I’m a sucker for a good festive fright flick – in fact, Bob Clark’s seminal 1974 masterpiece Black Christmas is in my top five favourite films of all time.

For that reason I was pretty stoked when the Frightfest gang offered up a late addition to their festival playlist in the shape of Better Watch Out.

Writer/director Chris Peckover’s offering promises babysitters, killers and plenty of blood in the snow – we hope so anyway.

Here’s the synopsis:

On a quiet suburban street tucked within a ‘safe neighbourhood’, Ashley has turned up to babysit 12-year-old Luke for the evening while his parents are out for a Christmas party night. Ashley is Luke’s favourite babysitter and he’s looking forward to spending time with her again. Suddenly a brick crashes through the window reading ‘You Leave, You Die’ and they hear someone sneaking around the house upstairs. But Ashley is soon to discover that this is a far from normal home invasion in a very dark and twisted thriller that’s also a hell of a lot of frightful fun.

Set for its UK premiere on the final day of the festival – Monday, August 28 – Better Watch Out stars the likes of Stranger Things star Dacre Montgomery and Virginia Madsen, who I still love for her turn in Candyman back in the day.

Here’s a teaser:

 

About The Author

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Simon is a journalism tutor in London, who also just happens to be a movie fanatic, with a craving for the darker side of cinema. He has written three books - on the horror films of director Bob Clark (2014), the history of the character Norman Bates (2015) and the work of British exploitation director Pete Walker (2017). He is currently working with director Richard Loncraine to explore all avenues in a bid to orchestrate the re-release of 1978 Mia Farrow chiller Full Circle