Interview with Glenn McQuaid - Director of The Restoration at Grayson Manor

 

FrightFest last saw you in Glasgow in 2008 with I Sell the Dead. It’s now 2026, what has taken you so long to return with The Restoration at Grayson Manor?

I’ve never really thought of it as being away. I’ve been working consistently across film, audio drama, music, and development. The Restoration at Grayson Manor (2025) is the result of a long gestation and a few false starts. We were preparing to go in 2019, then Covid intervened, and when we finally returned to it everything aligned in a way that made the production not just possible, but genuinely joyful.

I was able to assemble a cast I could not have been more excited to work with, and collaborate with my cinematographer Narayan Van Meile, who I had wanted to work with for years. I don’t think this film could have been made as well earlier. Hats off to Brendan McCarthy, John Mc Donnel and Deidre Levins at Fantastic Films for staying the course with me.

Alice Krige and Chris Colfer star in THE RESTORATION AT GRAYSON MANOR

How did this project come about, and how did you meet your co-writer Clay McLeod Chapman? Was the inspiration for the central premise drawn from real technology involving amputees and subconscious control of artificial limbs?

Clay and I met through our shared orbit around Larry Fessenden and Glass Eye Pix. Larry and I later invited Clay to write an episode or two for our audio drama series Tales from Beyond the Pale, and there was an immediate creative shorthand. We are both interested in using genre as a Trojan horse for emotional and psychological truths. The original spark came from watching a YouTube video of an amputee controlling a robotic

hand with his mind. That led me into neurological research around phantom limbs and subconscious motor control, particularly the idea that the subconscious never forgets, regardless of what the conscious mind tries to repress. From there, the story moved away from technology and toward questions of inheritance, trauma, control, and what gets passed down whether we want it or not.

Glenn McQuaid on the set of THE RESTORATION AT GRAYSON MANOR

How did you attract genre royalty Alice Krige and Glee star Chris Colfer as mother and son?

Clay and I set out to write the kind of film we wanted to see and simply were not seeing. By the time we shared the script with the cast, it felt genuinely singular, which meant we were offering actors something unusual and, importantly, different to play.

Alice Krige brings extraordinary intelligence and a justified staunchness to the role. After we wrapped she told me no one has ever asked her to do comedy before and it blew me away because Alice has such wonderful deadpan timing and wit, I think she is one of the best actors of her generation, and an absolute blast to be with on set.

Chris Colfer was excited by the chance to subvert expectations and lean into something darker and stranger. He's a very soulful actor, he got the humour, yes, but he managed Boyd's internal turmoil as he must allow his defensives to drop and to be vulnerable.

I also want to mention Gabriella Garcia Vargas, whose collaborative nature on set was a genuinely wonderful experience. We went to some very emotionally raw places together, mapping Claudia’s journey from addiction into recovery. These are heavy themes, which we were not afraid to undercut with moments of humour, but her character was always approached seriously and without irony.

Our Irish cast brought the same level of commitment. Declan Reynolds and Matthew McMahon gave the material everything it demanded. Matthew’s comedic timing, particularly in the sofa and stairway scenes, really allows those moments to shine.

My work with Declan Reynolds was some of the most hands on and rewarding of the shoot. It was a role that required careful shaping, and we spent time workshopping Lee’s emotional temperature in a way that best served the film. Our collaboration helped shape a performance that sits at the heart of the ensemble. I am very proud of what we achieved together.

Finally, I do not think the manor would be what it is without Daniel Adegboyega, his work as Tannock really shaped the flow. He has great comedic timing.

Alice Krige in THE RESTORATION AT GRAYSON MANOR

You’ve called it “The Lion in Winter of killer hand movies.” Explain.

Like The Lion in Winter (1968), it is about power struggles, generational resentment, and people who know exactly how to wound each other. The fact that there are murderous hands involved only adds to the flavour.

It was important to me that the barbed nature of the mother and son relationship be enjoyable to watch rather than suffocating for the audience. The Lion in Winter handles that balance expertly. It is vicious and hateful, but also playful, and it is clear the characters are enjoying the devastation they inflict on one another.

High-tone melodrama from diva soaps like Dynasty, Dallas and Falcon Crest seems to inform the narrative. Was that intentional?

I think it crept in at an early stage, yes. On a personal level, those shows were where I first encountered gay characters who were out, visible, and allowed to exist without being reduced to societal scapegoats. They were powerful, funny, glamorous, and generally sane.

Before that, most of the representation I saw suggested that gay men were either weak, tragic, or disposable. As a gay kid in need of escapism, I found enormous comfort not only in horror, but in the melodramatic excess and humour of writers like Richard Shapiro and Esther Shapiro, and producers like Aaron Spelling.

Your love of the vintage TV series Dark Shadows and its actress Grayson Hall seem to have influenced the title. Is that the case?

Yes. The film was originally titled The Restoration at Grayson’s Hall, but that felt a little too on the nose. I am probably a bigger fan of the films House of Dark Shadows (1970) and Night of Dark Shadows (1971) than the television series itself. There is something very dry and smouldering about them. House of Dark Shadows  was cut with commercial breaks in mind, which results in wildly abrupt transitions that are not always narratively smooth, but give the films a strange and distinctive flavour that I love.

Grayson Hall was a fierce actor who clearly enjoyed deadpanning her way through Collinswood in Dark Shadows. She also received an Academy Award nomination for The Night of the Iguana (1964), which is where you really see what she was capable of. I imagine her between takes on Night of Dark Shadows, cigarette in hand, with a wry smile at what they were getting away with.

Robert Florey’s The Beast with Five Fingers, Robert Wiene’s The Hands of Orlac, or Oliver Stone’s The Hand. Which is the closest relative to The Restoration at Grayson Manor?

Spiritually, it is probably The Hands of Orlac (1924), not in plot, but in its fixation on identity and bodily autonomy. Orlac’s terror comes from the idea that his hands no longer belong to him, that they carry another person’s history, impulses, and violence. What we were exploring in The Restoration at Grayson Manor is that those impulses and that violence can stem from within; can rise up from the deeply buried part of us and demand attention.

That said, watching The Beast with Five Fingers (1946) as a young boy absolutely set me on this path. It lodged itself in my imagination early and never really left.

My co writer Clay McLeod Chapman often cites Oliver Stone's The Hand (1981), to which I always reply, but Clay, it’s shite.

The hand effects, practical, CGI, or AI?

They were a true mixed media endeavour. Primarily practical, a gloved performer supported by invisible digital work where needed, rig-removal and so on. I wanted the hand to feel present. Horror lives or dies on tactility, so we started there and when needed we relied on CGI, as well as props. We had a great team of visual effects artists working away in both Dublin and Vienna for some of the more action-oriented moment.

It’s an unapologetically queer film with no holds barred, was that always the intention? You must be pleased that Pride magazine named it one of the Top Ten Queer Horror Movies of 2025.

It was always queer, because I’m queer. Not as a statement, but as a perspective. Horror has always been an ideal space to explore queerness because it already deals in othering, scapegoating, repression, fear, inheritance, and monstrosity.

The recognition from Pride was meaningful because it felt like the film landed where it was meant to. I loved the company they placed us in on that list. Fréwaka (2024) is in there as well, another Irish film, and it is a gem.

And you’re staying in that space. Your next film is a haunted house shocker tackling the horror of homophobia?

Yes. That project is about bigotry, its roots, and why it is such a shell game.

As a queer person I am still conscious of how I move through the world. I still think twice about holding my husband’s hand in public. I still find myself coming out repeatedly to heterosexual people. I still hear debased and disproven hot takes about queer and trans lives from heterosexual people. Of course I want to talk about that.

Horror has always been implicitly queer. Allowing new voices into the genre is not just about fairness, it's about evolution. That is where the most interesting and honest new directions in horror are emerging.

THE RESTORATION AT GRAYSON MANOR is showing at the Glasgow Film Theatre on Fri 6 March, 8.50pm, as part of FrightFest Glasgow 2026.  Glenn will be attending.

BROKEN BIRD Set for Nationwide U.S. Release This April

 

By Jon Donnis

Catalyst Studios and Seismic Releasing have announced that the psychological horror drama BROKEN BIRD will open in U.S. theatres on April 24, 2026. The film stars Rebecca Calder, known for The Conjuring: Last Rites, alongside James Fleet, and marks the feature directorial debut of Joanne Mitchell.

Written by Dominic Brunt, Tracey Sheals, and Mitchell herself, BROKEN BIRD expands on Mitchell’s short film Sybil. The production is led by Zoe Stewart, with Holly Levow, Mark Pennell, and Paul Kampf also producing. The cast is completed by Jay Taylor, Sacharissa Claxton, and Robyn Rainsford. The film gained critical acclaim during its festival run earlier this year, praised for its haunting tone and deeply affecting performances.

BROKEN BIRD tells the story of a lonely mortician with a poetic soul, played by Calder, whose search for love and connection takes a disturbingly intimate turn as grief and desire collide. Calder recently appeared internationally in The Conjuring: Last Rites and has credits including Kandahar, opposite Gerard Butler, and Memory, starring Liam Neeson. Fleet’s recent work includes Operation Mincemeat, Scream of the Wolf, Bridgerton, and The Devil’s Hour.

Joanne Mitchell, celebrated for emotionally driven, character-led storytelling within gothic drama and horror, saw BROKEN BIRD premiere as the opening film at London’s FrightFest. It also screened at the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival and earned a nomination for the Emerging Raven Award at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival. Calder’s performance as Sybil was recognised with the Best Actor award at the Independent European Film Festival.

BROKEN BIRD is one of six films developed by Catalyst Studios to support female-led projects by women directors and producers. Holly Levow, Executive Lead and Co-Founder, said, “Broken Bird is exactly the kind of bold, character-driven filmmaking that defines Catalyst Studios. Joanne Mitchell has crafted a haunting and emotionally resonant film that stays with you long after the credits roll, and Rebecca Calder delivers a truly unforgettable performance. We’re thrilled to bring this powerful debut to audiences nationwide.”

NEWS: Black Bear Sets 1 May 2026 Cinema Release for Adam Scott Horror HOKUM

 

By Jon Donnis

Black Bear has confirmed that HOKUM, the new horror film starring Adam Scott, will arrive in UK and Irish cinemas on 1 May 2026. It is a tight, unsettling premise on paper, the kind that leans into atmosphere and slow creeping dread rather than noise, and it already feels built for late night screenings and hushed audiences.

The film is written and directed by Damian McCarthy, who handles both script and direction, giving the project a clear singular voice. Adam Scott leads the cast as Ohm Bauman, joined by Peter Coonan, David Wilmot and Austin Amelio, forming a small but focused ensemble around one very personal story.

Scott plays a reclusive novelist who retreats to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes. It should be a quiet, private trip. Instead, the staff begin sharing stories about an ancient witch said to haunt the honeymoon suite, and those tales slowly burrow into his thoughts. What starts as unease soon tips into something darker, as troubling visions surface and a sudden disappearance pulls him deeper into a nightmare he can no longer ignore.

As the line between memory and myth begins to blur, Bauman finds himself forced to confront the most painful corners of his past. HOKUM sets out to trap its lead character, and the audience with him, inside an isolated setting where every whisper feels loaded and every shadow suggests something waiting.

With its Irish backdrop, a solitary central performance from Scott, and McCarthy guiding both the page and the camera, HOKUM looks poised to deliver an intimate strain of horror that creeps under the skin rather than shouts. UK and Irish cinemagoers will be able to see it for themselves when it opens on 1 May 2026.

COMPETITION: Win V/H/S/Halloween on Blu-ray

Press play on V/H/S/Halloween and experience spooky season again and again with the 8th chilling incarnation of the lauded V/H/S horror anthology film series. The latest outing features 5 new terrifying segments and is set to delight and disgust horror junkies when it is released on Blu-ray, DVD and digital on 9 February, courtesy of Acorn Media International. 

And to celebrate we have a copy on Blu-ray to give away!

Synopsis:

V/H/S/Halloween introduces a collection of wickedly watchable tales of terror from a host of renowned filmmakers including Bryan M. Ferguson (Pumpkin Guts), Anna Zlokovic (Appendage), Paco Plaza (Verónica, [Rec]), Casper Kelly (Adult Swim Yule Log), Alex Ross Perry (Her Smell), Micheline Pitt-Norman (Grummy) and R.H. Norman (Haji).  

 

Kicking off with Coochie Coochie Coo, written and directed by Anna Zlokovic,we meet two high school trick or treaters, dressed as babies who come face to face with a malevolent spirit known as ‘The Mommy’, an urban legend who supposedly kidnaps children from their homes on the spookiest night of the year. 

 

Next up is Paco Plaza’s Ut Supra Sic Infra where Enric, the sole survivor of a Halloween party massacre – accompanies police to the original crime scene to try and help them reconstruct the events of that fateful night, but unbeknownst to them, evil entities await them inside. 

 

Halloween candy takes on a new life in Casper Kelly’s Fun Size, as four friends on the hunt for sweet treats are swallowed up by a candy bowl.. They emerge in a parallel reality where sweets rule supreme and humans are turned into sugary snacks. 

 

Kidprint, from writer-director Alex Ross Perry, takes an even darker turn, feeding into the all too real fear of kidnappings. When disturbing secrets about a local video store that specialises in creating video IDs which can be used to help search for missing children come to light, every parent’s worst fears are about to come true. 

 

A homemade house of horrors comes to life in Micheline Pitt-Norman and R.H. Norman’s Home Haunt as a family construct their annual haunted house for Halloween. But the fun ritual takes a deadly turn when a spooky stolen record makes the decorations come to life, wreaking paranormal havoc on the guests. 

 

Bryan M. Ferguson’s frame narrative Diet Phantasma weaves through the feature, with each segment documenting a group of taste trial participants who face life-threatening side effects from a new kind of diet soda. 

 

Grab your sweet bucket and press play on V/H/S/Halloween for another round of truly disturbing found footage nightmares centred around every horror fiend’s favourite time of the year. 

Pre-Order from https://amzn.to/4qgSFvh

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PREVIEW: Blood Covenant (2026 Film) - Stars Joe Keery, Maika Monroe, Aria Bedmar, Agustín Olcese, María Eugenia Rigón and Bruno Giacobbe

 

By Jon Donnis

Black Mandala has unveiled Blood Covenant, a demonic horror film shaped by a strikingly collaborative vision. Directed by Mariano Cattaneo, Spencer Keller, Kate Trefry, Bret Miller, Javier Yañez and Hasan Can Dağli, the film leans into obsession, ambition and the price of creation, all filtered through a dark supernatural lens.

At its centre is a horror writer who has fallen apart. Once full of promise, he now finds himself buried under debt, creatively empty and close to losing everything. With nowhere else to turn, he carries out an occult ritual that summons a demon offering what he wants most. His lost inspiration returns, and the stories begin to flow again, but the gift is poisoned from the start. Each new piece of work demands a sacrifice, measured in flesh, binding success directly to suffering.

As his reputation grows, so does the cost. Fame arrives alongside physical decay and moral collapse, until creativity and pain become impossible to separate. The film treats inspiration as something dangerous and consuming, asking how far someone might go to be heard again, and what remains when the price has been paid too many times.

Blood Covenant features an ensemble cast drawn from across international genre cinema. Joe Keery, Maika Monroe, Aria Bedmar, Agustín Olcese, María Eugenia Rigón and Bruno Giacobbe bring the story to life, grounding its supernatural horror in raw, human desperation.

Interview with Craig Conway - Director of Red Riding

 

Ahead of the World premiere of RED RIDING, a horror-thriller that reimagines the classic Little Red Riding Hood fairytale, screening at FrightFest Glasgow 2026, director Craig Conway reflects on dark explorations, industry challenges, and championing the Northeast.

RED RIDING is a morally complex, unsettling reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood. What drew you to the project?

I wasn’t interested in retelling a fairy tale, I was interested in what the story doesn’t say. Red Riding is about survival, power, and the moment innocence fractures. The brilliant Peter Stylianou with whom I worked with on "Drained" had written and created an exciting script and concept which after working together with producer Daniel Patrick Vaughn back and forth seemed to take it somewhere truly special, dark but special. The fairy tale framework gave us permission to explore the themes without softening them.

I’m always drawn to stories that sit in the grey, where there are no clean heroes or villains. This film isn’t about punishment or morality; it’s about what people become when they’re forced to endure and Horror lets you tell emotional truths without asking for permission.

This is your feature directorial debut. What stands out looking back?

Directing a feature taught me that leadership is emotional, not technical. The job isn’t just about framing shots, of course that's also integral to it but it’s about creating an environment where people feel safe enough to take risks.

Coming from acting, I was very aware of how exposed performers can feel. I carried that responsibility seriously. If Red Riding works, it’s because everyone involved trusted each other to go to uncomfortable places together and cast and crew alike were more than willing on this project.

Was there a scene that was particularly challenging or meaningful to bring to life?

The quiet moments were the hardest. Without giving too much away, there are scenes where nothing “happens” on paper, but everything is happening underneath. Those moments live or die on restraint.

In horror, there’s a temptation to push, to escalate, explain or underline. I wanted to do the opposite. The most unsettling things are often what you’re left alone with.

How important was location and atmosphere in shaping the film’s tone?

Atmosphere wasn’t decoration it was the foundation. The landscape needed to feel indifferent, isolating and slightly hostile.

The Northeast for the first section of the film gave us that truth for free. Filming Reds original home in the area I grew up in was also a way for me to connect personally on the journey I was actually looking to capture. 

When we moved to Scotland near Nairn on the estate for the main block it added even more honesty to the story, so it doesn’t flatter you and it doesn’t apologise that suited the film perfectly and actually became another character in and of itself.

Victoria Tait gives a striking debut performance as Redelle. How did you discover her?

Victoria has an extraordinary stillness. She doesn’t signal emotion, she allows it. That’s incredibly rare, especially in a debut lead. From the many incredibly talented actresses we saw, Victoria connected in a way I've not seen before.

She was fearless in her approach. She didn’t try to make the character likeable or palatable. She trusted the material and committed fully and that integrity is what makes the performance resonate. She's a true talent that's for sure.

Victoria Tait (centre) in RED RIDING

FrightFest audiences know you as an actor from films like Dog Soldiers and The Descent. Do you still plan to act, and is horror still important to you?

Acting will always be part of me but directing feels like a natural evolution as it has for producing features. It allows me to shape stories from the inside out rather than from a single point of view.

As for horror, I don’t think of it as a genre so much as a language. It’s a way of talking about fear, power and identity without pretending things are neat or safe.

You’ve worked closely with Neil Marshall over the years. How did he come on board as a producer?

Neil Marshall has been a huge part of my career, and my life to be honest, so his involvement came from trust rather than strategy. He understood the film immediately and backed it without trying to reshape it. For a first-time feature director, having that kind of support without interference is invaluable.

You’ve founded CM3 to support filmmaking in the Northeast. What are your ambitions for it?

CM3 (Creative Motion) exists because talent shouldn’t have to leave home to be taken seriously. We’re focused on building a sustainable ecosystem supporting emerging voices and creating  pathways for creatives and students.

It’s about infrastructure as much as storytelling. Red Riding is proof that ambitious, challenging films can be made outside traditional centres if the support system is there and it's imperative we support the independent sector not just with horror but across all genres if we are to keep finding new talent.

How has your relationship with the industry changed over time?

Early in my career, I waited for permission. Now I’m beginning to build the work I want to see.

The hardest lesson was realising that longevity doesn’t guarantee agency. You earn that by being clear about who you are and what you’re willing to fight for. Once I stopped trying to fit into the industry’s expectations, my relationship with it has become far healthier.

Finally, what’s next?

More directing, producing, acting and more building. I’m developing further projects that continue to explore human stories through genre, while expanding the production infrastructure in the Northeast. For me, the goal now is sustainability, creative, personal, and regional. My aim isn’t just to make films, it’s to make a future where films can keep being made.

RED RIDING is showing at the Glasgow Film Theatre on Sat 7 March, 5.30pm, as part of FrightFest Glasgow 2026.  Craig will be attending.

REVIEW: Primate (2026 Film) - Starring Johnny Sequoyah, Jessica Alexander, and Troy Kotsur

Primate opens with a brutally effective scene that makes its intentions clear. In a remote part of Hawaii, a veterinarian is killed by a pet chimpanzee in a moment of shocking violence. It is a blunt, ugly start, and director Johannes Roberts never really lets the film soften from there.

The story then rewinds to follow Lucy, a college student returning home after years away, bringing friends with her to an isolated cliffside house. The location is instantly striking. Built into rock and surrounded by open space and sheer drops, the house feels impressive but exposed. That sense of vulnerability becomes central once Ben, the family’s unusually intelligent chimpanzee, begins to behave erratically after being bitten by a rabid mongoose.

Ben is the film’s greatest strength. Taught to communicate through a tablet created by Lucy’s late mother, he already feels uncanny before the horror escalates. Once the rabies takes hold, that intelligence turns him into something far more dangerous than a typical animal threat. He is not just violent but calculating, stalking the house and exploiting its layout with alarming ease. Every scene involving Ben crackles with tension, and he dominates the film in a way few creature features manage.

Roberts keeps the storytelling lean and vicious. There is little interest in character development beyond what is strictly necessary. Instead, the film focuses on sustained pressure and escalation. The extended pool sequence is particularly effective, using Ben’s inability to swim to create a cruel stalemate that feels both inventive and nerve shredding. The kills are graphic, efficient, and unapologetic, leaning fully into slasher territory.

The cast largely exists to be placed in danger, but the performances do what is required. Johnny Sequoyah gives Lucy enough presence to anchor the chaos, while Troy Kotsur adds weight as Adam, the deaf father whose delayed understanding of the danger heightens the tension. The film’s final moments, especially the use of Ben’s soundboard in the aftermath, provide a chilling note rather than emotional release.

Primate does rely heavily on familiar horror clichés. Isolated locations, poor decisions, and disposable characters are all present. The film makes no effort to disguise this and seems comfortable with its lack of originality. The narrative is thin, and if the momentum ever slowed, it would quickly unravel.

Thankfully, it never does. At under 90 minutes, Primate moves at a relentless pace that prevents overthinking. It is a straightforward, visceral B movie with a solid budget and a clear focus on delivering tension, gore, and entertainment. There is little depth, but plenty of bite.

Primate is not subtle, clever, or especially original. What it is, however, is sharp, nasty, and highly efficient. For horror fans looking for a fast, brutal thrill, it scratches the itch.

I score Primate a generous 7.5 out of 10.

Out Now - https://apple.co/4pyarJY