Grimmfest, Manchester's International Festival of Fantastic Film, soon returns for its 2026 edition bringing four fear-filled days of independent genre cinema to The Odeon Great Northern, with today bringing more exciting additions to the already-stacked first wave lineup.
This year’s festival, kicking off from October 8 – 11, will open with a special advanced screening of Hammer Films' definitive, uncensored 4K restoration of the horror classic Dracula.
Painstakingly restored by Hammer and Silver Salt Restoration from the best original archival materials sourced from around the world, this new edition of Terence Fisher's Dracula reinstates footage that was believed lost for more than six decades and was previously seen only by audiences attending the film’s original Japanese theatrical release in 1958. The recovered material has never been released before in the UK or US, and has never appeared on home entertainment in any territory. Simply put, unless you happened to be in Japan in 1958, you've never seen Dracula as Fisher intended – until now.
Drawing Grimmfest to a suitably bloody close is the UK premiere of Victorian Psycho, starring scream queen Maika Monroe (It Follows, Longlegs). Also starring Thomasin McKenzie (Last Night in Soho), Jacobi Jupe (Hamnet), and Jason Isaacs (The White Lotus), Victorian Psycho is based on the novel of the same name by Virginia Feito, and follows a young 19th century woman who, when she joins the staff of a remote manor, raises concerns with the owners when staff members inexplicably begin to disappear.
Further highlights newly added to the Grimmfest lineup include the UK premiere of film noir pastiche Midnight City from Dave Made a Maze director Bill Watterson, Matthew DuVall’s Gothic Western creature feature The Bones Exist, the premiere of Nícolas Lobato and Thiago Tuchu’s Favela Amarela, the international premiere of Kevin Ray and Matthew Fisher’s haunting parable The Anchoress, the World premiere of Jacopo Marchini’s reimagining of Lovecraft’s The Terrible Old Man, the World Premiere of JC Farris' A Violent Flammable World, and the UK premiere of L.S. David and Miguel Solís’s “trippy POV nightmare” Anax.
Further UK Premieres include Fabio Langella’s Qui Insieme, François Choquene's The Hiring Protocol, Kerry Glennon’s splatter-satire Raggot, Lukas Hassel’s Up Close, Diogo Abrantes and João Rito’s “folk-art-meets-EC-comics gorefest” Knitting Club, James III's Day of the Dad, Jano Pita’s Open Mic, Pim Vogels’ Fatum, Emanu Garnheim’s animated eco-parable Återsådd, and Wannes Vanspauwen and Pol De Plecker’s black metal karaoke bar-themed Pithead.
Other Northern UK Premieres include Ran Jing's Imprint, with Manchester premieres Fernando Alle’s Pimple, and Will Wightman’s live-action cartoon This Place is a Shithole.
For more information on Grimmfest's eclectic lineup and to grab your passes, head over to the official site right here.
