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Revenge stories are one of horror’s most popular sub-genres that range from arthouse endeavors, to gritty grindhouse fare, to pulpy “torture porn” and everything in between. Turkish filmmaker Can Evrenol, who previously struck gold with the surreal and suffocating Baskin and Housewife, tries his hand in this territory and strikes a rich vein that bleeds deep. Sayara explores the same themes of family, forgiveness, trauma, and redemption that were present in his previous films. However, this hits even harder since the film’s opening text claims that this is all based on true stories. Sayara is a bloody baptism that leads to its titular character’s rebirth. It’s also one of 2024’s most savage movies, horror or otherwise.

Sayara delivers a potent one-two punch of brutality and provoking social commentary that thrives through its moving character work. Sayara (Duygu Kocabiyik) is a janitor at a martial arts gym...

The 16th edition of Manchester’s Grimmfest may have come to a close weeks ago, but today the festival revealed the winners of its pretigious awards. Held from 3rd to 6th October at the Odeon Great Northern, this year’s festival showcased 21 feature films and two programmes of short films, many of them world or UK premieres. With an outstanding line-up of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy films, the festival culminated in the much-anticipated announcement of the Grimm Reaper Award winners, recognising the very best in various categories.

The grand winner of the Best Film award was Vardan Tozija’s M, a film that captivated the jury with its emotional intensity and deep thematic exploration. The jury noted that M was a standout in nearly every category it competed in, making it a clear choice for this year’s top honour. Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy’s Dead Mail received a special mention,...

Nick Frost has been honoured with the achievement in genre cinema award by the UK’s Grimmfest festival in Manchester.

The actor received the award for his work in films including Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz and The Worlds End - otherwise known as the ’Cornetto Trilogy’ - as well as his latest work in Black Cab which opened Grimmfest as a world premiere.

Scroll down for full list of winners

Taking home the prize for best film was Vardan Tozija’s M. The dystopian sci-fi hails from North Macedonia and follows a young boy who travels alone in...

Nick Frost was honoured with the achievement in genre cinema award at the UK’s Grimmfest festival in Manchester.

The actor received the award for his work in films like Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz and The Worlds End - otherwise known as the ’Cornetto Trilogy’ - as well as his latest work in Black Cab which opened Grimmfest as a world premiere.

Scroll down for full list of winners

Taking home the prize for best film was Vardan Tozija’s M. The dystopian sci-fi hails from North Macedonia and follows a young boy who travels alone in the...

Can Evrenol broke into the horror scene with his Turkish nightmare Baskin, a festival smash hit that called back to 80s classics like Hellraiser.

He has since directed Housewife and Girl With No Mouth, and next up is the brutal revenge flick, Sayara, which is currently in post-production.

Bloody Disgusting has the exclusive first images from Sayara, which is described as a brutal anti-revenge film with a brutal anti-hero.

“Sayara is the name of the most unsuspected femme fatale from Turkmenistan. When her sister is murdered by a bunch of rich kids with political connections, Sayara goes on a head-bashing, eye-gouging, bone-smashing rampage of revenge, with some sambo and jiujitsu action!”

Duygu Kocabiyik stars as Sayara with Turkish heartthrob Emre Kizilirmak in a role that will truly shock his fans.

Writer-director Can Evrenol tell is the film is “a toxic psycho-sexual drama [that] slowly becomes a violent martial arts revenge flick.