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Stars: Eugénie Derouand, Honorine Magnier, Clément Olivieri, Janis Abrikh, Cyril Garnier, Vladimir Perrin, Fabien Jegoudez, Jérôme Paquatte, Laura Presgurvic, Isabelle Tanakil | Written and Directed by Patrick Ridremont

Continuing with my Christmas movie reviews for Nerdly, my latest piece comes from Shudder and the festively-titled Christmas horror The Advent Calendar.

Eva, an ex-dancer but now unable to walk and in a wheelchair, gets given an Advent Calendar from a friend. But each window that is opened triggers a real-life repercussion and she must follow a particular set of rules until she eventually has to make a choice that will change her life forever.

It is quite a strange movie. I was expecting a sort of odd anthology of 24 shorts linked with this one woman in a Saw-like way but that’s not what happens. There’s a much better thought out story to The Advent Calendar.

The best moments in The Advent Calendar...

Stars: Beatrice Dalle, Théo Fernandez, Damien Ferdel, Zacharie Chasseriaud, Anne Marivin, Francis Renaud, Fabien Jegoudez, Nicolas Giraud, Chloé Coulloud, Dominique Frot | Written and Directed by Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo

French directors Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, the driving force behind the notorious L’interieur (aka Inside) and the stylish Livid, turn their gallic focus to a much-maligned genre – the slasher movie – with Among the Living, a film that’s best described as Stephen King’s Stand By Me meets Friday the 13th.

Starting out with a disturbing prologue featuring a cameo by an almost unrecognisable Beatrice Dalle; a prologue that recalls the nastiness and brutality of L’interieur, Among the Living tells the story of troublemakers Victor, Tom and Dan who, on the last day of school, leave early to explore the countryside and commit petty crime. Ending up on the scenery-strewn back-lot at an abandoned film studio, they witness...

Stars: Beatrice Dalle, Théo Fernandez, Damien Ferdel, Zacharie Chasseriaud, Anne Marivin, Francis Renaud, Fabien Jegoudez, Nicolas Giraud, Chloé Coulloud, Dominique Frot | Written and Directed by Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo

French directors Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, the driving force behind the notorious L’interieur (aka Inside) and the stylish Livid, turn their gallic focus to a much-maligned genre – the slasher movie – with Among the Living, a film that’s best described as Stephen King’s Stand By Me meets Friday the 13th.

Starting out with a disturbing prologue featuring a cameo by an almost unrecognisable Beatrice Dalle; a prologue that recalls the nastiness and brutality of L’interieur, Among the Living tells the story of troublemakers Victor, Tom and Dan who, on the last day of school, leave early to explore the countryside and commit petty crime. Ending up on the scenery-strewn back-lot at an abandoned film studio, they witness...

Stars: Beatrice Dalle, Théo Fernandez, Damien Ferdel, Zacharie Chasseriaud, Anne Marivin, Francis Renaud, Fabien Jegoudez, Nicolas Giraud, Chloé Coulloud, Dominique Frot | Written and Directed by Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo

French directors Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, the driving force behind the notorious L’interieur (aka Inside) and the stylish Livid, turn their gallic focus to a much-maligned genre – the slasher movie – with Among the Living, a film that’s best described as Stephen King’s Stand By Me meets Friday the 13th.

Starting out with a disturbing prologue featuring a cameo by an almost unrecognisable Beatrice Dalle; a prologue that recalls the nastiness and brutality of L’interieur, Among the Living tells the story of troublemakers Victor, Tom and Dan who, on the last day of school, leave early to explore the countryside and commit petty crime. Ending up on the scenery-strewn back-lot at an abandoned film studio, they witness...

The line-up for this year's Film4 FrightFest in London has just been announced – and boy, is it a doozy! Sporting a record-breaking 38 UK/European premieres and 11 world premieres, this August is going to be an exciting time in the genre calendar.

Check it all out right here, including lots of new images!

This year Film4 FrightFest will be moving from its previous home at Leicester Square's Empire Cinema to the nearby Vue Cinema (also on Leicester Square), prompting an ingenious reshuffle of the screening arrangements.

All main screen films will be presented at different times across three different screens, with two extra screens reserved for single-slot screenings of the various films hitting this year's Discovery Screens.

Here's the full list of goodies:

Main Screens (5, 6, 7)

Thursday Aug 21

Opening Night Film - The Guest (UK Premiere)

Director: Adam Wingard. Cast: Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Brendan Meyer, Sheila Kelley, Leland Orser. USA 2014. 99 mins.

Film4 FrightFest 2014, returning for its 15th year, unveils its biggest line-up ever. From Thurs 21 August to Monday 25 August, the UK’s leading event for genre fans will be at the Vue West End, Leicester Square, to present sixty-four films plus twenty shorts across five screens. There are sixteen countries representing five continents with a record-breaking thirty-eight UK or European premieres and eleven world premieres.

Are you ready for a monstrous and memorable mayhem of killer claws, cannibalism, cult classics, murderous musicals, chiller thrillers, graphic novel action and sick celluloid masterpieces? Then prepare yourself for the biggest, strongest and most eclectic must-see programme in Film4 FrightFest’s history.

From the opening night turbo-driven thrill-ride The Guest to the UK premiere of the closing night mesmeric sci-fi fantasy The Signal, FrightFest has netted the latest works from genre big-hitters such as Eli Roth (The Green Inferno), Alan Moore and Mitch Jenkins (Show...

Another horror film, Among the Living, will have its World Premiere at the SXSW Film Festival. Among the Living takes some of its influences from Stephen King's It and his much shorter tale "Stand by Me," aka "The Body." Among the Living will show March 10th at this renowned festival and this title is a French language film from directors Julien Maury (ABCs of Death 2) and Alexandre Bustillo. (Livid). Also, Among the Living stars Anne Marivin (Tell No One), Béatrice Dalle, Francis Renaud, and Fabien Jegoudez. The film begins and ends with the characters Victor, Dan and Tom. Together, they skip school to take a look at an abandoned film set. At the set, they see a disturbing clown-like creature drag a woman's body into a distant field. This masked killer sees the boys and gives chase. Will Victor, Dan and Tom escape the creature's cluches? The growing stack of bodies says no.

Among the Living (Aux yeux des vivants)

Director:Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury

Writer(s): Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury

Producer(s): Fabrice Lambot, Caroline Piras, Jean-Pierre Putters

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available

Cast: Anne Marivin, Béatrice Dalle, Francis Renaud, Fabien Jegoudez, Nicolas Giraud

Many consider this duo’s 2007 debut, Inside, to be one of the most frightening films ever made, and it gave Beatrice Dalle one of her greatest roles in years, leading Dalle to vow to be in every feature Maury & Bustillo make. Her role was cut down considerably in their 2011, follow-up, Livid, which didn’t make the same aggressive mark (though both films have been tipped to be remade in English). Now, we’re excited to see their third union, and scant plot details have us excited. We’re hoping Ms. Dalle is back, front and center.

Gist: Three kids who decide to skip school in order...

The ‘Midnighters’ lineup for SXSW 2014 has been announced and it includes the Us premiere of Oculus, the world premiere of Exists and Late Phases, and more. South By Southwest 2014 will take place from March 7 – 16 in Austin, Texas and the festival is known for its solid lineup of genre films. Below is the complete list of ‘Midnighters’ titles that have been announced, but don’t be surprised if another horror movie or two show up as secret screenings.

13 Sins

Director/Screenwriter: Daniel Stamm, Screenwriter: David Birke

A cryptic phone call sets off a dangerous game of risks for Elliot, a down-on-his luck salesman. The game promises increasing rewards for completing 13 tasks, each more sinister than the last.

Cast: Mark Webber, Rutina Wesley, Devon Graye, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Richard Burgi, Tom Bower, Ron Perlman (World Premiere)

Among The Living (France)

Director/Screenwriter: Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo

After horror favorites Inside and Livid,...

The real "meat" of the 2014 SXSW Film Festival has arrived with the announcement of the ten films that will comprise this year's Midnighters lineup. Read all the details and see some new stills here!

Along with the incredible list of Midnighters you'll find below, SXSW 2014 also revealed the 113 titles that will be shown in 11 curated shorts programs, selected from a record 4,249 submissions. Click here for the full short film details.

Now, back to the Midnighters. The program, which includes 8 World Premieres, is described as: Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally curious.

13 Sins

Director/Screenwriter: Daniel Stamm, Screenwriter: David Birke

A cryptic phone call sets off a dangerous game of risks for Elliot, a down-on-his luck salesman. The game promises increasing rewards for completing 13 tasks, each more sinister than the last.

Cast: Mark Webber, Rutina Wesley, Devon Graye, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Richard Burgi, Tom Bower,...

South by Southwest has unveiled 10 titles for its Midnighters lineup, including the world premiere of the Bigfoot found-footage film Exists, directed by Eduardo Sanchez – his first foray into found footage since 1999′s monster hit Blair Witch Project. The lineup also includes the U.S. premiere of Oculus, directed by Mike Flanagan, which topped our most anticipated horror films of 2014. Also set for the lineup is Adam Wingard’s The Guest, which premiered last month at Sundance to very positive reviews. The 21st edition of South by Southwest opens March 7 in Austin. Check out the full lineup below.

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13 Sins

Director/Screenwriter: Daniel Stamm, Screenwriter: David Birke

A cryptic phone call sets off a dangerous game of risks for Elliot, a down-on-his luck salesman. The game promises increasing rewards for completing 13 tasks, each more sinister than the last.

Cast: Mark Webber, Rutina Wesley, Devon Graye, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Richard Burgi, Tom Bower,...

SXSW top brass have announced the Midnighters and short film line-ups, set to screen when the festival runs in Austin, Texas, from March 7-15.

The Midnighters selections comprise eight world premieres and Us premiere and one film that previously screened at Sundance. Magnolia Pictures has acquired Us rights to one of the films, Stage Fright. See separate story.

The 113 shorts were chosen from a record 4,249 submissions, representing an increase of 19% over 2013.

Midnighters

All synopses provided by the festival. World premiere unless marked otherwise.

13 Sins (pictured), dir Daniel Stamm

A cryptic phone call sets off a dangerous game of risks for Elliot, a down-on-his luck salesman. The game promises increasing rewards for completing 13 tasks, each more sinister than the last.

Cast: Mark Webber, Rutina Wesley, Devon Graye, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Richard Burgi, Tom Bower, Ron Perlman

Among The Living (France), dirs Julien Maury, Alexandre Bustillo

After horror favourites Inside and Livid, Maury and Bustillo...

The South by Southwest Film Festival has announced the titles which will screen as part of the Midnighters section, as well as the complete short film lineup.

The list includes 10 Midnighter titles (8 World Premieres, 1 U.S. premiere & 1 Sundance title), and 113 shorts, which were selected from a record 4,249 submissions, an overall increase of 19% over 2013. The Midnigther films are genre films centering on horror, gore, and sci-fi. Fans can check out the full list of accepted shorts at Swsw’s website.

“What an amazing year for genre film! We were blown away by the quality of work submitted and narrowing them down was no easy task,...