Celluloid Screams begins on Thursday 21st October and runs until Sunday 24th October. The festival, currently in its thirteenth year, will take place at the Showroom Cinema in Sheffield and is the perfect way to get into the Halloween frame of mind. If you haven’t already purchased tickets then I’m afraid you’re out of luck as the event sold out almost instantly. If however, you are one of the lucky people to have snagged a golden ticket, you are going to be spoiled as this year’s line-up is incredible. The festival opens with Antlers, a film that had been significantly postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and will end with a screening of Cannes winner, Titane. Celluloid Screams will also feature the very strange looking Lamb, meaning that the event will be hosting three of our most anticipated films of the year. Outside of that terrifying trio, the festival has scheduled a further fourteen feature films as well as a ton of shorts.
While we haven’t yet been able to get our eyeballs on Antlers, Lamb or Titane yet, we have seen the majority of the rest of the line-up and have devised a list of four films that need to be seen.
When I Consume You
We at team THN have been fans of the filmmaking team of Perry Blackshear, Macleod Andrews, and Evan Dumouchel, ever since their first feature, They Look Like People. Their micro-budget and crew productions have created some super special stories, and When I Consume You continues that trend. This marks the third feature film the group have collaborated on, and their work just gets better. Blackshear has once again sat comfortably behind the camera whilst Dumouchel and Andrews take their places in front of it. Joined by new recruit Libby Ewing, Blackshear tells a dark story about trauma, grief, and the occult, following adult siblings Daphne (Ewing) and Wilson (Dumouchel) as they seek revenge on a mysterious stranger who is intent on causing them harm.
Tonally and visually closer to their debut, When I Consume You is complex and compelling, blending elements of horror, fantasy, drama, and thriller to produce an atmospheric and haunting story that stays with the viewer after watching. Shot pre-pandemic during the winter of 2019, the film reeks of loneliness and isolation, themes that we’ve all been able to relate to at some point over the last eighteen months.
Another distinct and stimulating story, When I Consume You presents a complex analysis of growing up. The performances are exceptional, and Blackshear taps back into the intense and emotional atmosphere of They Look Like People to create yet another concise and perceptive study of the human condition. If you enjoyed The Siren and They Look Like People, you’re definitely going to enjoy this dark nightmare.
When I Consume You screens on Sunday 24th October at 7pm.
The Advent Calendar
It may not yet be quite Halloween, but Christmas is everywhere, including Celluloid Screams. Although The Advent Calendar might bring the yuletide setting to the festival, it thankfully isn’t a garish festive film. Director Patrick Ridremont keeps the expected bright reds, greens, and fairylights firmly in the background, allowing the dark and cold of the wintery season to infuse with his story to create something rather chilling. The French language film tells the story of ex-dancer Eva (Eugénie Derouand), now living in a wheelchair, who is given a wooden advent calendar from her friend. It’s no ordinary calendar though, as in addition to candy, each window triggers real-life consequences, most of them bad. It does however, also present Eva with the chance to walk again, but can she live with herself?
The atmosphere the film generates, combined with an excellent new eerie entity in the form of Ich, ensures that The Advent Calendar is sure to become a Christmas staple for many genre fans. The late night spot at Celluloid Screams is also the perfect time of day to experience this movie as there’s nothing spookier than watching horror films in the dead of night.
The Advent Calendar screens on Saturday 23rd October at 11:30pm.
Hellbender
If you haven’t seen the debut feature from the filmmaking Adams family (John Adams, Toby Poser, and Zelda Adams), then you really should track down The Deeper You Dig (currently in Arrow’s Shocktober Sale), a film that was remarkable in its construction and chilling in its narrative. Now comes what is usually the awkward sophomore project, which for this team is actually a resounding success. A wickedly witchy tale of maternal bonds, growing up, and finding one’s own power, Hellbender is going to blow the roof off of Sheffield’s Showroom Cinema. Lonely teenager Izzy (Zelda Adams) starts to become more independent from her mother (Toby Poser) with whom she lives after uncovering a connection between her family and witchcraft Thereafter a power battle between mother and daughter begins to unfold.
Every aspect and element of Hellbender oozes style. Whether it’s the catchy music, the breathtaking imagery, compelling narrative, or phenomenal sound design, there is something to enrapture and enthral all who dare to glance upon it. A strong contender for creepiest film of the year, Hellbender chews you up and feeds on your fears before spitting you out again forever changed. There is literally no end to the Adams family’s talents. They act, write, direct, shoot, and even sing together, and with Hellbender, they have knocked it out of the stratosphere with their follow-up to the already stunning The Deeper You Dig.
Hellbender screens on Sunday 24th October at 4:10pm.
Nocturna: Side A – The Great Old Man’s Night
Don’t forget to pack your tissues as not everything on the Celluloid Screams line-up will have you recoiling in fear. Some, such as Nocturna: Side A – The Great Old Man’s Night, may leave you an inconsolable wreck, languishing in a puddle of tears. Haunting, heartbreaking, and expertly acted, Nocturna: Side A is an easy rival to The Father for the crown of most emotive movie of the year.
Argentine filmmaker Gonzalo Calzada’s latest film creates a similar viewing sensation to that of The Father, although Calzada filters it through the world of the supernatural. Nocturna: Side A unfolds, as the name suggests, across one night as it tells the story of a one hundred year old man, Ulises (Pepe Soriano). Ulises begins to reflect on his long life and it quickly becomes clear that he is a man battling regrets. As ghosts from the past merge with the present, Ulises realises that he might not have long left and puts a last minute plan for redemption into action.
Nostalgia, regret, and pathos sing strong in Gonzalo Calzada’s haunting tale of one man’s life. A film ruled by the performance of Pepe Soriano, Nocturna: Side A will give your tear ducts a workout, but is worth every drop.
Nocturna: Side A – The Great Old Man’s Night screens on Sunday 24th October at 11am.
Celluloid Screams runs from Thursday 21st October – Sunday 24th October 2021.
