Frightfest 2019 Day Five - Monday

The Black String

        Is Frankie Muniz going insane or is he really at the centre of a witches' plot to infect him with the black string he keeps tearing from his veins before it can be harvested by a demon? A satisfying 'rubber reality' horror in the vein of BLACK SWAN with an excellent central performance and a nicely cloying, paranoid atmosphere. 

Driven

        Utterly charming comedy horror in which taxi driver Casey Dillard picks up man with a mission Richard Speight, Jr and has to drive him to various locations to help him save the world. A tiny budget is used creatively and the leads are charismatic and likeable. A winner. 

The Barge People

WRONG TURN on the canal. Charlie Steeds' movie is slickly directed and shot, with a synth score and title sequence that almost seems to be making you want to remember movies like THE HILLS HAVE EYES. Some of the dialogue needed polishing, and much of the plot is exactly what Drew Goddard's THE CABIN IN THE WOODS is making fun of, but if you're not that familiar with this kind of storyline THE BARGE PEOPLE does what it should economically and with good effect.

Rabid

        One of the films greeted with the greatest anticipation at the festival, the remake of RABID by the Soska sisters is... all right. By trying to pay tribute to Cronenberg with numerous in-jokes and scene references the film is in perilous danger of being accused of having no style of its own. Which it doesn't really. On the whole the film feels flat and bland, like an episode of the TV series we see being filmed. 
        The climactic reveal is less a revelation and more a copy from a Lovecraft RPG manual or a heavy metal album cover. An over dwelling on Rose's daytime job in fashion threatens to diffuse any tension developed by the plague storyline, which all but disappears. Would a town under martial law really go ahead with a fashion show? This and other questions were more interesting than what was actually going on onscreen. The nicest thing I can say about the RABID remake is that it wasn't terrible. But its not especially worth watching, either.

Here Comes Hell

Channeling an interesting mix of influences from Agatha Christie-style period drama to EVIL DEAD to (bizarrely enough) the film-making style of Andy Milligan, this black and white, 4:3 aspect, shot for £20 000 British piece exhibits if nothing else an exuberantly amateur enthusiasm. Guests convene on a remote country house (obviously a very real - and very falling apart - location) for dinner and a seance. This results in the conjuring up of the spirit of satanist and former house owner Ichabod Quinn (Nicholas Le Provost) within the body of the now semi-headless medium. Splattery Sam Raimi-style shenanigans ensue as Quinn tries to open a portal to hell.

HERE COMES HELL tries its best to do something a little bit different, and do it with plenty of gusto, but the end result doesn't hang together that well. The acting ranges from professional to 'local village players', the effects are good and there's a decent music score. The film cost so little and exhibits so much ambition that I'll certainly be watching out for the next effort from the same personnel involved here. Worth a look if you're forgiving and in the mood for something a bit different. And barking mad.

HERE COMES HELL will be released on Digital HD on the Frightfest Presents label from Signature Entertainment on Monday 11th November 2019

A Good Woman Is Hard to Find

Sarah (Sarah Bolger) is finding it hard bringing up her two young children on a Northern Ireland council estate. She has little money, a mother who resents the life choices she has made, and the police are being supremely unhelpful with regards to the recent murder of her husband Stephen, a murder that was likely witness by her now mute son. 

Into her life (and her flat) barges Tito with a stash of cocaine he has just stolen from a local crime boss. He refuses to leave and starts using Sarah's flat as a place to keep his illicit bounty safe. But the mob are looking for him & Sarah isn't too happy about him using her either.

A brutal kitchen sink crime thriller with a crown-pleasing final act, the main reasons A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND works is because of the careful director by Abner Pastoll and most of all a winning central performance from Bolger. Grim without being grimy, it's a film that more than rewards sticking with it and a fine film with which to close Frightfest 2019.

A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND is out in cinemas and on Digital HD from Signature Entertainment on Thursday 25th October 2019

And that's it for another year! Time to get back on the train and treasure our Dario Argento autograph (on his book), our Andre Øvredal autograph (on someone else's book), our plastic fangs, and other bits and pieces we got given along the way. The best thing we'll have is the memories, though, of the best Frighfest ever, with at least one excellent film per day (Day 5's was DRIVEN by the way) and the chance to meet old friends. Next up for us is Nottingham's Mayhem Festival in October. Watch this space for reports of that.