FrightFest Diary: Day Two
One of the great things about FrightFest is that it gives you a great look at the budding trends within horror subgenres. One year you might get a lot of zombie movies, another year maybe a lot of demonic possession flicks. This year psychopaths seems to be the prevailing drive. Now, apart from a few particular exceptions this generally isn't my cup of spooky tea, but giving things a chance is in the spirit of film festivals.
So what did today have in store for me?
BRAID
This really was a weird one. After a drug bust two young women decide to lay low in the mansion of their childhood friend who spends her days living in a game of make believe of her own design that becomes more and more sinister. For most of the film I was mainly confused but enjoying the surreal and dreamlike visuals, however by the end of things the story does come together and worked a lot better for me but was still lacking something.
Verdict: 2/5
St. AGATHA
Really over the top, this one. A pregnant young woman is taken in by a convent of nuns and they have more sinister plans for her. I thought this was gonna go cults, instead it's sadism and I could not get on board with it. Carolyn Hennesy, who plays the Mother Superior, is genuinely great and threatening in the role, I will give the movie that, but it feels like the setup of nuns taking in pregnant women with ulterior motives could have been done in a really subtle and strange manner and instead this movie goes for bold strokes and lots of creep Latin chanting in the soundtrack.
Verdict 2/5
ONE CUT OF THE DEAD
Oh, now this is more like it. I was looking forward to this one so much and am happy to say that I was not disappointed. One Cut of the Dead is a deceptively clever movie. It begins with a 37 minute long take and shows a film crew making a zombie movie only to then be attacked by zombies. What follows is actually best not described as I only knew that initial setup and I was really blown away. But I will say that I laughed almost non stop and found a lot of charming and heartwarming moments in the film. And in the end when everything comes together so wonderfully you will want to start the film all over again from the beginning.
Film making is passion and chaos and this movie revels in it as much as it does the fake blood. Please just trust me and watch it.
Verdict: 5/5
INCIDENT IN A GHOSTLAND
This movie opens on a picture of H.P Lovecraft. Now, whatever you are imagining or thinking about how a movie might go after starting like that, I'm here to tell you that you are wrong. The director of this movie is Pascal Laugier, whose previous film, Martyrs, is a religious torture parade of despair that is so hardcore I can't bring myself to actually watch it. Incident in a Ghostland is by all accounts less full-on than that film, but it is still one brutal watch. A successful author must go back to the house where, as a bookish teenager, she along with her mother and sister were the victims of sadistic home invaders. I cannot deny that this is a well made movie; the atmosphere, the acting, the look, all are excellent, but once again I cannot get on board with the delight that the movie takes in the torment of the main characters.
Also, of all horror authors this girl has a Lovecraft fixation? Really? I mean yeah cosmic horror is awesome and he laid a lot of building blocks but Lovecraft himself was a racist trash person and his writing style is like being beaten over the head with a thesaurus. I'm just saying there are better writers to use.
Verdict: 3/5
To say I feel drained after that lot is an understatement. If I hadn't been able to get into One Cut of the Dead I would have had a very weird and slightly depressing day indeed. But tomorrow is the real test, my fullest day with a film that I have been wanting to see for MONTHS.
Happy watching.