carr UK)
The Humbug (Cole Paviour UK)
Foreign Bodies (Lysander Wong UK/Hong Kong)
Homonym (Lily Howkins UK)
Dissonance (E
26th October 8pm (Door at 7.30pm)
SHORTS 1
We launch our 2026 Horror Film Festival with a selection of fantastic UK shorts at the iconic Everyman Screen on the Green.
After Birth (Amy Cudden UK)
Grandma is Thirsty (Kris Carr UK)
The Humbug (Cole Paviour UK)
Foreign Bodies (Lysander Wong UK/Hong Kong)
Homonym (Lily Howkins UK)
Dissonance (Edward Zorab UK)
A Hand to Hold (Philip Clyde-Smith UK)
27th October (Odeon Luxe & Dine Islington)
27th October 6pm £12
Our second night takes us to the fantastic Odeon Luxe & Dine Islington for a selection of excellent short films.
SHORTS 2
SCREEN ONE
The Eating Of Sin (Gaius Milne Brown UK)
Sundowning (Aimie Willemse UK)
Warren Mann: The Dark Room (Dylan Hayes UK)
Bloodsuckers (Rosie Brear UK)
Autopilot (Desi Ivanova UK)
Draman (Lazio
27th October 6pm £12
Our second night takes us to the fantastic Odeon Luxe & Dine Islington for a selection of excellent short films.
SHORTS 2
SCREEN ONE
The Eating Of Sin (Gaius Milne Brown UK)
Sundowning (Aimie Willemse UK)
Warren Mann: The Dark Room (Dylan Hayes UK)
Bloodsuckers (Rosie Brear UK)
Autopilot (Desi Ivanova UK)
Draman (Lazio Zana
Kurdistan)
Wrap it up (Zak Harney UK)
The Cleanse (Tim Auld UK)
The Man That I Wave At (Ben S Hyland UK)
SHORTS 3
SCREEN FIVE
The Higher Path (Duncan Roe UK)
Crèche & Burn (Frank O'Neil UK)
Piping Hot Throughout (Richard Jackson UK) Ol' Silus (Phillip Ashley Trow UK)
3:03am (Kolya Denton UK)
Oz (Bétina Flender France) Chimera (Eamonn Hearns UK)
28th October (ArtHouse Crouch End)
28th October 8pm £12
SHORTS 4
Our Third night takes us to the beautiful ArtHouse Crouch End for a selection of excellent short films.
After Glow (Aaran McKenzie UK)
What Goes Round (Or Things That Go Bump In The Night) (Edie Deffebach UK)
Clean (Ed McCulloch UK)
Cyclops (Tariq Sayed UK)
The Suicide Shift (Paul Laight UK)
No One is Coming to Rescu
28th October 8pm £12
SHORTS 4
Our Third night takes us to the beautiful ArtHouse Crouch End for a selection of excellent short films.
After Glow (Aaran McKenzie UK)
What Goes Round (Or Things That Go Bump In The Night) (Edie Deffebach UK)
Clean (Ed McCulloch UK)
Cyclops (Tariq Sayed UK)
The Suicide Shift (Paul Laight UK)
No One is Coming to Rescue You (Ruth Platt UK)
Gripper (Krishna Muthurangu UK)
29th October (Hen & Chickens Theatre)
29th October
3.30pm £12
HIDDEN IN THE DARK
Directed by Christian Gatto
Bulgaria
100 mins
A young girl, Maya, has been confined to a remote hospital in the mountains of Slovakia. She possesses abilities that could be a powerful advantage, but they also consume her, both physically and emotionally. Gabriel, a psychiatrist at the facility, be
29th October
3.30pm £12
HIDDEN IN THE DARK
Directed by Christian Gatto
Bulgaria
100 mins
A young girl, Maya, has been confined to a remote hospital in the mountains of Slovakia. She possesses abilities that could be a powerful advantage, but they also consume her, both physically and emotionally. Gabriel, a psychiatrist at the facility, begins to question the true purpose of the experiments conducted on her. Convinced they have little to do with a cure, he helps Maya escape, and together they take refuge in an old house. Thanks to her powers, Maya begins to perceive the presence of a little girl who seems to linger within the house, making their stay challenging, while Gabriel's good intentions also begin to become questionable.
5.30pm £12
Á HULDU - THE HIDDEN ONES
Directed by Darren Borrowman
Canada/Iceland
85 mins
In the Icelandic countryside, a news cameraman is found dead under unsettling circumstances. His reporter colleague has vanished without a trace. The mystery remains unsolved. Years later, a documentary crew retraces the investigation, piecing together fragments of testimony, archival material, and newly uncovered footage. What begins as a cold case review becomes something more elusive as new evidence reveals hidden connections and unanswered questions. Á Huldu – The Hidden Ones is an 85-minute English and Icelandic-language feature that adopts a true-crime documentary framework to explore the instability of truth, the ethics of observation, and the persistence of unresolved narratives.
7.30pm £12
BLOCKHEAD
Directed by Matt Harlock
UK
81 mins
A failing novelist thinks his muse appears to inspire him. Instead his life spirals into chaos and murder - but just possibly, genius.
30th October (Hen & Chickens Theatre)
30th October
1pm £12
THE DEATH OF US
Directed by Annabella Rich
UK
88 mins
After the brutal loss of their child, a grieving couple retreats to the countryside, where a malevolent entity twists their reality into a waking nightmare. A renowned author and his wife seek refuge in the countryside after a devastating tragedy - the loss of their
30th October
1pm £12
THE DEATH OF US
Directed by Annabella Rich
UK
88 mins
After the brutal loss of their child, a grieving couple retreats to the countryside, where a malevolent entity twists their reality into a waking nightmare. A renowned author and his wife seek refuge in the countryside after a devastating tragedy - the loss of their child in a brutal home invasion. As their grief consumes them, they soon realise memories are far from the only things haunting them. Struggling to heal, a malevolent entity emerges, twisting their reality and pulling them into an insidious plot that threatens to consume them entirely.
3pm £12
VARIATIONS ON VIOLENCE
Directed by Zachary Nichols
USA
71 mins
Consumed by the distant violence he witnesses daily, a military drone pilot drifts toward self-destruction, leaving his sister to face the intimate cost of war fought far away. Drawn from the experiences of real U.S. military drone pilots living with PTSD, Variations on Violence visualizes trauma’s inescapable spread.
5pm £12
SHORTS 5
Exuvia (Arthur Henning Austria)
Don't go (Talon Darren Winsnes Norway) In Case of Fear (Aaron Sauerland USA) Scroll (Utku Banci Canada)
Favela Amarela (Nícolas Lobato, Thiago Tuchu Brazil)
The Binding (Ryan Kennedy US) Gumboro (Dimitris Vavatsis Greece)
7pm £12
DEAD RESET
Directed by Stewart Sparke
UK
95 mins T
rapped in an underwater research facility, surgeon Cole Mason is forced to operate on a mutating, parasitic creature. The catch? He’s trapped in a brutal, blood-soaked time loop and must relive his own violent demise over and over again. To survive, Cole must embrace death and find a way to kill the creature and stop the loop before he becomes trapped in a never ending spiral of horror. Based on the video game of the same name, Dead Reset is a practical effects driven gore fest that delivers a fresh twist on the time-loop genre.
31st October (Hen & Chickens Theatre)
31st October
12pm £12
UNRESTRICTED BREW (Coffee, Tea & Industry Talks)
12pm - Coffee, tea & chats.
1pm - 30 minutes chat with Christian Parton from Genera about funding & their new distribution platform Hosted by Felicity Wren (VP of The International Screenwriters association)
1.30pm - Coffee, tea & chats.
2pm - TBC
2.30pm - Coffee, tea &
31st October
12pm £12
UNRESTRICTED BREW (Coffee, Tea & Industry Talks)
12pm - Coffee, tea & chats.
1pm - 30 minutes chat with Christian Parton from Genera about funding & their new distribution platform Hosted by Felicity Wren (VP of The International Screenwriters association)
1.30pm - Coffee, tea & chats.
2pm - TBC
2.30pm - Coffee, tea & chats.
3pm - 30 minutes chat with Christine Hartland from My Smash Media about building the right pitch and connecting creatives with industry professionals looking for their next project. Hosted by Felicity Wren (VP of The International Screenwriters association)
4pm £12
UVHFF x ABOUT BLOODY TIME
A HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION OF WOMEN WORKING IN GENRE 31 October 2026 | 4–6pm | Hen & Chickens Theatre, Islington This Halloween, Unrestricted View Horror Film Festival is partnering with About Bloody Time, created by Yes She Cannes, for a special afternoon celebrating women shaping, creating and championing genre. Meet brilliant women and their work, swap your genre raves, rants & recommendations, discover opportunities worth sinking your teeth into and have a bloody good time. This edition will spotlight She Builds Stories, an organisation helping women take their stories from idea to industry through creative development and tangible routes forward. Their latest opportunity is the Female Vertical Drama Programme, in partnership with CenterFrame- inviting women to take a fresh look at vertical drama: why it matters for women, why horror fits the format, and the real opportunity women have to help shape what comes next. The programme will select six female writers for a one-week development room in London, with one project ultimately produced as a pilot. Submissions are free and open until 14 November 2026. CenterFrame Alongside the spotlight, expect the full About Bloody Time atmosphere: celebrating bloody brilliant women working across genre, a few fun surprises built and plenty of space to meet new fellow filmmakers! And because it’s Halloween, Bloody/Halloween outfits are very much encouraged, with a prize for Best Bloody Fit! Together we’re creating more spaces for women in genre. Coz it’s about bloody time. 🩸🕰️ Find out more
Unrestricted View Horror Film Festival — https://uvff.co.uk/uvhff-2026 | Instagram @uviewff
About Bloody Time / Yes She Cannes — https://www.yesshecannes.com/ | Instagram @yeshecannes
She Builds Stories — https://shebuildsstories.com/ | Instagram @shebuildsstories
CenterFrame — https://centerframe.club/ | Instagram @centerframeclub
Female Vertical Drama Programme / submissions (https://centerframe.club/pages/shebuildsstories-female-vertical-drama-programme) — Programme details & apply
6.30pm £12
SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
Join us for this classic horror. With pizza and prosecco! Fancy dress optional Pyjamas optional (we'll be wearing ours!!)
9pm £12
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
Join us for this classic Comedy/musical/horror. With pizza and prosecco! Fancy dress optional Pyjamas optional (we'll be wearing ours!!)
1st November (Hen & Chickens Theatre)
1st November
12.30am £12
UNRESTRICTED VIEW HORROR FILM FESTIVAL 2026 X BIFA: SAINT MAUD
Directed by Rose Glass
UK
85 mins
In collaboration with our friends at BIFA we are screen ing the brilliant award winning SAINT MAUD. The debut feature from Rose Glass follows a devout live-in nurse, Maud, who becomes enraptured with her new patient, the
1st November
12.30am £12
UNRESTRICTED VIEW HORROR FILM FESTIVAL 2026 X BIFA: SAINT MAUD
Directed by Rose Glass
UK
85 mins
In collaboration with our friends at BIFA we are screen ing the brilliant award winning SAINT MAUD. The debut feature from Rose Glass follows a devout live-in nurse, Maud, who becomes enraptured with her new patient, the glamorous ex-dancer Amanda. Maud’s fixation soon mutates into an obsessive mission to save Amanda’s soul.
4pm £12
SHORTS 6
We finish the festival screening as we started it, with a selection of fantastic horror short films!
Vetala (Ajit Mann UK)
Entry 8 (Alastaire Bird, Megan O'Loughlin UK)
The Beast (Yana Alzhanova Kazakhstan) Geist (William B. James Germany)
About UVHFF
Festival Director
Boo Jackson joined the Unrestricted View Film Festival team in 2023. With a background in independent film, live performance, and community engagement, Boo brings a particular focus on inclusive programming and accessibility. She is also a multi-award-winning actor, voice coach, and former PhD researcher in queer theory and socio-political philosophy.
Festival Producer
James Wren is a Writer/actor/producer and has produced 3 feature films and 9 short films. He set up UVFF & UVHFF in 2016 and has been Festival Director (UVFF) and Festival Produce (UVHFF) from the outset.
Executive Producer
Felicity Wren formed Unrestricted View with James Wren in 1997 and UV became the resident theatre company at The Hen & Chickens Theatre in 1999 and remains so to this day. Felicity is also the Vice President of the International Screenwriter's Association. She champions screenwriters' and filmmakers, making connections with Production Companies and Management in the US & UK.
Executive Director (UVFF Touring)
Tony Sands Joined UVHFF in 2018 and was Festival Director from 2019 - 2025. ‘Tom’ in Children’s BBC classic ‘Moondial’. Tony has also appeared in ‘Eastenders’, ‘The Bill’, ‘Londons Burning’, on multiple radio serials, movies such as Peter Medak’s classic ‘The Krays’, ‘Let Him Have It’, and the upcoming ‘Harbinger’.
He has hosted horror pan
Tony Sands Joined UVHFF in 2018 and was Festival Director from 2019 - 2025. ‘Tom’ in Children’s BBC classic ‘Moondial’. Tony has also appeared in ‘Eastenders’, ‘The Bill’, ‘Londons Burning’, on multiple radio serials, movies such as Peter Medak’s classic ‘The Krays’, ‘Let Him Have It’, and the upcoming ‘Harbinger’.
He has hosted horror panel show ‘What’s The Bloody Question?’ online and live at festivals, and previously hosted online show ‘Hanging With..’ a series of insightful interviews with talent from across the indie horror scene.
Programming Team
Alice Henley is an award winning Screen and Theatre Actress. She has worked with HBO as series regular Livia in "Rome", acted opposite Viggo Mortensen in David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises" and was the lead in CBBC comedy "My Almost Famous Family". She toured Italy for six months with "Romeo and Juliet" and then moved to London pe
Alice Henley is an award winning Screen and Theatre Actress. She has worked with HBO as series regular Livia in "Rome", acted opposite Viggo Mortensen in David Cronenberg's "Eastern Promises" and was the lead in CBBC comedy "My Almost Famous Family". She toured Italy for six months with "Romeo and Juliet" and then moved to London permanently working as an actress, writer and producer..
She has co-written and produced short film "Another Day", which deals with the growing epidemic of male suicide, and has written, produced and acted in "Lal", the story of the East End girls who kept Britain going while the boys were away fighting World War II. She currently has two projects in development with her production company Henley Black Productions.
Programming Team
Richard Glover is an award-winning actor, who recently wrapped shooting upcoming feature films DESPERATE JOURNEY, directed by Annabel Jankel and PROMENADE. He can now be seen in the BBC 1 series BEYOND PARADISE for Red Planet Pictures. He can also be seen in the 8 episode limited series A SMALL LIGHT, for Disney+ and in GHOSTS S4 for BBC
Richard Glover is an award-winning actor, who recently wrapped shooting upcoming feature films DESPERATE JOURNEY, directed by Annabel Jankel and PROMENADE. He can now be seen in the BBC 1 series BEYOND PARADISE for Red Planet Pictures. He can also be seen in the 8 episode limited series A SMALL LIGHT, for Disney+ and in GHOSTS S4 for BBC One. Recent highlights include the feature film CENSOR and AGATHA RAISIN 3 for Sky 1.
In the past few years, Richard has become a regular in Ben Wheatley films. First off, he appeared in SIGHTSEERS (playing 'Martin'). Then as 'Friend' in the movie A FIELD IN ENGLAND and alo he appeared in Wheatley's HAPPY NEW YEAR, COLIN BURSTEAD.
Richard has also appeared in other movies such as the Disney movie INTO THE WOODS, playing 'The Steward' to Chris Pine's 'Prince Charming'. He was also (delighted to be) an X-Wing pilot in ROGUE ONE and played Brigadier Nicholson in DARKEST HOUR. He also landed a fun role in the Horrible Histories film BILL.
As for TV, Richard was in the BBC/HBO TV adaptation of J.K.Rowling's first adult book THE CASUAL VACANCY, in which he plays 'Simon Price'. More recently, he popped up in the successful BBC drama INFORMER..
Awards Judge
Desa Larkin-Boutté is a writer, producer, and development executive based in Los Angeles. After receiving her bachelor’s in Film & Television from Boston University, she began her career on The Walking Dead and continued to work on hit shows like Better Call Saul and Westworld. Desa has won multiple awards for her writing, and recently
Desa Larkin-Boutté is a writer, producer, and development executive based in Los Angeles. After receiving her bachelor’s in Film & Television from Boston University, she began her career on The Walking Dead and continued to work on hit shows like Better Call Saul and Westworld. Desa has won multiple awards for her writing, and recently expanded into theater. She currently works as a development executive for Third Rail Productions, under a first look deal with Sony Pictures Television. Under their umbrella, she developed Lamar Giles’ novel The Getaway, in conjunction with Don Cheadle’s company, This Radical Act.
Awards Judge
Xavier Burgin is an Emmy-nominated writer/director from USC Cinema. His love for filmmaking grew from a fascination with mythology, fantasy, horror, religion, and southern culture.
He directed AMC Networks' Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror, chronicling the untold story of Black Americans in the genre . He wrote the Lifetime film,
Xavier Burgin is an Emmy-nominated writer/director from USC Cinema. His love for filmmaking grew from a fascination with mythology, fantasy, horror, religion, and southern culture.
He directed AMC Networks' Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror, chronicling the untold story of Black Americans in the genre . He wrote the Lifetime film, Give Me Back My Daughter. He’s a staff writer on the Starz wrestling drama, Heels. He’s the dubbing director for Netflix’s sumo show, Sanctuary. He directed Adult Swim’s Juneteenth Holiday Special and the Emmy-winning BET series, Giants. Xavier’s written for the WWE, CryptTV, Amazon, Discovery, and Paramount.
Xavier has participated in numerous industry programs, including: Starz Take The Lead Writing Program, Rideback Rise Fellowship, Paramount’s Viewfinder Program, Netflix’s Dubbing Initiative, The Sundance Labs, HBO’s Short Film Showcase, Berlinale Talents, and The Commercial Directors Diversity Program. His collaborations also include D.C. Comics, Lenovo, LOL Network, and Stage 3 Productions.
The Hen and Chickens Theatre
The Spiritual home of UVFF. This gorgeous fringe theatre has been run by Unrestricted View since 1999 and is the hub for the festival.
Everyman Screen on the Green
Our opening night Gala will be at this iconic venue.
Odeon Luxe & Dine Islington
We are back at this beautiful Cinema for screenings on 27th.
ArtHouse Crouch End
We are very excited for our first time at ArtHouse on 28th!
AIFF
The Association of Independent Film Festivals (AIFF) is a community of like-minded festivals that support one another by sharing best practices, offering advice, and upholding the values of our charter. We promote and encourage a more equitable film festival experience for both filmmakers and audiences. We are committed to providing
The Association of Independent Film Festivals (AIFF) is a community of like-minded festivals that support one another by sharing best practices, offering advice, and upholding the values of our charter. We promote and encourage a more equitable film festival experience for both filmmakers and audiences. We are committed to providing filmmakers with transparency and fairness in the independent film festival circuit across the UK.
Filmmaker Reviews
See what the filmmakers think of UVHFF! Click the button below and scroll to the bottom of the page.
