TerrorMolins, which closes nine days of horror cinema today with the emblematic 12-hour horror marathon at the Teatre de La Peni, has announced the winning films of its 40th edition. In the Earth, the new film by British director Ben Wheatley, author of works such as Kill List, Tourists (Sightseeers) o High Rise, emerges as the winner of the 40th edition of TerrorMolins. The film, shot in 2020 and full of pandemic reminiscences combined with themes such as witchcraft and the dark side of nature, has been chosen as the winner by the jury of the official section, composed of Marc Martínez Jordán, Joan Millaret, Diana Rojo, David Pareja and Mireia Noguera. The other great winner of the festival has been the New Zealander Coming Home in the Dark, by James Ashcroft, a raw thriller that approaches the colonial past of the oceanic country through a contemporary story about the kidnapping of a family. Ashcroft's film has won the award for best direction, best screenplay and best leading actress, in addition to a mention for the actor. The juries of the other competitive selections have opted for the most groundbreaking proposals, rewarding the very unique Masking Threshold, by Johannes Grenzfurthner —present at the festival— in the Being Different section; the wild animation of The Spine of Night, by Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King, in the Bloody Madness section; and Crabs! + Cyst, by Pierce Berolzheimer in the True Survivor section. As for short films, the big winner was an equally risky work, the Australian Sweet Mary, Where Did You Go?, a dark and dreamlike review of Australia's past, and Transfer, which won the Víctor Israel Award for Best Performance, the Méliès d'Argent for Best European Short and the Critica d'Or Award. Other notable films on the list are The Boy Behind the Door, with a prize and a mention, and Agnes, The Scary of Sixty-First iThe Sadness, with two awards each.
Growth of audience and accredited people. The 40th edition of TerrorMolins faces its last in-person day exceeding 6,000 physical spectators, which means a increase of 11% compared to 2019. To these must be added the audience of the online aspect of the competition, which still continues in Filmin and on the festival website until November 21. In addition to the audience, during the nine days of the festival, around seventy accredited journalists, 220 professionals who participated in the professional conferences and more than eighty guests, including talents and juries, have passed through Molins de Rei.
