A horror festival is set to return to Havering with organisers promising its most impressive line-up yet, including a 1970s James Bond actress.

The Romford Horror Festival will begin on February 29 and end four days later (March 3) at Premiere Cinemas in the Mercury shopping centre. 

This is the festival's fourth year and 168 feature films and shorts will be screened during the extravaganza, including eight classic horror favourites.

Special guests will be in attendance including Italian actress Cinizia Monreale, best known for once-banned 1980 film The Beyond, and Caroline Munro who played Bond girl Naomi in The Spy Who Loved Me.

Also scheduled to appear are Carry on Girls actress Pauline Peart, Graham Cole OBE, best known as Tony Stamp from The Bill and indie film actress Dani Thompson.

Romford Horror Festival, an offshoot of Romford Film Festival, will have 33 world premieres and include 35 movies from local filmmakers.

Spencer Hawken, festival co-director, said: “We are really going to town this year on the event, doubling the number of films and screens, creating a packed agenda of films for anyone with any horror tastes."

Romford Recorder: A segment of film 'Mosaic' was shot in The Mercury Shopping CentreA segment of film 'Mosaic' was shot in The Mercury Shopping Centre (Image: Tis Films)

Southend-based TIS Films will be screening Mosaic, which includes segments shot in The Mercury.

A festival pass is £36, a daily pass is £15 and individual sessions, available from February 1, will be £3.50.

Natalie Bays, festival co-director, said that 1,000 people attended last year.

"Ticket sales have been going really well this year so far, so we can safely expect to eclipse that number," she added.

The films will be shown over two screens and a third will be allocated for talks.

Segments called Short Sharp Socks, short films with running times of less than five minutes, will also be shown.

Cheap Thrills will see films shown which have a budget of less than £1,000 and has previously featured Romford-made movies.

Student Bodies features a selection of student films including seven from nearby New City College.

Also on the bill is Horror Roulette, an event where filmmakers can screen movies less than 15 minutes long to an unsuspecting audience.

Friday March 1 is expected to be the first major night and will include a live singer, Horror Roulette and photoshoots.

You can book tickets and find out more at www.romfordhorrorfestival.com.