I'll watch the films and tell you what I think of them and hopefully be some part of persuading you to go see something you may not have previously considered and even better that you enjoy it. Or stop you from seeing that pile of poo that you come out cursing and wanting a refund for.
Will also blog about other movie related items and maybe anything that comes to mind from time to time.
Obviously I could describe to you all of the guests, the films, the people at Fright Fest until I'm blue in the face but it's hard to know what it's really like without being there. Well here are a few pictures to help you.
The anticipation begins....
Me with the director of The Seasoning House, Paul Hyett and it's beautiful and talented star Rosie Day....
The hugely influential Dario Argento being interviewed as the Total Film Icon....
The blogging begins....
We even get cowboys!!
Glen McQuaid talks to us about the brilliant V/H/S....
Director and start of Rec 3 (Paco Plaza and Leticia Dolera) do a Q&A for the film....
I meet the hilarious Ross Noble!!
Ross talks about his new film, Stitches (well when he's not running off on tangents he does!)
The directors of the brilliant Deadheads return to the fest with their new short Smush! A Deadheads Short (and they've brought their dad, Bart)...
The Outpost 2 zombies descend and we get a Q&A for the film
Freddy, Pinhead, Michael Myers and um some biker scouts from Star Wars turn up....
And Michael then attacks my other half!!!
Horror make up effects hero Greg Nicotero talks about his experiences and gets presented a lifetime achievement award by Simon Pegg....
The cast and crew of Tulpa introduce their film...
Next up is the cast and crew of entertaining vampire flick The Thompsons and then me with them.....
Axelle Carolyn talks about her short film The Halloween Kid which I put in a small contribution to....
My name up on the Fright Fest big screen!!
The rest of the makers of the short films in the showcase...
Cast and crew of the Lynchian Berbarian Sound Studio...
Writer of my film of the fest, Sinister gives us a Q&A
The belles of the ball, The Twisted Twins (aka Jen and Sylvia Soska) talk about their brilliant new film American Mary along with star Katherine Isabelle
Me with a few people....
Jennifer Chambers Lynch
Andy Nyman
Axelle Carolyn
And the Twisted Twins and Katherine Isabelle
And here's a few more from the weekend...
If you want to see all the photos I've stuck up on Flickr for Fright Fest then here is the link...
Stars Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone, Fred Dalton Thompson & Vincent D'ononfrio
Writtenby 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.
Stars Calvin Reeder, Kane Hughes, Adam Wingard, Hannah Fierman & Mike Dolan
Writtenby 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.
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.
