Directed by: Jack Sholder
Written by: David Chaskin
Music by: Christopher Young
Starring: Mark Patton, Kim Myers, Robert Rusler, Clu Gulager, Hope Lange, Robert Englund
Taglines: “The first name in terror returns…”
“The Man of Your Dreams Is Back.”
“Someone is coming back to Elm Street!”
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Director: Michael A. Simpson
Written by: Fritz Gordon and Robert Hiltzik
Starring: Pamela Springsteen, Renée Estevez, Tony Higgins, Sean Whitmore, Valerie Hartman, Brian Patrick Clarke, Walter Gotell, Susan Marie Snyder, Terry Hobbs
Taglines: “When you go camping just take the essentials”
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Director: Tom Holland
Written by: Tom Holland
Starring: William Ragsdale, Roddy McDowell, Chris Sarandon, Stephen Geoffreys, Amanda Bearse, Jonathan Stark, Art Evans
Taglines: “There are some very good reasons to be afraid…of the dark.”
“If you love being scared, it’ll be the night of your life.”
“There are good reasons to be afraid of the dark.”
Director: Ray Cameron
Writers: Ray Cameron & Barry Cryer
Starring: Kenny Everett, Vincent Price, Pamela Stephenson, Gareth Hunt, John Fortune, Don Warrington, Barry Cryer
Taglines: “The movie it took a lot of guts to make!”
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So, the final day! As ever this seemed to come way to fast, and we were lamenting the end already. Nothing much more to say here, though. A great experience all round! Roll on Glasgow, or next year depending on how much I can make it to in 2012!
The final John Carpenter tribute was Ben Wheatley’s Assault on Precinct 13. Now, this was probably my least favourite for the simple reason that it departed so drastically from the original (zombies instead of gang members). Still, it’s not too bad, check it out here.
Day 4 and as ever I was starting to flag a little bit, although nowhere near as badly as other years! Again, I just managed to fit in 4 films today, as I decided to skip the short films/quiz section and ticket for the Israeli movie Rabies being hard to come by (so much so that it had an extra screening arranged for the Monday night). I also skipped the late film Detention, as although that was getting plenty of buzz it seems to be a movie that will be coming up fairly soon. No release date planned, but I can’t see a movie with that much advance notice getting ignored. So, a relatively short day but one that still held up very well, quality-wise.
The John Carpenter tribute was Marc Price’s tribute to They Live, a nicely done tongue-in-cheek recreation of the alley brawl from the movie, refitted as a reference to 3D movies.
You can find it here.
So, day 3 already and I ended up watching a few less films than I’d normally watch on the Saturday and Sunday due to friends visiting me at the festival. On this Saturday I had already watched opener Troll Hunter
Today’s John Carpenter short was a take on Halloween, an amusing if slight spoof where Michael Myers is now living in England and doesn’t take kindly to noise pollution and littering… It’s worth checking out if nothing special and can be found here.
So, on to the first proper full day of the festival. here were a couple of Q&As on this day (for The Holding and The Glass Man) and we finally got our hands on the goody bag. This year’s bag was a little light in content (no T-shirts 
) but what we got was decent, branded with the Kill List logo. I got free copies of Fanboys and Black, both films at previous festivals, and a range of goods including a Troll Hunter survival guide. Overall for movies, a reasonable day but there’s still nothing that really stood out – Tucker & Dale was the most enjoyable experience but that was rather in many ways.
There were a few extras – the usual instalment of trailer trash, a preview of Outpost 2 (which looks OK but I wasn’t that keen on the first despite Nazi zombies). We also saw an excellent parody of The Thing, which you can view here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMwBIYx7GNM&feature=player_embedded
I managed to get in to London just before time to check in as High Holborn as usual (a twin room this time, as I has guests coming for once!). Everything went nice and smoothly, so I had plenty of time for a couple of beers before going in to the Empire to start the marathon sessions! It was packed this year, perhaps seeming more so due to the Olympic construction going on in Leicester Square. Luckily, we weren’t as crowded as we could have been as special areas had been reserved for us and extra exits opened up around the cinema. I’m not sure what else to explain at this point, all the usual plusses are there – friendly crowd, lots to see and do, plenty of DVD shopping around the films themselves! I picked up some bargains, but on the first day it was really just a case of getting a few drinks and watching some films. I did have a few hectic weeks around the festival, so I was almost dropping off to sleep by the end of the last movie – not an omen of things to come, thankfully!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgTOGFeEvFc&feature=player_embedded
As my internet woes continue, and I’m unable to update regularly, I thought I might as well make my now-regular comments on the upcoming Frightfest at the Empire in Leicester Square in August. It looks to be a bumper year, with weekend passes having sold out in record time. I’ve got mine, though (seat E29 if anyone’s interested!) and looking forward to it as ever. 5 days of solid horror movies has to be the highlight of my year, at least!
It’s the same format as the last couple of years at the Empire, with the massive main screen being the focus, but with the small Discovery screen available for a handful of smaller movies which will mostly be shown twice over the weekend. Guests and short films have yet to be announced, but there’s a solid line-up on both screens. Unfortunately, there’s no showcase of a legand like Tobe Hooper and John Landis in the last couple of years – the slot is given over to a discussion of modern independent American horror and an interview with Larry Fessenden, whose work I’m unfamiliar with.
One of the nicer surprises is that the token mainstream movies are ones that I not only want to watch, but they’re both in 3D to boot. While I’m not a big fan of 3D, I don’t really get to see them, and I’m guessing that one of the movies – Final Destination 5 – will be a lot of fun in 3D. The other movie is Fright Night, a remake of one of my 80-s favourites. While I’m normally against such thing, the cast including David Tennant and Colin Farrell is certainly interesting, and I’m interested in what the remake brings to the table, though I expect disappointment.
Other films that immediately jump out include The Innkeepers. This is the new film from Ti West, who made a great impression with The House Of The Devil at the festival a couple of years ago. Other regular visitors with new productions include Adam West and Joe Lynch, who each directed a segment of Chillerama (of which we were shown the amusing segment The Diary Of Anne Frankenstein last year), and actor Andy Nyman who stars in The Glass Man.
The Wicker Tree appears to be one to look out for as well, being both Robin Hardy’s belated return to directing and the spiritual sequel to the original version of The Wicker Man. Saint is the new film from Amsterdamned director Dick Maas, and looks very interesting, while The Woman is not only from well regarded indie director Lucky McKee, but also based on a novel by Jack Ketchum – expect dark but quality filmmaking. Another remake on the slate is Don’t Be
Two films I was familiar with before the announcement were The Troll Hunter and Tucker & Dale vs. Evil. I’ve actually seen the former and enjoyed it quite a lot – a tongue-in-cheek found footage movie made in Norway. I might watch it again on the big screen, but it also clashes with a special commentary screening of The Dead. This was an excellent, if very slow paced, zombie movie set in Africa from last year’s festival and this screening will have the directors giving a live commentary in the room. Tucker & Dale looks to be a fairly OK comedy horror. I’ve heard mixed reviews, but Alan Tudyk at least should be a good thing to watch on a Friday night…
Rounding up the lineup, other films that look significant include Detention, which is getting a lot of buzz. We also have Kill List, from the makers of indie thriller Down Terrace which also has some buzz around it. The Divide is an English language sci-fi themed movie from Xavier Gens, who made the excellent Frontiere(s) as well as the underrated if not spectacular Hitman. We also have a very strong British contigent. Among those not already mentioned are the mountain-based thriller A Lonely Place To Die, the Facebook-ish themed Panic Button, and Inbred, the latest movie from Alex Chandon (although I frankly hated his most famous film, Cradle Of Fear).
On the Discovery screen, we have the typical mixed bag. There’s Rabies, the first ever Israeli horror movie (joining Sennentuntschi: Curse Of The Alps, the first ever Swiss slasher movie, playing on the main screen!). There’s The Man Who Saw Frankenstein Cry, a documentary on Spanish legend Paul Naschy. There’s also a mix of foreign and English language films, many of which seem to be found footage or slasher films, though maybe I’m unfair here as I really don’t know much about them…
So, there we have it. I expect an enjoyable weekend with lots of great movie, great people and lots of beer, of course! Expect reviews of each day after the festival, and also (I hope) some more 80s reviews in the run up.