Long weekends just got scarier as Horror Channel announces eleven premieres for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights across November, including five UK TV premieres, three by emerging female directors.
Being shown for the first time on the small screen are Elle Callahan’s allegorical paranormal thriller WITCH HUNT, Amelia Moses’ lyrical lycanthrope horror BLOODTHIRSTY and Coralie Fargeat’s directorial debut, the slickly gruesome REVENGE. Also getting their first showings on TV are Nicolas Pesce’s smartly sadistic PIERCING and John Berardo’s subversive slasher INITIATION.
Neil Marshall makes a welcome return with the channel premiere of DOOMSDAY, as do The Soska Sisters, with the channel premiere of their stand-out body horror hit AMERICAN MARY. Plus, there is a channel premiere for Katie Aselton’s intense battle-of-the-sexes thriller BLACK ROCK and for three remakes – the 2009 version of THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, with Wes Craven in a producing role, the 2007 version of THE HITCHER, with Sean Bean reprising the Rutger Hauer role and the 2014 version of erotic thriller THE LOFT, again directed by Erik Van Looy and starring Karl Urban.
Full film details in transmission order:
Witch trials have come to life in modern day America and no one is safe from persecution or execution. Claire (Gideon Adlon) and her mother (Elizabeth Mitchell) are part of an underground movement in charge of ferrying women accused of witchcraft to safety. All is well in their world until a new charge brings the witch hunters to their door. Will they escape with their lives or will they also be charged with the ungodly crime of being a witch?
Friday 5 November @ 23:00 – PIERCING (2018) *UK TV Premiere
Reed (Christopher Abbott) is going on a business trip, but in lieu of a suitcase filled with clothes, he's packed a toothbrush and a murder kit. Everything is meticulously planned: check into a hotel and kill an unsuspecting victim. Only then will he rid himself of his devious impulses and continue to be a good husband and father. But Reed gets more than he bargained for with Jackie (Mia Wasikowska), an alluring call girl who arrives at his room.
Saturday 6 November @ 22:45 – DOOMSDAY (2008) *Channel Premiere
In this action-packed thriller from writer/director Neil Marshall (The Descent), authorities brutally quarantine a country as it succumbs to fear and chaos when a virus strikes. The literal walling-off works for three decades--until the dreaded Reaper virus violently resurfaces in a major city. Starring Rhona Mitra, Bob Hoskins, and Malcolm McDowell.
Sunday 7 November @ 21:00 – BLACK ROCK (2012) *Channel Premiere
Three childhood friends set aside their personal issues and reunite for a girls' weekend on a remote island off the coast of Maine. One wrong move turns their weekend getaway into a deadly fight for survival. Stars Katie Aselton, Lake Bell and Kate Bosworth
Friday 12 November @ 23:05 – AMERICAN MARY (2012) *Channel Premiere
Medical student Mary Mason (Katharine Isabelle) becomes increasingly disenchanted by the school she studies at and the established doctors she once admired. The allure of easy money to solve her debt problems sends her into the twilight world of body modification and underground surgeries where obsessed flesh artists will pay anything to get their unusual procedures done. But Mary finds that her new ‘profession’ leaves more marks on her own psyche than on her freakish clientele. Also stars Jen and Sylvia Soska.
Saturday 13 November @ 22:50 – THE HITCHER (2007) *Channel Premier
When two travellers pick up a hitcher on the side of the road, they immediately discover that their worst fears have come true - this Hitcher is a murderous psychopath. However, it's only after the young couple barely escape with their lives that the real trouble begins. A new take on the 1986 classic starring Sean Bean.
Sunday 14 November @ 21:00 – THE LOFT (2014) *Channel premiere
Five married men conspire to secretly share a penthouse loft in the city - a place where they can indulge in their deepest extramarital fantasies. But the fantasy becomes a nightmare when they discover the dead body of an unknown woman in the loft, and they realise one of the group must be involved. Stars Karl Urban and James Marsden.
Friday 19 November @ 21:00 – BLOODTHIRSTY (2020) *UK TV Premiere
When an offer to record with one of the greatest music producers of all time comes along, singer Grey can’t refuse. Moving cross country to record her new album in a remote location, Grey begins to realise there’s a beastly secret lurking within her new home. Will her own humanity be the price for fame and how much blood will be shed to secure a hit?
Friday 19 November @ 22:40 – REVENGE (2017) *UK TV Premiere
Three wealthy married men get together for their annual hunting game in a desert canyon. One of them is accompanied by his young mistress, who quickly arouses the interest of the two others, and things get dramatically out of hand.
Saturday 27 November @ 22:30 – THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (2009) *Channel Premiere
This remake brings one of the most notorious thrillers of all time to a new generation, as it explores how far two ordinary people will go to exact revenge on the sociopaths who harmed their child. As producer, Wes Craven revisits the landmark film that launched his directing career and influenced decades of horror films to follow:
One night, at Whiton University, a star-athlete is murdered in the wake of a buried assault allegation, kicking off a spree of social media-linked slayings. As a masked killer targets students across campus, a trio of sorority sisters race to uncover the truth behind the school's hidden secrets - and the horrifying meaning of an exclamation point - before they become the next victims.
TV: Sky 317 / Virgin 149 / Freeview 70 / Freesat 138