UK horror fans who want to see for
themselves what all the fuss is about over the movie Raw will get their chance
in October. Nottingham’s Mayhem and Sheffield’s Celluloid Screams both have Raw on their schedules for this year’s
festivals. In fact, it’s Mayhem’s opening night film on Thursday 13th; and part
of Celluloid Scream’s closing gala on Sunday 23rd.

Raw, written and directed by Julia Ducornau, made the
headlines this week at the Toronto film festival, with the trades reporting on
people passing out and paramedics being called to Tuesday’s screening. The
movie’s about a vegetarian woman called Justine who becomes a cannibal after
being forced to eat raw rabbit liver during a veterinarian school initiation.
Sounds like a rabid vegan track to us (nothing
wrong with that! – Ed), but there’s no denying that the film is visceral
one, and it has garnered some great reviews at festivals and in the trade
papers.

Mayhem’s Chris Cooke told us: “I
saw the film in Cannes at a public screening that got quite a few moments from
the audience of flinching, wincing, gasping – no fainting, but they’re a hardy
lot. But for all the shock (and the film is quite graphic on occasion), what
really struck home was the unique vision of a major new talent in the genre.
The film is visually stunning and mesmerising, startling and original. Our Mayhem
audience is in for a surprise, and we’re really looking forward to their
reaction.”

It’s always
fascinating when audiences react like this to a horror movie, and Steven Sheil,
the co-director of Mayhem, is no
stranger to it either: with a famous case of a fainting at the first Irish
screening of his directorial debut Mum
& Dad in 2008.

For further
info and tickets, visit www.mayhemfestival.com
and www.celluloidscreams.co.uk.