The fourth day at 2011’s FrightFest provided a huge variety of horrific delights: from ghost stories to urban violence, through tongue-in-cheek Christmas capers and amputated-balls-to-the-wall bloodbaths. On the whole, it was a very entertaining day for THN, with very little to dampen the spirits (with one exception). First came the International Short Film Showcase, which proved very popular and included some excellent shorts (and a smidgen of guff), followed by Ti West’s THE INNKEEPERS and Dick Maas’ SAINT. Ben Wheatley’s KILL LIST finished off the day, one of hottest and most subversive British films in years. Here’s the round-up of FrightFest’s day of rest…
International Short Film Showcase
ALISTAIR (Australia)
Director: Aaron Cartwright
Two ruthless killers choose the wrong house to invade, and find themselves facing a bizarre (and very hungry) evil entity…
A gory but disappointing effort that suffered from poor acting and minimal substance. Though it provided some genuine scares, they just reiterated that ALISTAIR is a largely empty with a few cheap tricks.
BATS IN THE BELFRY (Portugal)
Director: Jaoa Alves
When Deadeye Jack holds a heist on a church, he discovers it is full of vampire(ish) creatures. He must fight them off and save the day if he is to escape with the loot…
A smart and distinctive animation that made great use of its medium, packing in x-ray effects and other tricks to set itself aside from the crowd. Also managed to do the Cowboy Vs Vampire and make it something of a welcome surprise.
DEMONITRON: THE 6TH DIMENSION (Canada)
Directors: Francois Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissel
A lampooning of the grindhouse trailers associated with the original’ video nasties’. Far too many ludicrous strands of horror genius to sum up in two sentences…
Part tribute, part piss-take, this mock trailer went down an absolute storm with the bloodthirsty crowd. Mainly taking its lead from Lucio Fulci, this featured a whole range of exploitation-horror clichés, ropey effects, and eff-loads of gore.
BRUTAL RELAX (Spain)
Directors: Adrian Cardona, Rafa Dengra, David Munoz
Mute psychiatric patient Mr Olivares is under orders to take a relaxing vacation, but whilst on the beach, his relaxation is disturbed by a tribe of murderous sea zombies…
As funny, gory, and entertaining as any film could hope to be in just 15 minutes. With hilarious slapstick, frantic direction, and a chirpy soundtrack, BRUTAL RELAX was the pick of the bunch. Featuring the best zombie smackdown since probably ever.
BANANA MOTHERFUCKER (Portugal)
Director: Fernando Alle
When a naive film crew discovers a killer banana, the bloodthirsty fruit makes its way across the world, unleashing a banana epidemic…
From the team behind PAPA WRESTLING, BANANA MOTHERFUCKER is gory and ludicrous in equal measure. As something of a homage-a-thon, it touched on references from a whole range of movies, from BACK TO THE FUTURE to THE EVIL DEAD. Featuring great banana-related deaths (especially the one up the arse…).
THE LAST POST (UK)
Director: Axelle Carolyn
A woman living out her final days in a nursing home has visions of mysterious man that no one else can see…
A slow and subdued effort, THE LAST POST was perfectly adequate but failed to impact as the others had. More of a tragic love story that a horror, the Neil Marshall-produced film may have been more effective as a short story.
COLD CALL (UK)
Director: Clive Ford
Two door-to-door preachers find themselves in a world of pain when they call on two souls who are beyond saving…
Very creepy and boasting strong performances all round (especially from the two coke-snorting vampire ladies), this eerie little film used a Burton-esque surreal and distorted visual style. Gothic, disturbing, and very intriguing.
LOVE BUG (UK)
Director: Benjamin Kent
Frank’s blind date isn’t going as planned… his would-be girlfriend has contracted a deadly virus, and she’s now on a murderous rampage. And even worse, the virus is very contagious…
Funny, fast-paced, and an amusing twist on a generic concept – yes, the killer virus thing’s been done to death, but kudos for placing it in the middle of a comedy situation that basically involves some lad trying to get his end away.
FLESH ART (UK)
Director: Nicholas Thompson, Chris Gordon
In a post-apocalyptic world, a man is deep beneath the city streets. Surrounded by bodies of the dead, he is able to create art from the only thing now in abundance…
A fairly flat effort, FLESH ART’s concept is far more appealing than the finished product. The limited duration of the film means it never really gets under the skin of what is most interesting: a mans desire to create art from dead bodies. Also, breaks down into a predictable conclusion.
LITTLE MUNCHKIN (UK)
Director: Ryan Andrews
When two middle-class twits buy themselves an adopted child, they are horrified to discover that their brand–new daughter may not be all sweetness and light…
One of the most promising directors in the UK right now, Ryan Andrews seems to carving himself a niche for fairy tale-like horror, seen both here and in the teaser footage for his upcoming ELFIE HOPKINS. LITTLE MUNCHKIN raised some big laughs, not least of all from the sight of the little girl chowing down on some intestines.
And the frightful main features were…
THE INNKEEPERS
Director: Ti West
Starring: Sara Paxton, Pat Healy, Kelly McGillis
Synopsis? As the Yankee Peddlar Inn prepares to close its doors forever, its two remaining employees try to discover the truth behind the spirits that supposedly haunt the hotel’s corridors. But as they uncover its grisly past, their lives are thrown into grave danger…
Horror Highlights? How refreshing to see an old-fashioned ghost story after days of bloodshed and torture. Director-writer West masterfully builds tension with cautious camerawork and subtle soundtrack. Rather than opting for big scares and jumps, West has restrained himself, using creaks, moans, and even the tinkling of ivories to slowly build suspense. His characters are also hugely engaging, and as three-dimensional as anything seen this festival (that includes you, FINAL DESTINATION 5). Credit must go to actors Sara Paxton and Pat Healy for their performances as likeable and realistic Claire and Luke.
Gory Gash? Though the first half of the film is a masterclass is building tension, the first few scares don’t quite pay it off. West also later opt for some less-than-subtle gore effects that only serve to undermine the good work achieved until this point.
Overall? Taking its lead from THE INNOCENTS (1961), THE INNKEEPERS is tense, eerie and thoroughly engaging. It is almost the antithesis to the violence and gore that dominates contemporary horror. Despite a few flaws, one of the best-produced movies screened at FrightFest.
SAINT
Director: Dick Maas
Starring: Egbert Jan Weeber, Huub Stapel, Burt Luppes
Synopsis: As Frank (Jan Weeber) prepares for a drunken night out dressed as St Nicholas, his friends are savagely murdered by a group of strange creatures. He soon learns that Amsterdam is doomed, as every time a full moon falls on 5th December, St Nick comes to town to kidnap and murder its children…
Horror Highlights? The first act of the film is lots of fun: an amusing twist of Christmas lore, bucket-loads of satisfying murders, and good lampooning of established horror conventions (no matter how much tinsel you throw over it, it’s still essentially a slasher film). And at least it has the baubles to off some ickle kiddies.
Gory Gash? It soon loses its way and becomes an utter mess. The lead character is uninspiring and his grizzled detective friend (you know, the one that knows the truth about Santa but no one believes him) has been done 1,000 times before and better. And the playful use of established conventions reverts into overused and tired clichés. Also, some fairly big plot holes are unconvincingly glossed over.
Overall? Though not the first ‘Psycho Santa’ movie, it does begin rather promisingly. But it fails to maintain interest and its knowing sense of humour isn’t enough to save it from generic hell. Less of a cracker, more of a turkey.
Any other highlights from FrightFest day four? We got to see the fourth installment in the series of John Carpenter tributes, this time Marc Price’s spin on THEY LIVE, which recreated the infamous lengthy fight scene, only this time they’re fighting over 3D glasses, and lots of fun it was… we also saw the bizarre and powerful KILL LIST (full review coming soon)…. More from FrightFest tomorrow!
