Staff Writer Richan Drever provides an overview of the opening night of KCL Strand Film Festival on 25 March, featuring the screening of The Run (2025) followed by a Q&A with director Paul Raschid.
The KCL Strand Film Festival is a student-led week-long festival with each night curated by a different student group within the department of Film Studies. The festival started out with a bang by approaching the world of interactive horror where the audience actively participated in the actions of the protagonist meaning the film operates as both a short film and a videogame. Individuals were given glowsticks and encouraged to raise it when a decision came on screen. Each choice led to a different outcome with some being successful and others leading to dire consequences such as death.
The night commenced with Adrián Rivera’s The Scarecrow. The audience controlled Agent Quick who found himself lost in a forest, being hunted by an evil entity. It was up to the audience to make sure he evaded the monster whilst trying to find a way out of the forest. The audience were given a lot of choices throughout, ranging from which trail he should go down or which cave he should hide in. The plethora of choice meant each gameplay was defiantly unique and different, making this a highly repeatable experience. After a very early failure, the crowd managed to get back on track and very quickly find their way out of the forest. It was a highly enjoyable experience which amped audience spirits for the more complicated The Run.
Whilst The Scarecrow was on YouTube and accessible to all, The Run was run on its own game engine and could be downloaded on Steam. You control fitness influencer, Zanna, who finds herself being hunted by a group of masked killers whilst on her morning run in Northern Italy. The game itself is very engaging with multiple twists and turns, where even seemingly insignificant decisions at the start mould and affect the result. It’s reminiscent of Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. It’s an interesting mix which requires a certain level of expertise to create a perfect melange of videogame and film, something Paul Raschid achieves.
Paul Raschid, a Kings alumnus and Bafta winner, was in attendance and participated in a Q+A after his screening, discussing things like the future of interactive horror and the process of making it. He said he had always had an interest in non-linear narratives and was influenced by games such as Until Dawn. The actual process of creation is complicated with his script consisting of 250 pages and various flowcharts. His standout point was certainly around horror agency from the audience. With the current climate of cinema, he believes interactive films can help draw people in whilst the control element gives people an agency which could potentially make the experience feel even scarier. It proved true with the entire audience being enthralled by the screening and outcomes.
While it may be currently at a lull, the future of interactive horror looks promising and will have a place in the future, maybe even finding itself commonplace in cinemas. Events like these are undoubtedly important not only for the Film Studies cohort but as a testament to the various capabilities of the KCL student body!
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