Top 10 free films on BFI Player in 2013

In October we launched the BFI Player, a new VOD platform making great film accessible to the widest possible audience in the UK.

Yesterday we counted down the most popular rented films now available on the BFI Player. For those wishing to save a bit of cash after the festive blow-out, here are the most watched films you can see for free.

10. Things We Leave Behind (2009)

For whom does the bell toll? A man discovers a dreadful secret among his late father’s belongings.

9. Joss Whedon on Vampires

The man behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer talks candidly about the series.

8. Paradigm (1969)

We’re surprised and delighted this arresting film made it into the top 10. William Hoyland stars in this curio from experimental novelist and filmmaker B.S. Johnson.

7. Warrington v St. Helens (1901)

Early film pioneers Mitchell & Kenyon knew a good sporting event would rake in the crowds. Here, Lancashire’s St Helens play their rivals at Warrington’s Wilderspool stadium – although it’s the spectators, curious of the camera, who steal the show.

6. Dead Hungry

A hungry zombie finds love while terrorising teenage campers in this gruesome but fun twist on the zombie movie.

5. The Mistletoe Bough (1904)

A spooky treat just in time for Christmas – a game of hide-and-seek goes horribly wrong in this slice of gothic from over 100 years ago, in a new BFI restoration with music by Pete Wiggs of Saint Etienne.

4. Algie’s Circus in Carlisle (1901)

The cold weather can’t curb the enthusiasm of the people of Carlisle, who welcome the circus, complete with clowns and dogs on horseback, through the cobbled streets.

3. Viggo Mortensen (Screen Talk)

There are dozens of interviews on the BFI Player, including conversations with Marion Cotillard, Woody Harrelson and Alice Cooper. Most popular of all is this talk with Viggo Mortensen, covering Tolkien, Cronenberg and much more.

2. Arthur Mold Bowling to A.N. Hornby (1901)

Is this the earliest sporting controversy ever filmed? Arthur Mold was judged to have broken rules with his unorthodox bowling action. But was he guilty? Watch the film and find out.

1. Tram Ride through the City of Sheffield (1902)

Vehicle-mounted cameras provided a spectacle for early filmgoers. In the most popular of our many tram rides through Edwardian Britain, we trundle through Yorkshire’s ‘Steel City’.