Film festival pairs wine with horror

The inaugural Dead Lake Horror and Wine Festival, which takes place in Palic in northern Serbia from9 to 12 September, is hoping to attract wine and gore lovers alike with the slogan of “Cheers for fears”.

The first Dead Lake Horror and Wine Festival takes place this week in Serbia (Photo: Facebook)

The festival will present wines from Serbia and other Balkan wine regions alongside some of the best fright films from around the world.

A far (and perhaps bone chilling) cry from Sideways and its rose-tinted scenes of the rolling hills of Napa, the festival will favour blood, guts and the merciless brain-gorging of the undead.

The event has been organised by the Serbian horror film director Milan Todorovic, creator of such gorefests as Zone of the Dead and Wrath of the Dead (in production).

All nine films to be screened at Dead Lake Horror and Wine Festival are making their screen debut in Serbia.

The line-up of films also includes US zombie comedy Night of the Living Deb, by Kyle Rankin, which is being screened immediately after the film’s European premiere at London’s Frightfest – one of the most popular horror film festivals in the world.

“The festival that we are launching has the potential to become a cult event for the entire region,” Todorovic told the Serbian online news channel Tanjug.

The Serbian festival follows in the footsteps of the Grossmann Fantastic Film and Wine Festival in Slovenia, which has been running since 2005.