To Fire You Come At Last (Frightfest 2023) review

I’m just going to say this off the bat; Sean Hogan’s To Fire You Come At Last is one of my favourite films of Frightfest in some time.

Produced by Severin Films, this extended short or miniature feature, depending on your terminology, is a good old-fashioned creepy folk horror.

Shot in black and white, it tells the tales of a ragtag group of four who are transporting the body of a young man across the country, but there are forces at work to maybe stop them reaching their final destination.

Hogan’s film carries a real atmosphere that will get under the viewers skin, and reminds us how a noise in the unseen darkness can send a chill down your spine, especially in a desolate location.

To Fire You Come At Last feels plucked from the Ghost Stories for Christmas strand, created by the BBC back in the 1970s.

Some genre fans may recognise actor James Swanton, who has appeared in numerous indie UK horror films plus Richard Rowden who has appeared in two films for Dark Temple Motion Pictures.

The story is told in a four-chapter format, with each getting more and more intense until its haunting finale.

To Fire You Come At Last is top tier folk horror.

To Fire You Come At Last screens as part of Frightfest 2023.