It's Christmas, and parents Patrick Warburton and Virginia Madsen go out for the evening leaving 12 year old Luke (Levi Miller) in the care of 17 year old babysitter Ashley (Olivia deJonge). And that's all you need to know because anything else will spoil this, and that would be a shame because it's absolutely cracking. Another Best of Frightfest candidate.
The Terror of All Hallows Eve
Set in 1981 and feeling as if it was actually made back then (bar some dialogue slip ups), this one had its heart in the right place (teenager gets revenge on bullies, a new movie monster played by Doug Jones) but brought nothing new to the table. OK if you remember the era and fancy something very retro.
Tragedy Girls
If you loved the TV show SCREAM QUEENS or stuff like THE FINAL GIRLS you will wet yourself with glee over this one - a non-stop barrage of camp, bitchy dialogue, graphic murders, 1980s horror movie references and the best Dario Argento joke I have ever heard (in fact possibly the only one). Not a bad film to finish the festival with and it went down very well with the audience. Hopefully that's enough to help you decide if you want to watch this one.
And that's it for another year! Let's have some lists:
The Top 5
THE BAR (probably my outright favourite of the festival)
DEATH NOTE (dir: Adam Wingard. I know! ADAM WINGARD!)
BETTER WATCH OUT
BAD MATCH
KING COHEN
(and CANARIES, because it was great)
Floundering on the Bottom
EAT LOCALS - Not funny, not helped by incredibly annoying cast /crew members laughing at nothing and shouting in-jokes at the screen. A real case for not letting people in to their own awful film.
MAYHEM - One of my film reviewer colleagues put it better than I can "Like a 13 year old's idea of what adults actually do". Possibly the most immature, inordinately simplistic approach to any subject I have seen in some time. The only film at the festival to get me annoyed.
WHERE THE SKIN LIES - aka Where the Film Needs a Reshoot.
The festival was back at the Empire in Leicester Square - not one of my favourite cinemas, not least because it lacks the meeting areas that allow you to chat to others. Allocated seating in the Discovery Screens meant you couldn't bump into old friends and chat there either while waiting for the film to start. The Imax screen was massive to the point of almost being too big. Needless to say, normal service on the normal HMC home cinema system will be resumed - probably later on today. My neck and back will no doubt be giving creaks of thanks.
...and that's enough of the negativity. It was wonderful to meet up with old friends, make some new ones, dress up in (even more outlandish than usual) outfits and generally have a great time watching new movies. My thanks to all involved.
No comments:
Post a Comment