OK, so I’ve had some time to digest the line-up for this year’s Frightfest in London this August and I’ve managed to secure my weekend ticket! As ever, it’s an interesting line-up consisting of a wide range of movies from those I’ve been looking forward to based on their notoriety (A Serbian Movie) to interesting-sounding movies I’ve never heard of before (Burning Bright, Bedevilled) and everything in between.

The usual Frightfest routine seems to be here. First, we have a première to open the weekend (actually 3 as all the movies on the Thursday are world premières!) and a première to close. We also have weird and wonderful Asian and Aussie movies for the midnight screenings and a few special surprises including the return of the movie quiz.

The discovery screen returns again from last year, providing some movies that would not otherwise have been shown. I like the line-up here a little more than last year, although I’ve already seen 2 of the movies listed (Amer and Fanboys) but the scheduling looks a bit more in line with the main screen so I won’t have to miss too much if I decide to go in.

We also see the return of a feature from last year – a classic movie on the big screen. Actually, this time it’s a bigger event than last year’s An American Werewolf In London screening with a full 7 hours (including breaks) dedicated to Tobe Hooper. Star of the show, of course, is the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre but we also get a screening of his ultra rare debut Eggshells and a 45 minute Q&A session with the man himself. I expect lots of questions about why he’s not made anything particularly good since Texas Chainsaw 2 as well as lots of probing about his actual role in Poltergeist (which he is credited with, but most people think Spielberg really directed).

Standout movies from the main screen line-up, for me, would include: Primal (an Aussie movie with an intriguing screenshot on the Frightfest site), Dead Cert (which from the cast – including Danny Dyer and Dexter Fletcher – sounds like a horror version of a Guy Ritchie movie), F (another premiere with an intriguing screenshot), The Loved Ones and Monsters (both of which have had very good buzz).

There doesn’t seem to be any 100% Hollywood filler like in previous years, but there’s the unnecessary remake of I Spit On You Grave and the bland looking The Tortured that might fill that description. There’s nothing on the main screen that I feel I really want to miss, but I would like to see Burning Bright, Wound or Finale on the Discovery screen if I can!

As ever, reviews will be forthcoming following the event, and I’ll expect special guests and surprises that we haven’t been warned about beforehand! So, on to the final countdown and get my flights booked…

OK, so there’s been an early announcement about this year’s Frightfest and it’s a good one! The opening and closing films have been announced as:

Hatchet 2 – Adam Green is a long-time Frightfest contributor, and it’s the successful screening of the original Hatchet that really got his career under way. After not being able to attend February’s Frightfest screening of Frozen (due, ironically, to snow and ice preventing the plane from taking off successfully), it’s great that Green has chosen the festival for his new movie’s world première!

The Last Exorcism – I’ve not heard too much about this film apart from the fact it’s filmed in a documentary style and produced by Cabin Fever, but it sounds promising. According to IMDB, the director Daniel Stamm has directed another documentary style movie called A Necessary Death, I’ll have to check it out before the festival though it doesn’t seem to be on DVD. This will be the European première.

So there we have it. It’s slightly disappointing that no British movies have been chosen but I’m not entirely sure what’s on the horizon and the new movies from festival stalwarts Neil Marshall and Christopher Smith have already been released. Can’t wait till July 2nd, when the rest of the line-up is announced, and then July 3rd when I get to be able to buy the actual tickets!

So, before normal service is resumed – and since I finally managed to get a ticket & accommodation booked – I thought I’d give my thoughts on the upcoming Frightfest Glasgow event at the end of February. This will be my first Glasgow event, and my first non-August Frightfest as well as my first ever trip to Scotland! So, lots to look forward to, but here’s the movies playing:

Frozen – the new movie from Adam Green, Frightfest regular and director of Hatchet. He’s actually taking a break from filming Hatchet 2 in order to promote this film, which should be fun. The film itself follows a group of people who wind up stranded on a ski lift when the resort shuts down with them still suspended in the air. Looks pretty good, though I have a few doubts about the actions of the characters during the short trailer we saw in August – hopefully it’ll be much better in context.

2001 Maniacs: Field of Screams – Tim Sullivan directs this sequel to his remake of H.G. Lewis’ Two Thousands Maniacs!, with Bill Moseley taking over from Robert Englund as the leader of a group of ghostly hicks looking for revenge over the civil war. The original 2001 Maniacs was gory, silly fun so I expect this to be more of the same. Should go down well with a hardcore crowd.

Stag Night – I don’t know too much about this, other than that the plot synopsis (people trapped in a subway being chased by underground killers) sounds a LOT like either Creep or 70s classic Death Line. Hopefully, it’ll be fun.

A Lizard In A Woman’s Skin – For some reason, despite the being a lot of hype surrounding recent DVD restorations, I’ve never gotten around to watching this 1971 Lucio Fulci giallo. It’s well respected and I’ve been watching quite a lot of giallo recently, so it should be good.

Amer – Again, one I’ve not heard too much about other than the fact that it’s supposedly a new French take on the classic 1970s Italian giallo style. I’ve enjoyed most of the major recent French genre movies, so hopefully this will be equally fun.

[REC] 2 – YES! I managed to miss this at the cinema despite living in Spain (I was in the US during its release :S ) so this will be a great watch on the big screen. Not sure what else to say other than I’m still excited about it despite having seen the trailer and the original many times and this should be the best way to see it.

Splice – Another movie I was glad to see announced, this is the new movie from Vincenzo Natali, the director of Cube. We saw a scene back in August that looked pretty good, and the CGI’s really respectable despite the low budget he normally works with. I’m hoping for another intelligent and complex plot surrounding the genetics themed storyline and hopefully a better performance from Adrien Brody than Dario Argento. The second is that it’s the first ever horror movie from Iceland! Should be a laugh if nothing else, and I’m sure we’ll down a few lagers or whatever either way…

While working through a few new posts for this year (more reviews coming soon!), I decided to change up the theme I’m using in WordPress. This is going to be one of a few changes happening while I’m working on a few new things in the background. Why the change? Well, while I enjoyed the theme I was using, I couldn’t help noticing that it looked rather clunky and hard to read compared to other blogs I’m reading. Hopefully you like the new theme’s clean and easy format…

Disregard the header image for now, I’m working on a new customer image to replace it. Until then, comments are always welcome as ever.

Maybe I’m just a little slow on the uptake, but here goes. Parallel to the recent announcement that YouTube will be trialling paid-for movie rentals in the near future, it came to my attention that they have a page here that lets you stream full movies for free. They’re of variable quality and have the usual idiotic regional restrictions attached, but there’s a wide and varied selection. Movies available to me currently include Slave Of The Cannibal God (a.k.a. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TZJCNM?ie=UTF8&tag=80sfear-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000TZJCNM, where ex-Bond girl Ursula Andress gets stripped naked and smeared with the putrefied flesh of her long-dead husband), Pigs! (a rare grindhouse feature, covered in the excellent Nightmare USA book), Just Before Dawn, Ghost Galleon (the third movie in the Blind Dead series) and infamous “video nasty” Driller Killer, among the usual public domain titles like House On Haunted Hill and Attack of The Giant Leeches.

It’s worth checking out if you haven’t already, especially as it’s not clear whether this freebie service will continue once the paid-for rentals go live.

For whatever reason, Full Moon Pictures have made a compilation of their themes available on the free music site Jamendo – that is, it’s free and legal. It’s a meaty 29 tracks, including tracks from 80s classics Trancers, The Pit and the Pendulum and Seed People, along with themes from later movies such as the Puppet Master movies and Subspecies. Well worth a download – haven’t listened to it yet, but I expect lots of Richard Band Psycho rip-offs among others…

So, here we are exactly 3 weeks before Frightfest 2009 opens its doors. I’ve have my full weekend ticket, flights and accommodation booked and raring to go. I’m not 100% convinced my seat isn’t too close to the screen (B27), but at least that means that I’ll get a good view of the guests! Those guests have also now been confirmed, so let’s see what I think so far, after the jump:

Thursday 27th

Triangle (world première) – The 3rd movie from Christopher Smith, director of Creep and Severance. I enjoyed both of those movies, so this movie – which looks like a kind of ocean-bound slasher flick with supernatural overtones – should be good as well. The director has been confirmed as a guest. Trailer

The Hills Run Red (UK première) – I don’t know too much about this, but it seems to be a kind of meta-slasher movie – a cross between John Carpenter’s Masters Of Horror episode Cigarette Burns and a Wrong Turn-style backwoods horror based around a film set. Director Dave Parker is confirmed as a guest. Trailer

Infestation (world première) – A very fun looking big bug movie, where the people not killed by swarms of insects start turning into one themselves. A lot of comparisons to Eight Legged Freaks in the comments I’ve read so far, and that’s fine by me. Trailer

Friday 28th

For the next 4 days, the festival is split over 2 screens – a little annoying as the films don’t quite match up and you’re forced to choose. Also the smaller screen (titled the “Discovery Screen”) only holds about 100 people, so anything half-decent will probably fill up, especially if word gets around for the second screening. Oh well, at least is means there is a choice if the main feature doesn’t appeal…

Main Screen

The Horseman – An Aussie revenge thriller that’s being hyped in the newest issue of The Dark Side among other places as being particularly brutal and effective. Trailer

Beware The Moon (world première) – Interesting-looking documentary on the making of An American Werewolf in London, in preparation for the new Blu-Ray that will include both a remastered print of the movie and this documentary. Director Paul Davis will be in attendance.

An American Werewolf In London – One of my favourite movies as a kid, and still one of the best horror movies of the 80s. Rick Baker’s ground-breaking special effects are usually the talking point, but John Landis’ script (deftly switching between funny comedy and effective horror) and the performances by the cast make the whole thing truly classic. John Landis is confirmed as a guest, though there is apparently an attempt to get everybody humanly possible on stage. Trailer

Shadow (world première) – I’ve not been able to track down a trailer for this, but it’s being hyped as a real return to classic Italian horror. The synopsis sounds more slasher than giallo, but if it’s even half a return to Argento’s or Fulci’s glory days, then that’s a good thing. Director Federico Zampaglione will be there.

The Horde (“special sneak preview”) – French horror is really getting a lot of attention, as much for extremely effective gore as for the highly effective movies – think High Tension (aka High / Haute Tension), Inside, Frontier(s) and Martyrs. What’s missing from that list? Zombies! The Horde tries to put that right… looks good from the trailer.

Macabre (UK premiere) – Not to be confused with Lamberto Bava’s début, this is a movie from Singapore billed as “the bloodiest movie that Frightfest has ever shown”. Considering last year’s ridiculous Tokyo Gore Police and this year’s equally silly-looking Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl, this has to be a feat! Trailer

Discovery Screen

Best Worst Movie (UK premiere) – A documentary detailing the cult following that’s built up around Troll 2, considered by many to be the most entertainingly awful movie ever (think Plan 9 From Outer Space). To give you an idea – a young kid stops his family from eating food that would turn them into plants by pissing on it!

I Sell The Dead (first London screening) – Cool-looking anthology movie starring Dominic Monaghan, Ron Perlman and Angus Scrimm. Trailer

I Think We’re Alone Now (first London screening) - Another documentary, this one following two people obsessed with 80s singer Tiffany. Trailer

Colin (first London screening) - Ridiculously hyped British zombie movie, supposedly made for just £50. Confirmed as a guest is director Marc Price.Trailer

Salvage (first London screening) – Psychological thriller – made to celebrate Liverpool’s title as the EU City of Culture 2008 (!) – about a woman whose street is kept under military siege and struggles to locate her missing daughter. Director Lawrence Gough will be there.Trailer

Saturday 29th

Smash Cut (UK première) - Satirical slasher movie with an interesting cast including Sasha Grey (former porn star, recently in Soderburgh’s The Girlfriend Experience), Davis Hess (from the original The Last House on the Left (Unrated Collectors Edition) and The House on the Edge of the Park), Michael Berryman (from the original The Hills Have Eyes and Weird Science and Two Thousand Maniacs). Hess is confirmed as a guest, along with director Lee Demabre. Trailer

Hierro (UK première) – Spanish ghost (I think) story, being inevitably compared to The Orphanage. Trailer

Millennium: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (UK premiere) – The first of a trilogy of Swedish movies based on a popular series of novels, this one following a mismatched couple who are caught up in a murder mystery. Trailer

Giallo (first London screening) – The new movie from Dario Argento, starring Adrien Brody and Emmanuelle Seigner. Hmmm… not sure what to make of this one. Argento has not made made a truly decent movie since Opera, and the best thing I could say about Mother Of Tears is that while it was definitely better than the atrocious Phantom of the Opera, it’s still light years away from the quality of Suspiria and Inferno. On the other hand, Quentin Tarantino and Eli Roth apparently love it (though perhaps not for the reasons Argento intended). Argento has been “extended an invitation” to attend the festival, we’ll see if he makes it… Trailer

Trick r’ Treat (UK premiere) - Decent looking Halloween-themed movie that’s been stuck in release hell for a few years – the distributors have been messing around with the release, originally intending to release theatrically but always afraid to go against the Saw franchise at Halloween. Eventually, this will go Trick ‘r Treat in most places, but it’s gotten very good reviews at every festival it’s played. Director Michael Doughtery is a confirmed guest. Trailer

Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl (UK premiere) - This year’s nutty-looking Japanese gore-fest, with a couple of super-powered schoolgirls fighting it out in ridiculous and gory ways. Essentially made for the Western market from the makers of Machine Girl and Tokyo Gore Police, this should be fun. Trailer

Discovery Screen

Evil Things (world première) - Another “found footage” movie in the style of REC and Cloverfield. Not sure if this style of movie has worn itself out yet, and it’s doubtful that it’ll be as effective as REC, but we’ll see… Director Dominic Perez is a confirmed guest.Trailer

Fragment (world première) - Couldn’t find a trailer for this, but it’s apparently an Aussie movie revolving around snuff movies and reanimation. Could be good…

It’s Alive (UK première) - First remake of the festival (surprising, considering the state of the mainstream industry at the moment), this one based on It’s Alive/It’s Alive 2/It’s Alive 3 killer mutant baby movie. Could be cheesy fun, or terrible. Trailer

Pontypool (first London screening) Not a movie about Welsh rugby, but rather an American zombie movie that’s been getting a lot of buzz from other festivals. Trailer

Sunday 30th

Main Screen

Dead Snow (UK premiere) - An interesting choice, as it’s been out on DVD in the US for a while and is released the next day on DVD. But, it’s a movie about snowbound Nazi zombies – should be good though reviews have been lukewarm. Trailer

Human Centipede (world première) - A Dutch/UK co-production directed by Tom Six, this has been getting a lot of attention with plenty of comparisons to Cronenberg and Miike. I’ve not tracked down a trailer as yet, but check out part of the synopsis on Frightfest’s site: “Internationally respected Siamese twin surgeon Dr. Josef Heiter has a demented vision for mankind’s future existence. He wants to remove human beings’ kneecaps so they have to exist on all fours and then surgically graft them mouth-to-anus to form a centipede chain”. Interesting… Tom Six and producer Ilona Six will be in attendance.

Coffin Rock (world première) - Another Aussie movie, this time about a couple who are unable to have children. The wife sleeps with a stranger during a short affair, falls pregnant and they end up stalked by the psychopathic lover. Star Sam Parsonson is confirmed as a guest. Trailer

Night of the Demons (world première)- Remake of the cult-ish movie, directed by Adam Gierasch who along with Jace Anderson made last year’s Autopsy as well as writing the remake of Toolbox Murders and Mother Of Tears. Jury’s out on this one, though they both seemed like nice people, I thought Autopsy and Mother Of Tears were mediocre at best, though I quite enjoyed The Toolbox Murders. Confirmed guests are Gierasch, Anderson and star John F. Beach.

Clive Barker’s Dread (UK premiere) - A man kidnaps college students to perform a gruesome experiment in the nature of fear. The original short story (from Books of Blood Vol. 2) was one of my favourite Barker short stories, and the only non-supernatural story in the collection. It will be interesting to see how it gets expanded to feature length, though the story really freaked me out when I was a kid. Director Anthony DiBlasi will be there.

Black (UK premiere) - Another French movie, this one set in Africa and billed as a kind of supernatural blaxploitation throwback. Looks good, though sadly this is a last minute bump to replace the “100 Best Deaths” feature I was looking forward to. Director Pierre Laffargue will be there though. Trailer

Discovery Screen

Repeat showings of Salvage, Pontypool, I Think We’re Alone Now, I Sell The Dead & Best Worst Movie

Sunday 31st

Main Screen

Zombie Women of Satan (world première) - Gloriously silly title for this gory-looking British movie about a burlesque group. Director Warren Speed will be there, along with various “zombie women”. No trailer as yet, but I’ve been a bit concerned by the Google search results this brought up!

The House of The Devil (UK première) - Psychological horror from Ti West, director of The Roost and the upcoming Cabin Fever 2. Looks pretty good, West will be in attendance.Trailer

Case 39 (UK première) - Not sure about this one, as it’s a mainstream movie starring Renee Zellweger as a social worker who discovers a major problem with a child under her care. Apparently, the director’s previous movie Antibodies was well-received at a previous Frightfest, but I’m not sure if this will cut the mustard alongside the other movies here (Disturbia and The Strangers both seemed like filler at the 2 festivals I’ve attended before). Trailer

Heartless (world première) - One of the most anticipated movies at this year’s festival, this marks the return to movies of Philip Ridley, whose movie The Reflecting Skin (which I haven’t seen) is meant to be very good and whose previous movie The Passion of Darkly Noon was excellent (even getting a great dark performance from Brendan Fraser!). The director will be there, which is interesting as he’s notoriously reclusive, as well as star Jim Sturgess.

The Descent: Part 2 - The original movie was an excellent movie, and without doubt the best British horror movie of this decade. Now, I’m not sure about this sequel, especially as it seems to be set up to follow the truncated American ending rather than the better original UK ending, but I’ll give it a shot. A decent end to the festival, anyway. Guests include director Jon Harris, producer Christian Colson and some of the cast, and I wouldn’t be surprised if original director Neil Marshall makes an appearance as he’s usually somewhere around.

Discovery Screen

Repeat showings of Colin, It’s Alive, Fragment & Evil Things

I’m of two minds about the upcoming remake of A Nightmare On Elm Street. On the one hand, the original is a bonafide classic of 80s horror cinema and something that’s held up extremely well with age. However, the franchise really is due for a new makeover, and Freddy deserves a return to his scary boogeyman roots rather than his stand-up comic routines in some of the later sequels. With Freddy vs. Jason‘s much talked-about sequel not appearing any time soon, I don’t see why a reboot is necessarily a bad thing.

(see more, plus pictures from the remake after the jump)

However, there are two issues I’ve had with the idea of this reboot. First of all is the effects. Yes, some of the original’s physical effects have dated badly (long arms and the gloopy staircase being 2 cases in point), but there’s still a presence to physical effects that all but the very best CGI cannot replicate. the last thing we need with the remake is for a bunch of crappy CGI effects to overrun the screen.

The other issue is the lack of Robert Englund in the main role. Even with the worst of the sequels, Englund was a reliable presence who completely dominated the role. It’s difficult to imagine anyone else playing Krueger. But, Jackie Earle Hayley looks like he might be a good fit. Thankfully, the producers have not gone the route of casting a hulking brute in the role, and Hayley does seem to have the right kind of look for Freddy. I’ve not seen him in action in any movies (he only returned to acting a couple of years ago after a long hiatus and I still haven’t gotten round to watching Watchmen), but he looks OK from the photos I’ve seen of him off-set.

Today, 2 new photos were released of the new Krueger in action, and I have to say I’m impressed. The look of the movie is in-keeping with the original (though obviously much glossier) and while we haven’t got a full look at Freddy’s face yet, I’m actually starting to look forward to seeing some footage.

Time will tell if this early promise is delivered upon. I remember when I finally got to see the remake of The Fog after some decent looking stills and a good trailer ((shudder)). I’m also not sure about the director – a first-time feature from a music video director rarely bodes well for a horror movie’s scare factor, although Marcus Nispel did OK with the The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake that was his début for the same production house…

See More A Nightmare on Elm Street Artwork at IGN.com

See More A Nightmare on Elm Street Publicity Still at IGN.com

I’m a bit late updating this news, but I’ve been away for a few days… Anyway, Frightfest have made their first confirmed announcement of films screening at this year’s event – An American Werewolf In London!

This is interesting news for a few reasons. First of all, I’ve been going to Frightfest regularly for a couple of years, and I’m hoping that I can make the full 4 1/2 day event this year. Usually, it’s a decent batch of movies but they all tend to be new releases, often UK, European or even world premières. However, as good as that is, there’s always been a desire to see classic horror movies on the big screen with a crowd of like-minded horror fans. American Werewolf is indeed both a classic, and the new documentary that will accompany it (entitled Beware the Moon) has been well received elsewhere.

Most excitingly, the director John Landis has been confirmed as a Q&A guest, along with lead actress Jenny Agutter. Landis is a very interesting person in interviews and always makes an interesting speaker even though he’s not really a horror director and hasn’t made a truly decent movie (IMHO) since Coming to America. Not only that, but the cinema where this year’s event is taking place (the Empire in Leicester Square, London) is just around the corner from where the climax of the movie was filmed. The new venue will also apparently allow 2 screens to be used for the festival, opening up the possibility of repeat or alternate screenings of movie… all for the same price as last year’s festival

I can’t wait for the full lineup to be announced on the 3rd July, then the tickets go on sale on the 4th  July… here’s hoping I can get a full weekend pass!

Clive Barker’s second movie Nightbreed, made in 1990, is one of the great butchered movies. Like Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons and William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist 3, Nightbreed was a fantastic movie, heavily re-edited by clueless studio executives who failed to understand the movie they were watching. Also like those two movies, the cut footage was considered lost.

However, a workprint has been discovered with not only the 20 minutes known to have been cut, but a whole 45 minutes of extra footage! At the moment, it’s only on VHS and not of releasable quality. But, you can help get this lost masterpiece released uncut on DVD or Blu-Ray (so far, only a barebones region 1 DVD of the cut version has been released – way to help piracy, guys!). How? The official Clive Barker website is collecting emails and tweets to show the studio that there’s enough support out there to justify the cost of DVD/Blu-Ray production.