Posted September 11, 2016
I'm not going to post any of my full length film reviews, but it did occur to me that a few here might find a review of the annual Frightfest event interesting, so here it is:
So what did I think of Frightfest this year? I found 2016’s event offered a wide range of different styles of horror items to suit most tastes.
The opening film this year was ‘My Father Die’ where a child saw his brother violently beaten to death by their father. This traumatic event causes the boy to lose both his hearing and speech. When the father is released early from jail, revenge is foremost in the now young man’s mind. The rest of the film is about what happens when he enacts his revenge and there is, perhaps, an intrinsic message about how love and hate combine to form a whole. The director of ‘My Father Die’ shows great promise. In the Q&A, it was explained how he had a distinct artistic vision for this film. Beautifully shot, the blend of Nordic imagery and poetic narration resonates as Arthouse. Sadly, I felt this jarred against the Grindhouse violence and objectification of women. The two styles didn’t quite gel or flow together. That’s not to say ‘My Father Die’ was a bad film, at no point did I become bored – it held my attention throughout.
The documentaries I chose were interesting and informative. ‘The Killing of America’ was a tough watch where the camera didn’t turn away from actual death. Although the assassination of Kennedy was placed as the starting point for the increase in violence and murder, by the end of the documentary I felt, although the killing of Kennedy was undoubtedly a pivotal point in the psyche of many Americans, his death was one in a number of events which led to civil unrest and, in some cases, a disassociated state of mind which resulted in psychopathic serial killers. ‘Hostage to the Devil’ examined aspects of the life of Irish priest Father Malachi. It gave some detail concerning his role as a Jesuit priest, however the main focus was upon exorcism and those who Father Malachi influenced. Although questions were asked regarding whether Malachi remained a priest after leaving the Jesuits, also about his focus on the commercial aspects of survival once he was living ‘outside’, I felt the documentary suffered from a lack of objectivity. I concluded those making the documentary had been sucked in by the charm and charisma of Malachi. A very direct question was asked by an audience member and the answer from the crew was that they did believe in the man. My own thoughts are that Malachi was a sociopath. However, he is undoubtedly a complex and fascinating character and this does come across.
The interview of David McGillivray was fabulous fun darlings, and I thoroughly enjoyed his recollections from the 70’s. Apart from scripting and producing horror films, McGillivray wrote and produced soft porn. It was clear from the titles of many of these films that he enjoys playing with language. ‘I’m Not Feeling Myself Tonight’ is one example. Both panels were interesting with ‘Women in Horror’ examining sexism in the film industry and how 4 female directors dealt with it. I found this interesting as my father was in the film industry from 1967 for approaching 20 years. He worked as a gaffer, electrician or film lighting engineer. I spent time with him on internal and external film sets, including a lengthy period in France, and am well aware of the sexism which existed during that period both through what I observed and heard. What surprised me was how little this appears to have changed in the past 36 years. ‘The Future of the UK Horror Film Industry’ discussed exactly that and it would appear the future is looking bright. It was interesting to hear one audience based director speak about how he had Kickstarter funded 2 films and the interest in these from around the world – especially America. It was one demonstration of how wide the audience is for UK horror.
Out of the other films I watched, one strand which I found amazing was the First Blood program on Saturday. This consisted of 5 films from first time directors. I didn’t manage to see all of these, but both ‘Cruel Summer’ and ‘The Creature Below’ had some very strong aspects. ‘Cruel Summer’ juxtaposed the tranquillity and calm of it’s setting with the brutal violence of the action. Although at times the lingering on calm water, jumping fish and nature felt a little overlong, the shots were super. Clearly the camera man had an instinctive feel for how to frame. I found the acting in this film excellent and it’s worth watching for the performances alone. Sadly, the acting in ‘The Creature Below’ was awkward and clunky. I found it hard to relate to any of the characters. But, the narrative, underwater scenes, Lovecraftian creature and how the film ends go a long way towards exonerating this flaw. I liked the ending of this film best out of the entire festival.
The rest were quite an eclectic mix. I’m going to review ‘Through the Shadow’, ‘Cell’, ‘Crow’ and ‘White Coffin’ more thoroughly, but of those I was looking forward to ‘From a House on Willow Street’ was solid horror fare until the end when it became somewhat confusing. Sadly, the director decided to use American accents rather than the South African of his homeland where the filming took place. He wanted to make a 1980’s style movie with an American flavour as he felt this would be more marketable. Personally I felt that was a shame as it removed part of the cultural identity of the film.
I was amongst the few who enjoyed ‘Abattoir but, I’m a sucker for detail which acknowledges original material and I felt ‘Abattoir’ did well here. I could see the graphic novel influence in the characterisation of the central villain and the style of the film. In addition, costumes, hairstyles, makeup and settings put meat on the bones of this. There was a real sense from the central character of 1940’s style and ethos. The detective opposite her felt old school hardboiled, plus many of the settings had items and furniture which fit the period. Yes, towards the end the CGI was overdone and the central characters ran around screaming and shouting. But, in the films defence, all of the characters had depth and motivation for their actions, the story made sense and it was clearly told.
‘Karaoke Crazies’ was a big disappointment. It had an interesting premise and, I suspect, was informative about karaoke clubs, but very little action occurred until the end and then it was short lived. The pace of the film was slow, humour of any kind was in short supply and all bar one of the central characters was depressed by events from the past. It’s one plus point was that we got to know the characters well, but this film was a drama rather than a black comedy romp.
Two films delighted me this year. First, ‘They Call Me JEEG Robot’ told the story of a small time crook who becomes unnaturally strong after hiding from the cops in a river and swallowing lots of hazardous waste. Instead of wanting to save Italy from all the dastardly doings of the evil drug dealers, this superhero decides to take care of himself. After realising how strong the thief has become, the daughter of one of his partners in crime decides he must save the world. However, her information is based on a Japanese cartoon and this young lady is clearly unstable. What follows serves to up-end and subvert everything you thought you knew about superheroes. It’s fun, imaginative and exciting.
The second ‘Train to Busan’ was simply superb. I’ve had several ‘What if…?’ questions in my mind from watching zombie movies and this film went a long way towards answering them. These are fast and furious zombies in a film which has real emotional punch, depth and narrative flair. A simple train journey turns into a rollercoaster of action and suspense which thrills. All of this is balanced by moments of genuine humour. The camera work is outstanding and the transformation from human into zombie well realised. If this comes to a cinema near you, don’t hesitate even if you’re not a fan of zombie films. ‘Train to Busan’ is pretty low on gore, high on suspense and captivates you from the start. As the film to end Frightfest 2016, it was the perfect choice.
So there you have it, Frightfest 2016 was great fun, I caught up with lots of people I know because of this festival, and was fortunate enough this year to have a friend to watch and discuss many of the films with.
So what did I think of Frightfest this year? I found 2016’s event offered a wide range of different styles of horror items to suit most tastes.
The opening film this year was ‘My Father Die’ where a child saw his brother violently beaten to death by their father. This traumatic event causes the boy to lose both his hearing and speech. When the father is released early from jail, revenge is foremost in the now young man’s mind. The rest of the film is about what happens when he enacts his revenge and there is, perhaps, an intrinsic message about how love and hate combine to form a whole. The director of ‘My Father Die’ shows great promise. In the Q&A, it was explained how he had a distinct artistic vision for this film. Beautifully shot, the blend of Nordic imagery and poetic narration resonates as Arthouse. Sadly, I felt this jarred against the Grindhouse violence and objectification of women. The two styles didn’t quite gel or flow together. That’s not to say ‘My Father Die’ was a bad film, at no point did I become bored – it held my attention throughout.
The documentaries I chose were interesting and informative. ‘The Killing of America’ was a tough watch where the camera didn’t turn away from actual death. Although the assassination of Kennedy was placed as the starting point for the increase in violence and murder, by the end of the documentary I felt, although the killing of Kennedy was undoubtedly a pivotal point in the psyche of many Americans, his death was one in a number of events which led to civil unrest and, in some cases, a disassociated state of mind which resulted in psychopathic serial killers. ‘Hostage to the Devil’ examined aspects of the life of Irish priest Father Malachi. It gave some detail concerning his role as a Jesuit priest, however the main focus was upon exorcism and those who Father Malachi influenced. Although questions were asked regarding whether Malachi remained a priest after leaving the Jesuits, also about his focus on the commercial aspects of survival once he was living ‘outside’, I felt the documentary suffered from a lack of objectivity. I concluded those making the documentary had been sucked in by the charm and charisma of Malachi. A very direct question was asked by an audience member and the answer from the crew was that they did believe in the man. My own thoughts are that Malachi was a sociopath. However, he is undoubtedly a complex and fascinating character and this does come across.
The interview of David McGillivray was fabulous fun darlings, and I thoroughly enjoyed his recollections from the 70’s. Apart from scripting and producing horror films, McGillivray wrote and produced soft porn. It was clear from the titles of many of these films that he enjoys playing with language. ‘I’m Not Feeling Myself Tonight’ is one example. Both panels were interesting with ‘Women in Horror’ examining sexism in the film industry and how 4 female directors dealt with it. I found this interesting as my father was in the film industry from 1967 for approaching 20 years. He worked as a gaffer, electrician or film lighting engineer. I spent time with him on internal and external film sets, including a lengthy period in France, and am well aware of the sexism which existed during that period both through what I observed and heard. What surprised me was how little this appears to have changed in the past 36 years. ‘The Future of the UK Horror Film Industry’ discussed exactly that and it would appear the future is looking bright. It was interesting to hear one audience based director speak about how he had Kickstarter funded 2 films and the interest in these from around the world – especially America. It was one demonstration of how wide the audience is for UK horror.
Out of the other films I watched, one strand which I found amazing was the First Blood program on Saturday. This consisted of 5 films from first time directors. I didn’t manage to see all of these, but both ‘Cruel Summer’ and ‘The Creature Below’ had some very strong aspects. ‘Cruel Summer’ juxtaposed the tranquillity and calm of it’s setting with the brutal violence of the action. Although at times the lingering on calm water, jumping fish and nature felt a little overlong, the shots were super. Clearly the camera man had an instinctive feel for how to frame. I found the acting in this film excellent and it’s worth watching for the performances alone. Sadly, the acting in ‘The Creature Below’ was awkward and clunky. I found it hard to relate to any of the characters. But, the narrative, underwater scenes, Lovecraftian creature and how the film ends go a long way towards exonerating this flaw. I liked the ending of this film best out of the entire festival.
The rest were quite an eclectic mix. I’m going to review ‘Through the Shadow’, ‘Cell’, ‘Crow’ and ‘White Coffin’ more thoroughly, but of those I was looking forward to ‘From a House on Willow Street’ was solid horror fare until the end when it became somewhat confusing. Sadly, the director decided to use American accents rather than the South African of his homeland where the filming took place. He wanted to make a 1980’s style movie with an American flavour as he felt this would be more marketable. Personally I felt that was a shame as it removed part of the cultural identity of the film.
I was amongst the few who enjoyed ‘Abattoir but, I’m a sucker for detail which acknowledges original material and I felt ‘Abattoir’ did well here. I could see the graphic novel influence in the characterisation of the central villain and the style of the film. In addition, costumes, hairstyles, makeup and settings put meat on the bones of this. There was a real sense from the central character of 1940’s style and ethos. The detective opposite her felt old school hardboiled, plus many of the settings had items and furniture which fit the period. Yes, towards the end the CGI was overdone and the central characters ran around screaming and shouting. But, in the films defence, all of the characters had depth and motivation for their actions, the story made sense and it was clearly told.
‘Karaoke Crazies’ was a big disappointment. It had an interesting premise and, I suspect, was informative about karaoke clubs, but very little action occurred until the end and then it was short lived. The pace of the film was slow, humour of any kind was in short supply and all bar one of the central characters was depressed by events from the past. It’s one plus point was that we got to know the characters well, but this film was a drama rather than a black comedy romp.
Two films delighted me this year. First, ‘They Call Me JEEG Robot’ told the story of a small time crook who becomes unnaturally strong after hiding from the cops in a river and swallowing lots of hazardous waste. Instead of wanting to save Italy from all the dastardly doings of the evil drug dealers, this superhero decides to take care of himself. After realising how strong the thief has become, the daughter of one of his partners in crime decides he must save the world. However, her information is based on a Japanese cartoon and this young lady is clearly unstable. What follows serves to up-end and subvert everything you thought you knew about superheroes. It’s fun, imaginative and exciting.
The second ‘Train to Busan’ was simply superb. I’ve had several ‘What if…?’ questions in my mind from watching zombie movies and this film went a long way towards answering them. These are fast and furious zombies in a film which has real emotional punch, depth and narrative flair. A simple train journey turns into a rollercoaster of action and suspense which thrills. All of this is balanced by moments of genuine humour. The camera work is outstanding and the transformation from human into zombie well realised. If this comes to a cinema near you, don’t hesitate even if you’re not a fan of zombie films. ‘Train to Busan’ is pretty low on gore, high on suspense and captivates you from the start. As the film to end Frightfest 2016, it was the perfect choice.
So there you have it, Frightfest 2016 was great fun, I caught up with lots of people I know because of this festival, and was fortunate enough this year to have a friend to watch and discuss many of the films with.
Post edited September 11, 2016 by Polly77