Romford Horror Festival Outstanding Success Ready To Rival Any London Premiere.

By Holly Larkin – Guest Writer and Film and Threatre Reviewer

Romford Horror Festival kicked off for another incredible run. From February 27th to 2nd March, the festival screened an impressive 240 features and short films over 7 screens, including 19 world premieres, and 27 UK premieres.

After the Festival’s regular venue, Premiere cinema, closed earlier this year the festival’s future was questioned. However, the festival’s founder, Spencer Hawken is now reopening the cinema, but under a new name – ‘Lumiere’. As of late, Hawken has raised a staggering £50,000 to keep the cinema running, using the attendee’s of the Horror festival as ‘guinea pigs’ to give an idea surrounding the cinema’s re-opening.

The festival’s 2025 run was certainly one for the history books, including the attendance of many special guests including the highly acclaimed Stephen Berkoff, icon Pauline Peart and the talented Silvia Collatina who signed autographs for any attendees.

On friday night, the most anticipated event, ‘Horror roulette’ took place, being an ‘open mic night’ for film, selecting a horror film of your choice – if you don’t like it, take a shot! The Horror roulette was also a fantastic way to network with filmmakers and horror fans around you.

Many incredible vendors also took part during the festival, selling and promoting their work including Red Cape Publishing, CineCrypt and writer, Lauren Jane Barnett. You could buy anything you could think of, from graphic tees, to novels and artistic frames inspired from some of your favourite movies, classic or new. Moreover, there was also an opportunity to have some fantastic photos taken by local photographer Hannah Davies in a horrific setting, whether it was for fun or work reasons, Hannah Davies had it all.

From 11am-11pm, networking for filmmakers, writers, actors or just horror fans in general took place within the foyer of the cinema, accompanied by cocktails from the Projectionist bar. 5 cocktails were inspired by movies screening at the festival; including the ‘Fireplace cocktail’ inspired by the spectacular film that had its world premiere at the festival, ‘The reign of Queen Ginarra’. To also educate any filmmakers – there was a Film Law session with Silvia J Scimdt , joining live from Germany with over 10 years of UK Entertainment legal practice. During the hour session, audiences could ask any questions regarding legal queries or expectations as a filmmaker, as it is a practice that is extremely important to know to keep the practice of independent film thriving.

After many film screenings, audiences got the chance to hear from the film makers’ own words with Q&A’s, where they were able to ask questions to the actors or directors. This was also a fantastic opportunity for directors to hint at any hidden meanings behind their work, as well as actors or actresses highlighting the research they did to bring their characters to life, giving the audiences a chance to feel a deeper connection to the characters within the films.

After an incredible filming of 240 films, the weekend ended with an awards ceremony including categories of Best Directing, Screenwriting or Editing etc. Many filmmakers took home awards for their films and hardwork, making their run at the film festival a big success, and a promising beginning to their career journeys this year.

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