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Frightfest 2009 - 2013

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river_styx

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Is anybody going?

I'm not but I've had a quick scan of the roster and there looks like a few decent new horrors will be heading out onto DVD in the next few months.

Anyone got anything they're keeping their eyes peeled for?
 
I'm not going, but I've heard The Human Centipede is pretty crazy. No idea what kind of release it'll get.
 
I'm going to the whole event. Looking forward to the remastered Am American Werewolf in London and the accompanying documentary. Plus Argento's new one and House of the Devil

While queueing for weekend passes I got the synopsis of Human Centipede from one of the organisers.

Oh... my... God!
 
The Human Centipede seems to be one of those films you put on for your friends and say, with a wicked grin, "Check this out".
I'm sure it'll more than likely go straight to DVD or end up on Film Four at midnight on a Friday.

I've been waiting for the new Argento one ever since I saw the trailer.

There's a french one as well but the title escapes me right now.
 
BlackRiverFalls said:
I just looked Human Centipede up and really wish I hadn't... Shocked
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I second that :shock: :?
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I looked it up and just fell about laughing at it...I am probably a very disturbed person....
 
Some Fortean-friendly titles in the 2013 line-up...

The Dyatlov Pass Incident
UK PREMIERE - Director Renny Harlin. Cast: Richard Reid, Gemma Atkinson, Matt Stokoe, Luke Albright, Holly Goss. USA, 2013, 90 mins.

In February, 1959, nine Russians hikers ventured into the Ural Mountains on a trip that should have been manageable for a group with their vast experience. Two weeks later, all nine were discovered dead. A search party found the hikers’ tents ripped open from the inside and all seemed to have died from hypothermia. ·Aside from a few fractures and broken bones, there appeared to be indication of foul play. With no compelling evidence or witnesses to account for the puzzling night, the case quickly fell into legendary infamy. Many have theorized that a small avalanche caught them off guard, forced them to cut through their tents and make an escape into their snowy surroundings where they froze. The riddle has baffled investigators, researchers and authorities ever since. Now five young filmmakers retrace the steps of the doomed hikers in pursuit of the unsolvable mystery. What will they find?


The Conspiracy
UK PREMIERE - Director: Christopher MacBride. Cast: Aaron Poole, James Gilbert, Peter Apostolopoulos, Angela Besharah, Bruce Clayton. Canada 2012, 85 mins.·

The found-footage movie steps into yet another unique arena. Two filmmakers are shooting a documentary about Terrance G, a conspiracy theorist convinced all major world events – the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, 9/11, the banking crisis – are the responsibility of a secret society controlling the course of history for profit. Suddenly, after four weeks of constant surveillance, Terrance goes missing and they start being followed by black vans. Was he really on to something? Digging deeper using their subject’s notes and wall diagrams they begin to see the proof he saw. Investigating further they hit upon links to the mysterious Tarsus Club who worship the ancient deity Mithras and decide to infiltrate the weird cult. A Very Bad Idea! Maintaining a compulsively gripping, terror traction as it slowly unfolds into worst-case scenario, this combo of ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN, EYES WIDE SHUT and THE FIEND builds to a chilling crescendo of palpable paranoid fright.


Banshee Chapter
WORLD PREMIERE - Director: Blair Erickson. Cast: Ted Levine, Katia Winter, Michael McMillian, Jenny Gabrielle, Chad Brumnet. USA 2013, 85 mins.

In 1963 the U.S. government began experimenting on unsuspecting Americans with chemical agents intended to induce mind control. The programme was named ‘MK-ULTRA’ and the results were horrifying… When her best friend James Hirsch goes missing, Internet journalist Anne Roland decides to investigate and discovers he made a videotape of himself taking a mind-altering drug before vanishing into thin air. Further probing guides her to anarchist poet and novelist Thomas Blackburn who gets illegally high on LSD-type hallucinogens supplied by a friend. But when Anne learns this friend has been extracting the drug from the pineal glands of dead humans, the search leads to the mysterious Chamber 5 in a Black Rock desert research centre where she enters an alternate universe of stretched sanity, brain receivers, sinister Numbers stations and Lovecraftian illusion. Based on real documents, actual test subject testimony and uncovered secrets about testing run by the CIA.
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http://www.frightfest.co.uk/
 
Another one showing this weekend:

DAYLIGHT

WORLD PREMIERE - Director: David McCracken, Joel Townsend, Kaidan Tremain. Cast: Jennifer Bacon, David McCracken, Josh Riedford, Sydney Morris. Jeanine Cameron. USA, 2012, 97 mins.

Remember the Satanic abuse panic that originated in the United States in the 1980s, spreading throughout the country and eventually to many parts of the world? Reports proliferated about the physical abuse of individuals in the context of occult rituals. At its most extreme definition a worldwide conspiracy was postulated involving the wealthy and powerful of the global elite in which children were abducted or bred for sacrifices and far worse. Since discredited and considered more associated with dissociative identity disorder and government conspiracy theories, the scandals went away or seemed to. But now a team of Child Protective Services workers are investigating a series of bizarre child abuse cases in the small town of Daylight, Indiana. And it happens all over again – the allegations by lawyers, social workers, religious advocates and therapists. For as the mystery unfolds, they all discover the cases may actually be linked by demonic possession.
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http://www.frightfest.co.uk/films/2013f ... igh41.html
 
Might as well lose the "2009" from the thread title now!

My thoughts on this years movies...

The Dyatlov Pass Incident

...the trailer of which now plays by itself on the FT homepage - annoying as it slows down my ancient comp, plus I've already seen it!

By-the-numbers modern day found footage movie, where four young filmmakers retrace the route to Dyatlov Pass. Runs out of ideas near the end, and has to rope in another old Fortean classic tale, which has nothing to do with the story, but was quite amusing nonetheless. Not bad.


Dark Touch

Abused girl sets off extreme poltergeist outbreaks whenever her abuses try it on, including her new foster parents - Irish-set movie by the director of In My Skin was pretty much a mess.


The Conspiracy

One of my favourites from the weekend - presented as a documentary, it follows a lone Believer who mystery goes missing, prompting the filmmakers to look into the NWO conspiracy themselves, which leads them to infiltrate a lodge-meeting inspired by Alex Jones sneaking into Bohemian Grove.

All the conspiracies mentioned are real (although main baddies The Tarsus Club are Bilderberg/Bohemian Grove types). I thought it did a good job of introducing casual viewers to these larger NWO conspiracies, but one Infowars.com reader took offence to the movie, calling it "propaganda pure and simple" to make all believers look like paranoids. Here's her rant, which will be spoiler heavy:

http://www.frightfest.co.uk/forum/viewt ... 548#p59912


Banshee Chapter

Modern day conspiracy thriller into the MK-Ultra project was a big disappointment - it's not sure if it's wants to be found footage (it isn't) but it IS filmed (pointlessly) in 3D. Ted Levine is good as a Timothy Leary/Hunter S Thompson type.


Daylight

I didn't see the Satanic Panic movie - it played in a smaller screen - but the few who did all said it was "awful" :?


Willow Creek

Bigfoot done Blair Witch style. Directed by Bobcat Goldthwait (yes, him out of Police Acadamy) this was excellent - first half funny, second half somewhat terrifying!
 
Good to hear the Bobcat movie is worth seeing, his movies are always interesting if not entirely successful. But a lot of conspiracy stuff around, or so it sounds.
 
Some thoughts on the 2014 event:

My favorite was documentary Lost Souls - The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau. After Dust Devil leaves him penniless, Stanley sets up a Dr. Moreau remake at New Line Cinema (Moreau apparently based on his great-grand father) and the budget spirals as names such as Bruce Willis and James Woods come and go. But it's Val Kilmer who ultimately seals Stanley's fate by simply being a complete dick.

Marlon Brando is also hired, by which point Stanley finds himself replaced by Roman Polanski as director. In desperation, Stanley secures a meeting with Brando and convinces him to have him back as director - while a Warlock performs a ceremony on London to aide Stanley in his quest!

Said Warlock then becomes ill as filming begins, and, as Stanley puts it, "all his spells begun to unravel..."... and Stanley barely lasts one shooting day before a storm comes and wipes out the set.

By the time shooting recommences Stanley is out and John Frankenheimer
is in. This section of the documentary is frankly hilarious, as Brando turns up and imposes his insane ideas on the production.

And yes, Stanley get himself back on the set, disguised as a dog-man!



Lost Soul should be out on DVD next year.

The Babadook from Australia arrived on a wave of hype it didn't quite live up to, but is still well worth checking out this Halloween - it's a mixture of childhood fears and the effects of stress and sleep deprivation.

The Mirror UK found-footage movie about three 20-somethings determined to film the haunted mirror they've purchased to claim James Randi's prize money. It's loosely based on a recent story which made the news when the owners put the mirror on ebay.

Here's an interview the director of The Mirror made with the real owners:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzfdN9CdVL4

The film was pretty good if you can handle found-footage, and is out on dvd next month.

Lemon Tree Passage is a stretch of road in Australia where a ghost light appears if you drive at a certain speed. We have a thread for it here:

http://www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42619

Unfortunately the film became a messy kids-lost-in-the-woods bore.

Shockwave Darkside 3D was not only bad, the 3D actively tried to rip my eyes out. No doubt this will end up as some peoples "worst movie ever" if these reviews are anything to go by:

http://www.forteantimes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=42619

Xmoor - two Americans head to Exmoor to secure Alien Big Cat footage, but soon find themselves stalked by something more human. Like Lemon Tree, this too became a lot of running about in the dark.

Exists Blair Witch director Edaurdo Sanchez does a found-footage bigfoot movie with good results, but last years Willow Creek was better ;)
 
Were there any films this year that didn't try to be the next Blair Witch? Seems too many filmmakers can't get that out of their system fifteen years after the fact.
 
2015 weekend highlights...

Two movies featured a "crazy" guy who knows the aliens are here - POD & They Look Like People - in both films, friends and family rally round because they know he's slipped back into crazy-mode... or has he? TLLP was the better one here.

The French Rabid Dogs remake was pretty good - but even better was Night Fare, about a killer Parisian Taxi driver.

The metal/horror/comedy Deathgasm was a lot of fun, as was future/80's retro comedy Turbo Kid. The sleaziest landlord ever in Slumlord divided people, but I liked it. Rural Argentinian black comedy The Rotten Link was a slow-burn which pays off.

Found-footage Jeruzalem wasn't bad, as demons invade the holy city. Steve Oram from The Sightseers writes and directs this domestic drama AAAAAAAAH! in which everyone speaks in ape noises (including both the Mighty Boosh guys). If you ever wanted to see Toyah Willcox take a shit on the kitchen floor while speaking ape, this is the film for you!

The Room 237 guys return with The Nightmare where they interview people suffering from sleep paralysis. Some interesting stories, but never gets to the bottom of whether these people think the supernatural is really at work.

UK's Nina Forever has a dead girlfriend return every time her bf has sex with his new girlfriend. She comes up through the bloody bed, Hellraiser style. A lot of people liked this one, but it didn't quite work for me.

And Curtain, a low-budget gem about a bathroom that sucks up shower curtains! To another dimension? You'll have to see yourself...
 
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2016 highlights -

HOSTAGE TO THE DEVIL, documentary about the controversial exorcist Father Malachi Martin. Meanders about for a bit on his early life, before Ralph Sarchie details his final exorcism which led to his death (basically he fell off a stool back at home... and claimed on his death bed a demon had pushed it!) Sarchi is the guy portrayed by Eric Bana in Deliver Us From Evil. Lorraine Warren is seen alongside Malachi in archive footage.


POPULATION ZERO, while making a documentary on a triple murder in Yellowestone park, the director finds new evidence which changes the course of his investigation. This was pretty decent.


PET, starring ex-Hobbit Dominic Monaghan. This one sounded like a bloke sticking a woman in a cage for 90 minutes, so I gave it a miss. Turned out to be one of the favourites of the festival due to its twists, so one to look out for.

THEY CALL ME JEEG ROBOT. Bonkers Italian "super hero" movie about a criminal who falls into a vat of toxic waste and becomes indestructible. Not quite the Toxic Avenger though. Very good.


BEYOND THE GATES nice comedy/horror tribute to the 80's and the days of VHS. Barbara Crampton has a role.

SADAKO Vs KAYAKO really enjoyed this J-horror mash-up, but it didn't go down well overall - "too slow" and "was it meant to be funny?" were the main complaints.

FURY OF THE DEMON - documentary about the recent showing of the Georges Méliès lost film La Rage Du Demon in Paris which sent the audience mad - just like it did back in the day. Alexandre Aja and Christophe Gans both recount that experience.


JOHNNY FRANK GARRET’S LAST WORD. Simon Rumley's first director-for-hire movie is based on a documentary about a wrongly convicted retarded kid who curses everyone who wronged him before he's put to death. Then mysteriously people start dying... Although true, this ups the supernatural element, leaving no doubt the curse is real.

 
31 - Rob Zombie's Running Man. Simple plot, so it's all down to whether you like Zombie's movies or not. I loved it :)

BLOOD FEAST - yes, they've remade Blood Feast. Gave this a miss, but it turned out to be the so-bad-its-a-riot film of the festival.

REALIVE, the writer of Vanilla Sky, The Sea Inside and Thesis explores what it's like to be the first cryogenically frozen body to be woken up in the future. Thought provoking and well played (although some found it bland)

DIRECTOR'S CUT Great premise - a meta-movie in which we see a fan-edit of an unreleased movie. Stars Penn Jillette. I had to pass on this as I was watching Man Underground, but most accounts said its one-joke wore thin pretty fast (but Kim Newman liked it!)


MAN UNDERGROUND low-key UFO conspiracy indie. Funny, sweet and tragic. Well worth looking out for.

man-underground-386823-poster.jpg



WE ARE THE FLESH the big controversial movie came from Mexico this time. A transcendent metaphor of modern Mexico - or pretentious twaddle? Unfortunately it was the latter for me... :(

FOUND FOOTAGE 3D - deliberately comes with a title to make you hate it, but this does for found footage what Scream did for slashers. Really funny in places, and has scares too!

TRAIN TO BUSAN. South Korea's big hit of 2016 is this Zombie's on a train epic, and a fitting closing film. Out here in October I think.

 
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Excellent coverage, SB, lots to look out for. Barbara Crampton has turned into a one-woman horror nostalgia industry.
 
More power to her, she's made better films than, say, Linnea Quigley.
 
Crampton did her bit well but she never stuffed a lipstick into her nipple onscreen F/X wise, never married Steve 'Splat' Johnson so never ended up splitting up from him and then hooking up with a porn baron after dancing in the buff as a punk in Return Of The Living Dead.
 
You're not convincing me that Babs isn't better! She's still making some very decent movies, from what I've seen. Linnea, well, I don't watch her work anymore, even going back to stuff like Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers is a ticket to extreme boredom. It's OK, Linnea, you'll always have RotLD...
 
GNC said:
You're not convincing me that Babs isn't better! She's still making some very decent movies, from what I've seen. Linnea, well, I don't watch her work anymore, even going back to stuff like Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers is a ticket to extreme boredom. It's OK, Linnea, you'll always have RotLD...
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Linnea still seems to be finding work ..not high level stuff but .. it seems like she's paying those bills ..

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001643/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
 
141 credits! Most of it zero budget tat most people would never consider watching or have even heard of. I read an interview with her ages ago and she said she was heavily into animal rights, which Linda Blair is as well. Must be something in exploitation flick actresses who prefer the company of our furry friends. Mind you, Doris Day went that route as well.
 
2018 selections...

SUMMER OF '84


The Turbo Kid directors go all Stranger Things meets Rear Window - very good!


INCIDENT IN A GHOSTLAND


The Martyrs director is back with a sort of Martyrs-lite offering, set in a spooky old house with creepy dolls. Pretty good and out now on Arrow DVD/Blu-Ray.


ONE CUT OF THE DEAD


A real stand-out, this hilarious zombie comedy became such a hit back in Japan, that Frightfest had to lay-on three performances. Begins with a 37-minute single take, and when you think it's already peaked, keeps on delivering.


THE MAN WHO KILLED BIGFOOT AND THEN HITLER

MV5BMTg2NzI4NjY1Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNjUxOTc3NTM@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,679,1000_AL_.jpg


This wins the title of the fest... but what you expect will be a zany romp, turns out to be a slow-burn character piece! File under "I need to see it again"...


TERRIFIED


Argentinian ghost story delivers on the jumps and scares, if not logic, but well worth a look.
 
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THE DEVIL'S DOORWAY


A found-footage film set in 1960! Two Irish Priests are sent to document a miracle, and get more than they bargained for. Pretty good, but goes a bit too OTT too often.


PIERCING

From a Japanese novel by the Audition guy, this features more people being tied up and tortured with a score culled from Giallo movies - Goblin, Bruno Nicolai etc. It's pretty good. By the director of The Eyes of My Mother.


LIFECHANGER


Really good shape-shifting drama. Frightfest are releasing this themselves on DVD at some point


THE TOKOLOSHE

South African demonic myth. This went down quite well, but I found it retelling the same old cliches, just in a different setting...


THE FIELD GUIDE TO EVIL

Right up the Fortean alley with an anthology of myths & folktales from around the world. This was a major disappointment. Mostly a bore, and not even Peter Strickland could save it with the final segment.


POSSUM


Matthew Holness - AKA Garth Marenghi - writes and directs this bleak psychodrama, which reminded me of Cronenberg's Spider. Good stuff.


THE GOLEM


New retelling of the "mystical Jewish legend" from the directors of JeruZalem. Pretty bland though. The Golem is played by a boy, rather than a mud monster.


CLIMAX


And why not end the festival with some Gaspar Noé? Not surprisingly this divided the audience, with some absolutely hating it! Me, I loved it, and was the perfect way to "climax" a festival.
 
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