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FrightFest 2010 Short Film Showcase Review

One of the things I look forward to the most at the FrightFest is the short film showcase.

It’s the one place you’re guaranteed to find filmmakers of nerve, creativity and resourcefulness despite the merits of the end film they produce.

Short films are produced because people have an idea and the will to see it on screen. It is the essence of cinema and gusto is what we need more of in the UK film industry. Don’t wait for someone to give you permission to be a filmmaker; be a filmmaker.

Anyway, in the spirit of short films, I’ve decided to keep my reviews equally curt. Here’s the rundown:

RISE OF THE APPLICANCES, UK – Household electrical goods go on the rampage in a suburban house. Easily the best short of the showcase. I WANT to see this film as a feature. Delivered with wit, pitch perfect performances and special effects that make you believe what’s happening.

LA MADRE, Spain – A farcical five minutes of a mother’s worst nightmare coming true at once for all her three kids. Played seriously, but should have been played for laughs.

NELLY AND LO (aka Thelma and Louise), Canada – Thelma and Louise meets Cheech and Chong. Also, a moose battles a serial killer. Weird with a few goofball laughs.

HOW I SURVIVED A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, USA – Sarah and John Conner style daughter and son take on zombies. Unremarkable.

BON APETIT, UK – The bizarre consumption of dubious culinary delights. Nonsense.

SWITCH, UK – Female Rocky vs Serial Killer Yuppie in Snow. Nonsense.

PAPA WRESTLING, PORTUGAL – Dad is called in to deliver justice for his son after the infant’s lunchbox is stolen by bullies. A gem of a short delivered with laugh out loud gore.

TO MY MOTHER AND FATHER UK/TURKEY – Psycho-sexual tentacle horror as mother and father engage in a bit of baby making, unaware they are being watched. Disturbing and truly weird.

THROUGH THE NIGHT, UK – A couple have trouble sleeping, but what’s keeping them awake? Beautifully shot with eerie tension that builds to a John Landis Twilight Zone conclusion.

RED BALOON, UK – An old urban legend given an airing. Production values match the remake of When a Stranger Calls.

CHOREOMANIA, UK – Thriller meets Train Spotting via Night of the Living Dead. Made me chuckle.

2.22, USA – Unremarkable.

THE END, UK – One cool dream sequence that raised laughs. Unremarkable, otherwise.

FrightFest 2010 We Are What We Are (aka Somos lo que hay) Movie Review

The FrightFest 2010 programme guide pitched We Are What We Are from director Jorge Michel Grau as a Mexican ‘Let the Right One In.’

Now that’s high praise indeed. Let the Right One In was a rare film which pulled together the horror and friendship between two children in a truly compelling and emotional way.

For FrightFest to remark that We Are What We Are was similar was setting the bar high. The film was highly anticipated by most people I spoke to.

The opening scene is gripping and beautifully underplayed: a weathered old man has a heart attack in a shopping mall. His death is noticed by the cleaning staff who drag his body away and who then proceed to clean the spot where he has coughed up a lungful of spit. Less than 20 seconds later, the spot in the mall is clean, and shoppers are walking by unaware of what has just happened.

This seems to set up a conflict between the haves and the have-nots in Mexico. We then cut to the dead man’s family. It’s revealed that they are cannibals and depended on the father to secure victims for their rituals. The task now falls to the eldest son and the film sets itself up to explore the struggles experienced by the family as they try and fill the gap left by their father.

We are given a glimpse into the world the family are forced to live in: cops and morticians who care about fame and money more than addressing the wrongs they come into daily contact with, children living under bridges for shelter and prostitutes who risk their lives for a few dollars.

Sadly, although the film is set-up as a complex family drama, it ends as a bog standard cop chase film. Tantalising conflicts within the family are set up at the beginning, but never paid off or resolved dramatically.

The first half of the film shows the family trying to come to terms with their loss, the middle shows their horrific attempts to snare new victims and the last section of the film is all about the cops chasing them.

As with The Pack (aka La Meute), the film attempts to appeal to those looking for a story and those looking for horror and never really satisfies either.

This would not stop me from liking the film entirely; however, the final scene features one family member surviving the shootout with cops and escaping the hospital only to smile at the camera as we see them choosing their next victim.

This cheapened all the good work done at the beginning of the film and was a disservice to the fine performances by an amazing cast of actors.

What started out as a hugely promising story descended into a cliché. A pity the director didn’t hold his nerve to stay true to what would have undoubtedly made an excellent story.

FrightFest 2010 Chillerama presents The Diary of Anne Frankenstein SPOILER ALERT

Director Adam Green showcased his segment of the horror anthology Chillerama today at FrightFest 2010.

Green’s piece is titled “The Diary of Anne Frankenstein” and, as its name suggests, is a mash-up of the most bizarre kind.

The plot revolves around Anne’s family being discovered by German soldiers as she leafs through the journal of her Grandfather – revealed to be none other than Dr Frankenstein (the family shortened their name to “Frank” after the first unfortunate incident involving his creation).

Anyway, German intelligence takes hold of the journal to create a Super-Robot to win World War 2, but their plans run into difficulty when the robot (played by Kane Hodder of Friday 13^th fame) is activated only to realise where his loyalties lie.

Lots of sight gags and South Park style humour ensured The Diary of Anne Frankenstein met with rapturous applause by the audience here on Day 4 of the FrighFest 2010 film festival.

Chillerama  will be headed up by Joe Lynch, Adam Rifkin and Tim Sullivan though Green joked that he was chosen to direct his piece because he was Jewish and so no one could possibly take offence. These Hollywood directors, eh? What cards they are!

Further spoilers were realsed about one of the other shorts in the anthology.

One of the pieces, titled “Wadzilla”, is about a man who heads to a clinic to have his sperm count raised, when complications arise that eventually see a giant sperm try and attack the Statue of Liberty.

Mental.

Can’t wait.

FrightFest 2010 Buried to replace A Serbian Film

A Serbian Film is reportedly being replaced with the film Buried.

Confirmation on this later today.

FrightFest 2010 Damned by Dawn Movie Review

Imagine if Tesco made an own-brand version of The Evil Dead – a sort of discount version of the Evil Dead that was devoid of any original style, wit or inventiveness and you’d probably come up with Damned by Dawn.

Damned by Dawn is a competently made spooky film that is clearly influenced by The Evil Dead but there is nothing distinctive or creative about it.

A banshee terrorises a family in a country house with her army of skeletons. The family are whittled down until the last survivor is left to do battle with evil villainess.

My suspension of disbelief in the film went out the window the minute the dodgy CGI skeleton army appeared. In one scene where the heroine speeds off in a car, we’re meant to believe that the skeleton army can penetrate the world of the living from the afterlife, but turn to slush upon impact with the windscreen of a Ford Escort.

The crowd at FrightFest were really psyched for Damned by Dawn – we really needed something to lift us up with laughs and decent zany scares.

A shame.

FrightFest 2010 La Meute (aka: The Pack) Movie Review

Crowds are thinning out here at the start of Day 4 of FrightFest 2010.

From here on in it’s a matter of stamina and hoping that the remainder of the films are compelling enough to warrant going the distance until the final day on Monday.

First up today was La Meute (aka The Pack) which was pitched as a biker revenge road chase movie.

While it’s certainly true that there are bikers who do cause havoc, La Meute is actually several different horror films rolled into one.

The beginning is set up to make you think you’re watching The Vanishing as a girl travelling alone picks up a male hitchhiker for company, but who disappears when he visits the toilet.

I won’t spoil the twists (and believe me, there are several in this film) but the film then becomes The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and then twists again to become Night of The Living Dead.

The film has an appeal by keeping you guessing as it journeys between different genres of horror. However, its appeal is also its main flaw.

La Meute’s plot jumps around so often that as a viewer you’re never really allowed to invest yourself in it fully.

You’re set up for one type of film but paid off in another with no throughline connecting events to make it fully satisfying.

Films like Psycho and From Dusk Til’ Dawn have successfully managed to pull the old switcheroo ‘you thinking you’re watching a film about x but actually it’s a film about y’.

They’ve done this by having a clear direction on what’s important as they switch. In Psycho, the viewer is subtly tricked into rooting for Norman Bates and hoping that he won’t be discovered in the second part, and in From Dusk Till’ Dawn you have the relationship between the brothers.

Viewed at 2am on Channel 4, La Meute would be entertaining fare. It keeps you guessing and pulls a few surprises to keep your attention. But overall the plot is disjointed and the overall effect of a truly scary film is watered down by confusion and the lack of a clear direction or theme.

FrightFest 2010 Day 4 Intro The Pack (La Meute) and Short Film Showcase

After the student slideshow that was Gareth Edwards’ Monsters, I was running low on gas, and had to bail before Dream Home began.

The upside though is that I will be in time for the UK premiere of The Pack (La Meute) which definitely sounds promising as a road chase and gore flick -perfect for Sunday morning.

After The Pack (La Meute) is the quiz from hell and then at 13:30 it’s the FrightFest 2010 Short Film Showcase, which I’m really looking forward to.

There’s a soft spot for the short film segment, mainly because me and director Rick James made our own short for the festival about three years ago.

We called it ‘The Usual Attraction’ and to get you in the mood for what’s ahead today we present it for your viewing pleasure:

FrightFest 2010 Monsters Movie Review

“I feel like I could cry. But I don’t know if it would be a happy cry or a sad cry.”

That’s a line from the film Monsters which premiered at 9pm today on Saturday night on Day 3 at the FrightFest 2010.

It was pitched as an ‘emotional road movie’ and an ‘engaging romantic drama’ by the programme guide and was sold out according to the display boards at the Empire Cinema.

The screening of Monsters was even sponsored by Total Film and given a personal introduction by the magazine’s editor and the film’s writer-director.

The bar was set well and truly high. Despite being 9pm on Saturday night in the middle of London I was ready for something engaging and with a message.

Unfortunately, Monsters was not that film.

Imagine two posh students having just finished their A-Levels and taking a gap year in Mexico and then those same students returning from their gap year  with a 97 minute slideshow, holding you the viewer as prisoner, as you’re forced to relate to their nauseating musings on life and relationships.

I repeat the line:

“I feel like I could cry. But I don’t know if it would be a happy cry or a sad cry.”

If anyone said anything as wet as that to you in real life, you’d slowly walk away and not make eye contact, but in Monsters it’s underwritten by deeply meaningful looks from the two leads who are fully paid-up members of the Keanu Reeves school of acting.

The problem with Monsters is that it’s the relationship between the two leads who are journeying across Mexico to America that should have held you in place. But there is little chemistry between the two. Indeed, sparks cannot fly between mutual pieces of wood.

Still doubt me? Here’s another excerpt:

Man: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Woman: I dunno.
(A pause as they both look deeply felt and meaningful each other)
Woman: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Man: I dunno.

A thrilling exchange!  Like it? Here’s another:

The couple are walking through a town where buildings have been destroyed:

Woman: What do you think happened here?
Man: I dunno.
(Pauses)
Man: If you ask me it looks like an air-strike.

Great. Thanks for clarifying that. Would have kept me up all night that.

As a concept, ‘War of The Worlds’ meets ‘The Sure Thing’ sounds like a good time and a really good time at that. Unfortunately, Monsters spends much of its time navel gazing. Do yourself a favour and reach out for Zombie Land instead.

FrightFest 2010 I Spit On Your Grave 2010 Remake Movie Review

I haven’t seen the original I Spit On Your Grave, so I’m writing this review with one hand tied behind my back, or, if you like, untainted by the baggage of acclaim the original holds in the horror community.

If you’re not familiar with the plot of I Spit On Your Grave, it can be summarised thusly:

A woman is brutally attacked and assaulted by a gang of rednecks and left for dead. She survives, however, and returns to dish out a brutal and horrific attack against each of her assailants.

Trouble is, there isn’t much more to I Spit On Your Grave 2010 than that.

There isn’t a deeper exploration of what drives males to violence against women or what factors make these kinds of attitudes propitious in today’s world.

That last comment may sound up itself, but there are some very harrowing scenes in the first hour of the film, and I didn’t feel as if these had been set-up with any kind of real motivation.

The attack against the woman is brought about by rednecks being your stereotypical horror rednecks and nothing more.

The second half of the flick then becomes about how the victim, seemingly thought dead by her attackers, begins to exact her revenge.

The scenes in which she gets her own back drew whoops and cheers from the audience. The first half of the film is harrowing and the second part acts as a release where the villains get what’s coming to them. The methods she uses to get her own back are original, drawing as many laughs from the audience as it did equal amounts of ewwwwwwws. I won’t spoil them for you, suffice to say one scene involves a fish hook.

I Spit On Your Grave 2010 follows in the footsteps of other remakes, most notably the updated version of The Last House on the Left.

While the original versions of these films have the ability to upset, their power lay in their ability to shock and disturb; to present viewers with a case that their view of how safe the world was was wrong.

The remakes, while retaining their ability to upset, do not have the ability to shock.  Violence is commonplace and acts of extreme aggression are reported daily in newspapers.

We know the world isn’t a safe place, so why keep reheating films whose original power lay in relaying that message to a different world, at a different time?

FrightFest 2010 13 HRS Movie Review

Three pm on sunny Saturday bank holiday weekend in London and there’s no place I’d rather be than in a darkened cinema watching a bunch of horror flicks for the whole day.

Next up is the low-budget Brit-flick 13 HRS.

With the exception of the fantastic movie ‘F’ screened yesterday, Brit horror flicks have a dubious reputation in quality when it comes to the FrightFest.

But hey, if it’s British, I’m duty bound to give it a more than fair hearing. Unfortunately, 30 mins into meaningless exposition, my attention wanes and doesn’t ever recover.

In 13 HRS, a bunch of teens converge in a country house and are attacked by a werewolf. On  paper this looks like a passable evening’s entertainment, except that being low-budget and promising werewolves is always going to turn out bad.

Doing a werewolf flick on low budget is asking from trouble.

Anyone will tell you that the sight of the werewolf or a kick ass transformation scene is a necessary abiding pleasure warranted in these flicks.

There are ways around it though – using Wolfen style POV shots of the creature if done correctly can be stylish and just as scary and save on the dollars. But simply sticking a red gel on the front of camera man and asking him to run around aimlessly is not.

13 HRS lacks any tension, there are no scares and the plot gives way to people screaming in an attic about their fractured family relationships the viewer cares little about.

When the action lags, the script calls for each of the characters to venture downstairs in action scenes that are meant to sustain interest, but which fail.