Fright fans rejoice, FrightFest is back, and what a line-up! Organiser Alan Jones talks us through the goodies on offer at the bank holiday festival, from the subtle poetry of teen vampire story Let the Right One In (a film we totally fell in love with at the EIFF) to the splatter fest of Tokyo Gore Police. For the more sensitive souls among you, the bank holiday weekend offers another kind of cinematic treat: Asia House is putting on an oriental feast that stretches from the Gulf to the Far East.

August is shaping up to be a great month for film fans in the UK, with some very exciting new releases. Top of our list is Sakuran, the gorgeous, exuberant, pop-punk story of a rebellious prostitute by photographer Mika Ninagawa – definitely one for our ‘Rock’n’Roll Movie’ category! Also out is Man on Wire, James Marsh’s documentary on Philippe Petit’s 1974 high-wire stunt walk between the Twin Towers, Ben X, the visually inventive and touching story of a computer-game-playing Asperger teen bullied at school and Shane Meadows’s latest film Somers Town. And at the BFI Southbank you will be able to see one of our all-time favourites, Badlands, which really deserves to be seen on the big screen.

Jesus Christ Saviour, which documents Klaus Kinski’s ill-fated 1971 New Testament stage monologue, was another remarkable film that screened at the Edinburgh Festival and we were lucky enough to talk to its director, Peter Geyer. We also caught up with the great British director Peter Whitehead at the Biograph Film in Bologna. And to celebrate the summer and outdoorsy cinematic fun, we chart the rise and fall and furtive pleasures of the drive-in.

In the DVD releases, we review the new Jeunet/Caro box-set, which gathers Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children, look at more French sci-fi with Eden Log, rave about Kisses, the first feature by the brilliant Yasuzo Masumura, rediscover the early work of Kinji ‘Battle Royale‘ Fukasaku, enjoy the atmosphere of South Korean supernatural tale Spider Forest and look back at the Lynch classic The Elephant Man.

In the Short Cuts section we have a feature on Uncut, the excellent film forum for young directors that runs monthly at the ICA. And in our Film Jukebox 21st-century Renaissance woman Crazy Girl tells us about her top films.

The Electric Sheep Magazine team