The Edinburgh International Film Festival returns this June with its two late night strands of edgier, "cult" cinema and horror - "Night Moves" and "Under The Radar".
"In many ways Night Moves and Under The Radar are the heart of EIFF: these after-dark screenings are where you find the real die-hards, the people hellbent on a really extreme film experience," said EIFF Artistic Director Hannah McGill.
One of the highlights will be the world premiere of genre maestro Dario Argento's horror Giallo. It is showing as part of Night Moves, alongside the world premieres of Stuart Hazledine's Exam and Laurence Gough's Salvage, both from the UK.
Jamie Blanks directs Jim Caviezel in Australian film Long Weekend, and Kelvin Tong's Hong Kong set thriller-chiller Rule #1 finds a cop getting support from beyond the grave.
Rufus Sewell and Emmanuelle Béart are in dangerous waters in Fabrice Du Welz's Thai/Burmese set Vinyan, Bruce McDonald Pontypool plays to zombie fans and Scott Sanders' Black Dynamite parodies the 70's Blaxploitation genre.
Extreme cinema
Under The Radar returns for its second year with five more "extreme" films, including two world premieres. They include: Zach Clark's deadpan sex satire Modern Love is Automatic.
Zombies return in the world premiere of Romeo & Juliet vs The Living Dead from Ryan Denmark while Appalachian mountain dancer Jesco White is portrayed as a gory legend in Dominic Murphy's debut, White Lightnin'. Sinister secrets of a lonely London life are revealed in the world premiere of Gerard Johnson's urban nightmare Tony and Robert Byington's Harmony and Me is an anti-romcom that tackles heartbreak, bad sex and the social rights of coma victims.
Commenting on the selections, Hannah McGill said: "This is a varied selection...with full-on horror like Giallo rubbing shoulders with out-and-out comedy, low-budget British fare and US indie comedy. What brings it all together is the filmmakers' slightly deranged commitment to making exactly the films they want to make - regardless of taste, dignity, budgetary constraints or moral principles! We look forward to unleashing this wild and exciting work on our audiences," said McGill.
The Edinburgh International Film Festival takes place 17 - 28 June 2009.
Tickets go on sale at midday on Friday 8 May. The full EIFF programme will be announced on Wednesday 6 May.