REVIEW - Sinister ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Review by Damon Rickard

Stars Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone, Fred Dalton Thompson & Vincent D'ononfrio

Written by C Robert Cargill & Scott Derrickson

Certification UK 15 
Opens October 5th 2012 (UK)

Runtime 110 minutes

Directed by Scott Derrickson



True crime writer Ellison Oswald (Hawke) is desperately trying to recapture the success that his first novel brought him.  He continually moves his family from place to place, living just doors away from the crime scenes he investigates.  Dwindling book sales mean his is struggling to maintain the lifestyle he created for his family with the large house become to costly to keep.  In an effort to drive down costs whilst seeking his next big story he ultimately buys the incredibly cheap family house where the previous occupents were killed in and a child went missing from.

Shortly after moving in, Ellison discovers of a box in the attic of the Oswald's new home with old cine film footage, spanning 3 decades.  He quietly sets it up in his new office and what he finds on the films becomes a game changer and Ellison found he was onto a story that would not only put himself in danger but his whole family too.

C Robert Cargill has crafted a horror story that maybe retreads ground that Hollywood has tried on several occasions to cover but does it head and shoulders above the rest of the big budget offerings that have gone before it.  The overall story may not necessarily be something you haven't seen before but the execution (excuse the pun - when you watch it, you'll get that) is certainly done in a way that avoids all the pitfalls that normal big budget horror fare falls into.

This coupled with Derrickson's superb direction makes for one of the scariest films for not only this year but for a number of years.  Derrickson previously showed us his horror hand with The Exorcism of Emily Rose where he successfully merged drama and horror in a way I hadn't seen before.  He created some truly creepy moments in that film with a deft touch, avoiding the requirement for any extreme violence with the fear played out through his leads.  The performances he manages to get are half the battle here and you genuinely feel that Ethan Hawke is slowly becoming more and more terrified as the film progresses.  In turn you mirror this in yourself as the tension ratchets up.

I mentioned that the films pulls off the tricks that are usually missed and this is true.  The biggest one being so many modern horror films (discounting the slashers) forget to introduce a sense of dread into the proceedings.  If you don't know what the outcome for your hero could be, why should you be frightened of it?  So to cover this off we are given something right from the beginning in a scene that I certainly didn't expect.  I don't want to spoil anything for you so I won't go into detail here.  The film doesn't need any real gore or excessive violence (one of the scariest scenes cuts from the nasty stuff to reaction, leaving your mind to fill in the gaps which can often be more powerful) and relies on intense imagery to leave you feeling unsettled.  By doing this and keeping you on edge it makes it much easier to play with your fears, mixing genuinely creepy moments with more standard shocks (loud bumps and the like) and all work.  Well I say all, there were two pieces, one with an image on Hawke's laptop and another where he wanders round the house looking for what is going bump in the night that, for me, were a bit more average.  However, that said, these two scenes will still play extremely well in the mulitplexes.  This may just be me being a tad fussy and they probably stick out more as slightly poor relations to other parts of the film due to the overall high quality of the film.

The other ways in which they pull this film off is by keeping it believable that the family wouldn't be rushing out of the house immediately.  This is done through Hawke's character's continual attempts to rationalise everything that is happening and it is done successfully.  Part of this is through his desire to be famous again and it is here that Hawke's casting in his first horror film is a masterstroke.  Ellison Oswald, for all intents and purposes, is not a very nice person.  He's a loving dad and devoted husband but as soon as his story comes to him, his family take second place and they become the forgotten element of his life as he throws himself into his work.  With a lesser talented actor and indeed a less likeable actor, this character could have lacked any form of sympathy but Hawke plays him brilliantly. So whilst he maintains his standing as arsehole of the house, you still find yourself rooting for him.  Without this, again you wouldn't care what happened to him.  And this, dear reader, is the basis of a scary film being scary.  Caring. If you don't care then it's not scary, no matter how well the film has been made.  This is why horror films are so subjective.  You may not connect to characters that others do and this takes you out of the film and subsequently out of the scares.  This is why Sinister worked so well for me, it kept me engaged all the way, even throwing in some light relief with Deputy So and So (again you need to see it for that to make more sense). 

I genuinely found this a scary film and I've seen a lot of horror and, without wanting to sound pretentious, not a lot really scares me these days as I've become accustomed to the tricks of the trade.  I can't guarantee this for you but being a gambling man, I'd happily put money on the fact you will find the same. 

I have given this five stars as I couldn't find much to fault with it.  Is it as well crafted a piece of work as Saving Private Ryan? Well if we look at it in terms of within its own genre then yes it is.  It stands above its peers.  The performances are very good (Juliet Rylance perhaps reduced to little more than the good housewife role but she performs it well), especially young Michael Hall D'Addario who plays Hawke's son, Trevor.  The dialogue is slick, the humour fits and doesn't feel forced, the pacing is spot on and it delivers what it promises.  Need I say more.

REVIEW - V/H/S ★ ★ ★ ★

Review by Damon Rickard

Stars Calvin Reeder, Kane Hughes, Adam Wingard, Hannah Fierman & Mike Dolan

Written by Simon Barrett, Radio Silence, David Bruckner, Glenn McQuaid, Nicholas Tecosky,  Ti West

Certification UK 15

Runtime 115 minutes

Directed by Adam Wingard, Glenn McQuaid, Radio Silence, David Bruckner, Joe Swanberg & Ti West




Thought you'd seen everything found footage films had to offer the horror genre?  Think again, as V/H/S takes it along a fresh path, melding it with the other tough sell of an anthology movie and spits out a superbly crafted and scary ride through six stories.

A sleazy group of guys, that make money from selling videos of themselves stripping unsuspecting women, are hired by an unknown third party.  All they have to do is to burgle a house and steal a very rare and particular VHS tape.  Seeing it as easy money they jump at the chance but inside they discover a dead body and a host of tapes, but don't know which one the one they need is.  So they begin to look through them to see what they have.  They find a deadly one night stand, an eventful Grand Canyon road trip, a slasher in the woods, a spooky Skype call and a Halloween party that goes very wrong.

The first trick that this film pulls of is to get rid of the usual trappings of "found footage".  By this I mean 30 minutes of people shouting "stop filming" and the inevitable question of "why are you still filming?".  Also, by doing short segments it avoids half the film having to be the camera looking around at nothingness (such as people's feet and bushes) as generally found footage stories don't contain enough to make a full feature. It did however use the one thing that still drives me mad, the crackling of the tape as though there is a fault with it.  It is used as a cutting mechanism, I get that, it's just very annoying and thankfully wasn't used excessively here.

So found footage pitfalls and failure out of the way, what about the actual film itself.  Well the weakest part of it, as it generally seems to be with anthology movies, is the wraparound.  Nothing really happens in it and the characters are all so unlikeable that you wish you'd seen them all meet a horrible end.  However this does not detract from what is, overall, a supreme collection of innovative shorts films.  I'm not going to go into detail on each one as I don't want to spoil what they're about as half the fun of this film is seeing where each one goes.

What we have to ensure you don't spend most of your viewing time sucked out of the film, as your suspension of disbelief is gone due the fact you're wondering why these people are doing what they're doing, is a variety of different recording methods.

We have a spy cam for three guys on the prowl for one night stands and they want to record their trophies, a helmet style cam in a Halloween costume, the ingenious use of Skype, the documenting of a road trip and a camera that picks up more than the human eye.  All of these techniques ensure you remain firmly engaged with the film and all work perfectly.

The film overall is chilling, scary and violent and exceeded my expectations all the way.  The performances are very "real".  You feel like you're watching someone's home movie which only adds to the atmosphere. So often in found footage films, the performances seem very forced in trying to create that natural feel and therefore only serve as a detractor.  The direction is all centered around build up but not to ineffective ends as all the shorts had a suitably satisfying conclusion.

The other area in which this raises itself above some anthology films is the length.  None of the segments are too long and in keeping the whole film under two hours you don't find yourself hoping the next one is the last one.  In fact each one leaves you wanting more.

This film just kept on delivering and I highly recommend you go see it.

Fright Fest Top 5's

Here are my top 5's of Fright Fest

Best Film
1. Sinister
2. V/H/S
3. Sleep Tight
4. American Mary
5. The Seasoning House

Just outside are Chained, Maniac & Cockneys vs Zombies

Best Director
1. Scott Derrickson (Sinister)
2. Peter Strickland (Berberian Sound Studio)
3. Jen & Sylvia Soska (American Mary)
4. Frank Khalfoun (Maniac)
5. Jaume Balaguero (Sleep Tight)

Jennifer Chambers Lynch and Paul Hyett should also be recognised here.  It was tough to leave either out as their films were both brilliant.

Best Actor
1. Vincent D'Onofrio (Chained)
2. Elijah Wood (Maniac)
3. Luis Tosar (Sleep Tight)
4. Kevin Howarth (The Seasoning House)
5. Toby Jones (Berberian Sound Studio)

Notable mentions to Alan Ford (Cockneys vs Zombies) and Jack O'Connell (Tower Block) for doing what they do best.

Best Actress
1. Rosie Day (The Seasoning House)
2. Katherine Isabelle (American Mary)
3. Natasha Calis (The Possession)
4. Marta Etura (Sleep Tight)
5. Sheridan Smith (Tower Block)

Whilst the female performances above were all excellent, there just weren't enough really strong female lead roles at the festival this year.  

Scariest Film
1. Sinister
2. V/H/S
3. Sleep Tight
4. Maniac
5. Chained

The festival was very diverse this year with a mix of scares, gore, laughs, psychological chills and, well, shite. 

Goriest Film
1. Maniac
2. Stitches
3. Hidden In The Woods
4. The Thompsons
5. American Mary

Strong stomachs required for the above.

Worst Film
1. Hidden In The Woods
2. Outpost 2
3. The Possession
4. Under The Bed
5. Tulpa

It's hard to describe how much I disliked Hidden In The Woods.  

Best Short Film
1. Him Indoors
2. Smush
3. Un Jour Sang
4. The Halloween Kid
5. Gargols!

REVIEW - The Possession ★ ★

Review by Damon Rickard

Stars Natasha Calis, Jeffrey Dean Morgan & Kyra Sedgewick

Written by Juliet Snowden & Stiles White

Certification UK 15

Runtime 92 minutes

Directed by Ole Bornedal




From producer Sam Raimi comes a new story based on true events about the possession of a young girl.  What was really missing from the horror film schedule for the year was a good possession film as we just haven't had enough of them.

Clyde (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is a man, freshly divorced, just moved into a new house, only gets to see his kids on the weekends and wants another shot at the big time as a basketball coach.  The only interactions with his ex wife are confrontational and he feels he is being distanced from his eldest daughter.  During one of his weekends, whilst trying to bond with them they stumble across a garage sale where his youngest, Em (a stunning performance from Natasha Calis), finds a interesting looking box to which she is drawn to.

After opening what seems to be an box that was designed to not be opened she soon becomes withdrawn, angry and inexplicably attached to the box, not wanting to be separated from it at any time.  Clyde notices what is happening and tries to find reasoning behind it but it isn't long before he suspects what is really behind the change in his little girl and seeks help to stop what appears to be a possession before her actions become fatal.

What we have here is a run of the mill possession film, complete with the main character looking up exorcism videos, bible passages and newspaper articles to help him understand what is going on. For me it was an unnecessary film adding to an already over full section of horror.  All the scares were ones I'd seen before, the story line was nothing inventive or unique, just providing a new way for the possession to begin.

The performances were all good, although Kyra Sedwick's performance just made you want her to be killed off at the earliest opportunity but the performances were not enough to raise this above anything beyond mediocre.  Hearing it had Sam Raimi as producer I had hopes that this would be something a little different and give us a new take on the child being possessed films.  Sadly this was not the case.

There will be a few moments here that will have some cinema goers jumping and there will be plenty of people that like this as it's a very commercially made film and will find an audience.  Without wanting to be condescending to those viewers, it is likely to be people who have limited exposure to horror films (although probably think they're horror aficionados) and are less fussy about what is being presented to them.  For me this, as I've probably laboured on a bit too much about, just didn't give me anything I hadn't seen before and better.

I think the thing that upset me most about this film was the fact is was so incredibly average.  Not one to change the face of horror films but it will be one that will be quickly forgotten.

Frightfest Review - The Thompsons ★ ★ ★

Review by Damon Rickard

Stars Cory Knauf, Samuel Child, Elizabeth Henstridge, Daniel O'Meara & Mackenzie Firgens

Written by Ian Clark

Certification UK 18

Runtime 84 minutes

Directed by The Butcher Brothers


Think you know your vampires?  Think again.  The Hamiltons are no ordinary strain of vampire as they have not been turned.  In a world where vampires procreate, they were born with a disease which left them blood thirsty killers.  Killers that can set foot in daylight but are also just as susceptible to pain and death as anyone else. Following an incident in America that left a trail of dead bodies, they changed their name to The Thompsons and went on the run, ending up in England.  Having to lay low and keep themselves out of the public eye, they can't kill easily so it is here they hope to find the help they need in order to survive, as without blood they will starve to death.  All they have is a name, Manderson and a town, Ludlow.  Francis (Cory Knauf) makes his way to the seemingly sleepy town in search of the mysterious Manderson.  Once found, he finds that the stranger he went in search of is the head of another vampire family, the Stuarts and soon suspects that the kindness he was shown may have darker, ulterior motives lurking beneath.

The Butcher Brothers follow up their award winning original vampire flick with another blast of sex and death.  They bravely take the vampire genre and break the rules to allow them to make the film they want to.  One of the problems with horror is, even though these creatures don't exist, us viewers are very particular about them following the right rules (zombies walk, they don't run).  Vampires are no exception - the rules are they can only go out at night, they can't see their reflection and can only be killed by a stake through the heart and have a severe disliking to crosses.  Well in this film not a single one of those rules turns up.  Which leads to the question are these people actually vampires or is the disease that is referred to simply one that makes them vampiric in certain ways.  The only ways in which they appear to adhere to vamp lore is the drinking of blood to survive and that real food makes them sick, so they don't eat.  But this doesn't detract from the film as it enables a story line that doesn't become shackled with the burdens of moving only within the restrictive rules.  Rules are there for breaking and if it works then does it matter? 

The Thompsons is a fast paced, beautifully shot, deliciously violent film with decent performances from all the cast, including a nicely broody turn from Knauf, that relies more on the style than the substance . The dialogue at points is a little weak and the story line is fairly simple but where some films would be broken by this, The Butcher Brothers have managed to still craft a highly entertaining film that sticks two fingers up at the "clever" writers, saying we don't need a string of highly intuitive speeches, we need fun.  David Mamet once commented that you don't need good dialogue or good characters, you just need to make the audience want to know what happens next.  For me this film did just that.  Could it have done with rounding the characters better?  In fairness yes is the answer, the Stuarts were fairly one dimensional with the exception of Riley (the lovely Elizabeth Henstridge) who wasn't born with the same need for blood.  The rest, including the patriarch, were given very little else.

It was these areas that stopped me giving The Thompsons the four stars I really wanted to as it entertained me as much as other four star films, but I felt that it breezed through a lot of the film with an almost acknowledged disregard for, in film terms, the finer things in life.  Such as the the exposition which all came at the beginning and the end and left very little for the middle where the film just kind of drifted along.  All in all you could do a lot worse than giving this film a go, it has enough about it to entertain you (which at the end of the day is generally a film's purpose) just don't expect a masterpiece.  This is one certainly not for the True Blood crowd and for this I am truly thankful.  So if you like your vampires to come without the teenage angst of American TV shows but does contain bucket loads of blood (special mention should go to the high quality special effects seeing as the shoot was very restrictive time wise) then this is your baby.

Fright Fest Day 5

And so it is here.  The last day of the festival and a return to normal life tomorrow. 

The last walk to Euston underground to embark upon the Northern Line to a day of terror, the last time we'd go past the little coffee shop which enthusiastically advertises "the best coffee in London" (incidentally we decided to stop there the next day before going home and the coffee was very good indeed, as was the full English breakfast) as we carry our passes proudly around our necks for the last time this year.

Today carries a number of lasts but also a number of firsts, we were treated to UK premieres of After and Chained, the European premiere of The Possession and the world premiere of Tower Block.

But to kick us off was a preview of Jen and Sylvia Soska's (The Twisted Twins) new work, American Mary.  They came up on stage to introduce the film and were a welcome mash of beauty and insanity as they spoke to the crowd.  In these two we potentially have the new darlings of Fright Fest - if they didn't get numerous marriage proposals I'll be amazed.  But they also have the talent to back it up, in American Mary we have a stunning look into the world of body modification, prostitution, revenge and where people will go to fulfill their desires. 

Out for a short breath of fresh air and then back to the seats for more of a fantasy next in After.  The tale of two people involved in a car accident and what happens to them after.  It was an all too simple premise with not a lot going on.  Picked up a little towards the end but weak performances and shoddy scripting made this one of my least favourites of the weekend.

Thankfully the wonderful Jennifer Lynch, daughter of David, brought her new film, Chained for us.  This was an intensely disturbing look at how monsters are made and brought the best performance I have seen from Vincent D'Onofrio since his powerful turn as Private Pile in Full Metal Jacket.  Jennifer was also incredibly humble and welcoming when talking to people. 

Everything seemed on a very tight schedule today as again it was a very short break and back in for Possession.  Very Hollywood, very average and very pointless. Very disappointing seeing as it had Sam Raimi attached as the producer.  So swiftly onto the last film of the night, the second of the fest for writer James Moran (Cockneys vs Zombies), Tower Block.  This was certainly a more serious film than Cockneys where a group of residents, that are the last in the block to be rehoused, start getting picked off one by one by a deadly accurate sniper.  Whilst the film had flaws, they could be forgiven as it was a very entertaining an tense affair. A good closer for the weekend.

It was straight off to the after party where I drank with the Pierce brothers (Deadheads), the Twisted Twins and Katherine Isabelle (star of American Mary).  Shuffled off back to the hotel at around 2.30am and that was that.  Fright Fest the 13th was done. 

It was a weekend full of ups and downs, guests aplenty, meeting up with familiar faces, getting to know new ones, less beer than I thought and some truly stunning films.  It's sad to say its over but the memories will linger.  So until next year Fright Fest.

Fright Fest Day 4

The normal bounce I'd been getting out of bed with was slowly beginning to fade.  The 4 - 5 hours of sleep a night along with a diet fit only for the dead are slowly starting to take their toll.  But let that not stop me. After all, today is a new day and my excitement levels have creeped back up after yesterday's disappointments.

No needing to queue for discovery screen tickets today, it's main screen all the way baby!! After a very average breakfast at Cafe Rouge it back to Leicester Square and straight into the screen.  After a hello and quick chat with some of the people we knew (everyone here is incredibly friendly) we took our seats, the lights went down and the cast and crew of the first film, The Thompsons, were introduced to us.  The film itself was an entertaining vampire flick.  Slightly shoddy dialogue but an enjoyable watch none the less.

Met a bunch of the cast and crew in the foyer afterwards, the make up effects guy was excellent to chat to, and got a picture with all of the English cast of vampires (pics will be coming up in a separate blog once).  Bumped into the director of the excellent Seasoning House again and I was incredibly chuffed that he remembered me and took the effort to say hi to me rather than the other way around.  It's moments like this that make this festival so special.

Next it was a slight change of pace with Andy Nyman's Quiz From Hell (he's been cast in Kick Ass don't you know).  An incredibly hard quiz but lots of fun. I did okay.  Then we had the Horror Channel's short film showcase.  A very diverse bunch of films from Axelle Carolyn's The Halloween Kid (which I put a bit of money into and got the pleasure of seeing my name up on the Frightfest screen!!) to Un Jour Sang, a French offering that without showing anything was probably the most brutal of the shorts. Overall a good selection and some talent to look out for in the future.

Got my picture with Andy Nyman afterwards - cool!!

After a short break we were back in for the UK Premier of Rec director, Jaume Balaguero's Sleep Tight.  This was an excellent, disturbing look into the psyche of one man's unhappiness and the things it makes him do.  So far today was a complete turnaround of Saturday.  And it was going to continue in that vain, well for me at least.

Berberian Sound Studio was up next, one I had really been looking forward to.  This was certainly not to everyone's taste but was a supremely well crafted love letter to Italian horror and the way in which it is put together.  Anyone looking for a film with a normal, or even any, narrative will need to go elsewhere.  I enjoyed it and after speaking with the director, who was only too keen to discuss his film (I just wish we had longer) it helped gain, not necessarily sense of the film, an understanding of where the director was coming from.

There was a sudden change of pace with the next film, the UK premiere of the very American Sinister.  Early buzz surrounding this film was that it was not your usual Hollywood horror film in terms of quality.  The early buzz was right, Sinister lived up to its name and was unsettling and very scary.  This had one of the best scares I've seen in a long time - I won't be saying what as I wouldn't want to spoil it.  The writer did a Q&A and was brilliant to listen to and also very gracious to meet.  he loved that people loved it and just wanted to chat about movies with everyone.  He was a cool dude.

I skipped the last film, Dead Sushi, as the premise just didn't appeal to me.  The response from it seemed to be good and that it was very funny but very mental.  Instead we headed to The Phoenix Artists Club for a few drinks to wind down. There were a few people from the films in there such as the director of Cockneys vs Zombies but it was relatively quiet and a good way to end the night.  No taxi back to the hotel tonight, saved our money and went for the walking option. 

Today was a good day.