Since its inaugural celebration of horror and sci-fi in 2009, Manchester’s Grimm Up North has gone from strength to strength. This year, it will be stepping from the shackles of being a more traditional, once-a-year film festival with a series of monthly screenings and much, much more to be announced.

Darkstar / Let There Be Light: The Odyssey of Darkstar – Friday 20th January

Grimmfest heads to The International Anthony Burgess Foundation on Friday 20th January for a 70s sci-fi special. The names John Carpenter and Dan O’Bannon will already be more than familiar to genre fans as the director of Halloween and writer of Alien respectively, but this event offers a one off chance to see their 1974 feature debut, Darkstar, on the big screen along the two-hour documentary Let There Be Light, which details the making of what is now a cult classic.

Described by Roger Ebert as “one of the damnedest science fiction movies I’ve ever seen, a berserk combination of space opera, intelligent bombs, and beach balls from other worlds”, Darkstar treads the wonderful line between hilarious and hallucinogenic, fuelled by little more than raw talent. This new version of the film, restored frame-by-frame from an original 35mm print, will give a new lease of life to this classic space oddity.

Four Flies On Grey Velvet / Dellamorte Dellamore (The Cemetery Man) – Thursday 26th January

The first ever Grimm Up North Monthly Horror Double Bill kicks off in style on Thursday 26th January at the Dancehouse Theatre with an incredible double whammy of genre treats up on the big screen where they belong. First off, there’s a remastered version of a Dario Argento classic which had been lost for many years and is now celebrating its 40th anniversary. Four Flies On Grey Velvet is the Giallo maestro’s third feature film following the brilliant Cat O’ Nine Tails and The Bird With the Crystal Plumage and features many of the stylistic flourishes that would rightly see him celebrated as a horror legend in years to come. Miss this at your peril.

Described by Martin Scorcese as “the best film of the year” on its original release in 1994, Dellamorte Dellamore (The Cemetery Man) may be something of an unknown quantity to many – but this is something Grimmfest is keen to change. DVDVerdict.com calls the movie “a modern masterpiece” and it’s hoped audiences will feel the same when it screens as the second film of the double bill. Dellamorte Dellamore (Rupert Everett) is a cemetery caretaker faced with a zombie epidemic and some bizarre sexual encounters, bringing together two of genre cinemas most beloved tropes – sex and death – in one beautifully cultish package.

Tickets are available now for both of these events online or can be purchased on the night subject to availability. If you want to keep up with future monthly double bills, events and much much more, you can also sign up to the festival newsletter, or head to the Facebook page.