Preview: Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantástico de Catalunya

For the best part of the year Sitges is known for its beaches and as a top gay-friendly location.

But for 10 days, it takes on a far more sinister air and becomes home to murderers, vampires, things that go bump in the night as all number of ghoulish characters take up residence.

In the same month as Halloween, Sitges gets a double helping of other-worldliness with the annual Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, which focuses on the best horror and fantasy cinema. And we mean the best—previous films shown here include The Abyss and Kill Bill and illustrious guests such as Martin Sheen and king of strange David Lynch have been in attendance.

This year the two films creating the biggest buzz are Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia and Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion. Von Trier, the controversial Dane, has already hit the headlines in recent times after being declared persona non grata at Cannes this year but despite his unfortunate comments about Nazis and his subsequent ban from proceedings, the film’s star Kirsten Dunst won the Best Actress Award. Contagion, Steven Soderbergh’s latest hit, includes an all-star cast and premiered this year at Venice; it plays on the very prevalent fear of a deadly virus spreading around the world.

Other highlights include the Guillermo Del Toro produced Don’t be Afraid of the Dark and Béla Tarr’s The Turin Horse.

So if you like to seek out the scary, head to Sitges for a couple of fright-inducing nights this month.

See the festival website for details of the full programme, venues and ticket sales. www.sitgesfilmfestival.com. October 6th to 16th, 2011