Catacombs (1965)

         A low budget black and white British B-picture from the period that gave us the classic BLIND CORNER, CATACOMBS isn't quite as good as that Lance Comfort picture, but it's still an entertaining romp of a thriller. It's going to be of the greatest interest to those like myself, who love British horror and had never heard of it before Network dusted it off and gave it this decent DVD release. Its technical and acting credits also happen to boast several individuals who made significant contributions to the British horror film after they made this, which just makes it all the more interesting.

There are no actual catacombs in this film, by the way. There's a picture of one that we get to see briefly and at an angle, but if you're expecting a tramp through some dark and grim burial chambers of the dead, you're going to be disappointed by this one. If, on the other hand, you fancy a movie in the mould of Hammer's psycho thrillers of the 1960s like SCREAM OF FEAR or MANIAC then you could do worse than spend some time watching this. 

        Gary Merrill is the unhappily married toyboy (or more realistically toy ageing actor) of rich, independent, manipulative Georgina Cookson. When Cookson's niece Jane Merrorw turns up for a visit, she becomes almost inexplicably attracted to the rather weak and whiny Mr Merrill, and the scene is set for him to put into action the plan he's been harbouring for ages to do away with his wife. An actress is employed to impersonate her (Cookson again, trying hard to do a different accent) and the overly complex plot involves the real wife being drowned in a sink and the fake wife being taken to a back-projected version of the Italian countryside and pushed off a cliff. Of course, no sooner are both of them dead than strange things start to happen that suggest one or both of them may still be alive.

CATACOMBS isn't at all bad for a zero-budget programmer of this period - in fact some of the Hammer productions in this subgenre aren't as entertaining as this one. Fans of BritHorror will delight in seeing Jane Merrow (HANDS OF THE RIPPER, NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT), and Neil McCallum (DR TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORROR, MOON ZERO TWO), and the credits reveal this to be an early directorial job for Gordon Hessler (SCREAM & SCREAM AGAIN, MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE). There's little of the fractured style he demonstrated in his best works, but we all have to start somewhere.
        Music is by Carlo Martelli (Hammer's CURSE OF THE MUMMY'S TOMB and Goldstar's IT!) and Philip Martell is the musical supervisor. Daniel Mainwaring, who wrote the screenplay, is probably best known for writing Don Siegel's INVASION OF THE BODYSNATCHERS. Producer Jack Parsons also worked on Robert Lippert projects WITCHCRAFT and CURSE OF THE FLY and the movie does have the low-rent-but-atmospheric-look of those two pictures. The only real mis-step here is the casting of Merrill, whose character is just a bit too old and a lot too useless to make us believe Jane Merrow would be quite so mad about him.

        Network's DVD presents CATACOMBS in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio. It's a nice clean print. There are no extras apart from a gallery that includes poster art with the film's alternate title THE WOMAN WHO WOULDN'T DIE. A decent and most welcome  presentation of a neglected slice of 1960s British suspense.

Network released Gordon Hessler's CATACOMBS on Region 2 DVD on 25th August 2014

The Captive (2013)

Now here’s a surprise. A micro-budget shot-on-video British supernatural horror film that is neither found footage nor completely dreadful. In fact THE CAPTIVE (aka ARMISTICE) actually isn’t bad at all. About halfway through I was struck by how much it felt as if I was watching a segment of the long-running BBC1 series PLAY FOR TODAY. And that’s definitely a compliment. In fact, if you are of a certain age and watch it with that as a point of reference, you’ll probably end up enjoying it as much as I did.

An unnamed soldier, identified as a Royal Marines Commando by his tattoo, wakes up to find himself trapped in a house. Every morning a bell chimes and an alien creature appears. They fight and he has to kill it or be killed himself. He then has to find ways to occupy himself for the rest of the day. The next morning the cycle begins again. Eventually he becomes aware that he has been in the house for months and perhaps years. The discovery of a journal reveals that he is not the first soldier to have become imprisoned in such circumstances. As he reads his predecessor's notes and explores the house further – tearing down wallpaper and digging in the cellar – the reason why he is there eventually becomes apparent.

As I’ve intimated above, THE CAPTIVE should by all rights belong to the lovely-cardboard-slipcased-box-art-disguising-shit-film-within subgenre, except that the film itself is actually rather good. It reminded me of the kind of 1970s BBC play you’d end up talking about in school the next day, or even a six part ITV series where you had no idea how it was going to end. I suspect I’m being excessively kind to this simply because I’ve been exposed to so many examples that have more than lived down to the above appellation, but in all honesty I’d be very happy to recommend THE CAPTIVE to anyone who fancies a quiet bit of supernatural horror. The acting is good, the direction is way better than just competent, and the editing is great – I even jumped a few times. The icing on the cake is the music score, which is a subtle, understated and sometimes heartbreaking duet for piano & cello for the most part. 

The 101 Films release of THE CAPTIVE presents the film in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. There are no extras, which is a shame because the people behind recent micro-budget-and -majorly-amateurish efforts like LORD OF TEARS could probably benefit significantly from the opportunity to learn more about how this sort of thing should really be done. 

101 Films released THE CAPTIVE on Region 2 DVD on 25th August 2014

Blanche (1972)

Walerian Borowczyk’s third feature length film found the director taking on the medieval melodrama with a revolutionary approach and never less than fascinating results. As a consequence, BLANCHE was a huge critical success, and the movie was lauded at festival showings. Part of the reason for this was the film’s attempt at an authentic depiction of thirteenth century life – right down to the use of period music and instruments. Those who have come into contact with Borowczyk’s universe through their enthusiasm for the genres of either horror or erotica should therefore be warned – apart from a little bit of nudity at the beginning, and a decent bricking up scene in the middle, there’s precious little of either in this.

What BLANCHE does offer, however, is a whole lot of melodrama. The title character is the wife of the elderly Master. To his castle (a lovely, grim and threatening location in itself, surrounding by damp, freezing-looking woods) comes the King, who takes an unexpected shine to her. With him is his page, Bartolomeo, who also immediately fancies Blanche. Attempts to bed her ensue, with the movie that follows starting off almost as a bedroom farce, but quickly descending  into misery and bloodshed. 

The literary influences to BLANCHE are manifold. Based on the epic poem Mazepa by Juliusz Slowacki, most viewers will more likely be reminded of Shakespearean tragedy by the number of dead bodies lying around at the end. In the middle, the film pinches a bit from the fine short story La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac, when the husband gets Blanche to swear on the cross that there's no-one hiding in an alcove (there is) and then proceeds to have the poor chap bricked up in it on that basis. 

The directorial style of BLANCHE is certainly fascinating, and in an age where Frank and Panama’s THE COURT JESTER (1955) or Joshua Logan’s CAMELOT (1967) were what audiences commonly accepted as Hollywood’s version of medieval life, it’s easy to understand why the approach was so lauded. Many of the indoor scenes are filmed to give the viewer a sense they are watching a play, even though, oddly enough, what we see never feels 'stagey'. 

Perhaps best enjoyed on a ‘medieval misery’ double bill with Polanski's MACBETH (made around the same time), fans of Terry Gilliam (who should pick up the Borowczyk SHORT FILMS collection as well) should also find BLANCHE of great interest. Gilliam's early pictures, especially JABBERWOCKY (which almost seems to revel in the muck and filth of the period) feel like the natural descendants of Borowczyk's trend-setting original, while the director himself was busy moving on to explore others areas of wild fascination with works like IMMORAL TALES (1974) and THE BEAST (1975).

Arrow's Blu-ray of BLANCHE includes an introduction by director Leslie Megahey (whose SCHALKEN THE PAINTER is also reviewed on this site) which actually helped me to appreciate the film more. Extras include a short film called Gunpoint, which Borowczyk edited but didn't direct. It's about pheasant shooting, so if you're not keen on that sort of thing you may want to give it a miss. Otherwise there's a documentary about the film, a portrait of the director (Obscure Pleasures), and the usual reversible sleeve and collectors' booklet. 

Arrow Films are releasing Walerian Borowczyk's BLANCHE on Dual Format Region B Blu-ray and Region 2 DVD on 8th September 2014

Walerian Borowczyk - Short Films and Animations (1959 - 1984)

        Arrow’s region-free Blu-ray release of this collection of many of the shorter works of Polish film-maker Walerian Borowczyk is a veritable treasure trove of brain-frying Euro-weirdness, surrealism and twisted sexuality. Probably the best advice to give right at the beginning of a review about this particular release is that you shouldn’t try watching it all in one go, and certainly not if you’ve ingested anything that might alter your perception of reality beforehand.

There are two parts to the disc - a collection of short subjects, and the 77 minute ‘feature’ THE THEATRE OF MR & MRS KABAL, a head-spinning combination of very strange line-drawing animation intercut with colour photographs. I’ll confess that by the end of this one I was beginning to worry that if I kept watching my own sense of reality might begin to warp, but then I did go and watch all the other films first.

The short film collection is introduced by Terry Gilliam. He's absolutely the best person to front this as many of the animated shorts that follow obviously made a huge impression on him. In fact I’d go so far as to say that, apart from the obsessive Borowczyk cinephile, the individual who will get the most out of these weird pieces is someone who knows Gilliam’s films very well indeed. I could certainly spot influences on not just his Monty Python cartoons, but THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN (1988) and others.

The short films kick off with RENAISSANCE (1964), in which a room rots in reverse, restoring itself in a rather charming manner until it gets destroyed again at the end. Other gems include GAVOTTE (1968), in which two ‘persons of diminished stature’ dressed in 18th century costume fight over cushions in a comedy routine that’s both delightful and clever in its effective use of its harpsicord accompaniment; ROSALIE (1966) adapted from a Guy De Maupassant story about a woman on trial for the murder of her new-born infant; ASTRONAUTS (1959) a very Gilliamesque animated piece using cut outs and photography and filmed with the collaboration of Chris Marker whose own LA JETEE was the inspiration for Gilliam’s TWELVE MONKEYS. There are plenty of others, some of which I didn’t understand at all, and others which weirded me out sufficiently that I’m not sure I want to watch them again.

There’s also a documentary about Borowczyk’s animated work entitled FILM IS NOT A SAUSAGE, three commercials by the director, a visual essay by Daniel Bird and some reversible sleeve art.

Not something that is likely to appeal to the casual fan, SHORT FILMS & ANIMATION nevertheless provides an excellent showcase of macabre, surreal and reality-warping subjects from a director whose work has never been less than interesting. Well done Arrow.

Arrow Films are bringing out WALERIAN BOROWCZYK - SHORT FILMS AND ANIMATIONS on dual format Region Free Blu-ray and (presumably region free also) DVD on 8th September 2014

Immoral Tales (1974)

        Fans who like their Euro art-house weirdness to have a healthy dose of erotica can rejoice as Arrow releases rather a lot of the work of Walerian Borowczyk. They’re putting out a box set which has already sold out on pre-order, but if you haven’t managed to snag yourself a copy worry not - each of the titles in the set is being released individually, and a series of write-ups on this site is going to tell you all about them.

First up is his erotic anthology movie from 1974. I will freely admit that the only reason I tracked down IMMORAL TALES originally was because of its celebrated Erzsebet Bathory episode, widely lauded as the best cinematic version of the story of the countess who bathed in the blood of virgins in an attempt to keep herself young. Mind you, with the only real competition being Hammer’s sub-par COUNTESS DRACULA and a ponderous adaptation starring Anna Friel (2008‘s BATHORY COUNTESS OF BLOOD) it’s always been onto a winner anyway.

But what about the rest of the film? We begin with ‘The Tide’ in which a young man takes his teenaged cousin to the kind of windswept beach Jean Rollin would love in order to make her perform fellatio on him while the tide comes in. It’s a strange, bleak, sexy episode, with a quality to it akin to that found in the fictions of Robert Aickman. The rough sea, bleak cliffs, grey shale and ever-present seagulls combine to produce a weird atmosphere and the story is certainly strong on style if not on plot. 

Second is ‘Therese Philosophe’ in which a young girl is locked in a room after staying late in church to misbehave with various bits of christian iconography. Perhaps needless to say, she finds things to amuse herself with in the room as well. 

Third is the Bathory segment which, apart from featuring an abundance of female nudity, numerous shower sequences, and imagery redolent of an erotic renaissance painting, also has the best blood I’ve possibly ever seen in a film. Paloma Picasso plays the title role and gets to drench herself with it in a scene that is both repellent and obscenely erotic. It was recreated rather inferiorly by Eli Roth in HOSTEL II but if you want the genuine article, Borowczyk’s your man.

The final tale ‘Lucrezia Borgia’ is probably a bit (or actually a lot) of a pop at the catholic church, with the daughter of Pope Alexander VI getting up to all kinds of misbehaviour with her male relatives. While ‘The Tide’ is weird, and ‘Erzsebet Bathory’ horrific, this is the story that struck me as the most satirical and playful, and is as good a story as any with which to end the film.

Arrow’s Blu-ray is the usual stunning transfer, and comes with a wealth of extras. IMMORAL TALES was originally released with a fifth segment which was taken out of the finished product and developed into a full length film of its own entitled THE BEAST. Arrow have included the entire five-story version of IMMORAL TALES as an extra on the disc. There’s also an introduction to the disc by Daniel Bird that places the film in the context of the time when it was originally released, a new making of that runs for about 16 minutes, a crew reunion, a trailer and the short film A PRIVATE COLLECTION that details a whole load of peculiar bits and pieces of erotic art. 

As with so many of Arrow’s releases, this really is the best version of IMMORAL TALES out there, and if you’re a fan of the director this is the one to get.

Arrow Films are releasing Walerian Borowczyk's IMMORAL TALES on dual format Region B Blu-ray and Region 2 DVD on 8th September 2014

Electra Glide in Blue (1973)

        One of the many cult films made in the USA in the early 1970s, James William Guercio’s sole directorial credit gets a new DVD release from Odyssey. I must confess to being aware of the title and a little bit about the film, but I’d never had the chance to catch up with it until now. The title comes from the Electra Glide, which is a brand of motorcycle presumably used by the US police in the days when this was made.

        Robert Blake (who until this I only knew as ‘Mystery Man’ in David Lynch’s LOST HIGHWAY) plays John Wintergreen, a highway patrol cop in Arizona who is short on stature but big on dreams. His ambition is to be transferred to homicide. His chance comes when an apparent suicide turns out to be a case of murder, and he is assigned to assist Detective Harve Poole (Mitchell Ryan) in investigating it. Keen to learn from his senior, it soon transpires that Poole’s methods and ways of thinking are not the high and mighty ideals Wintergreen had been anticipating, and he finds himself back on the highways by the end of the movie.

I’m not going to give away any more than that, but suffice to say that there is a lot more going on in the film’s 114 minute running time. Rather than a straightforward police procedural, ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE uses its fairly thin plot to depict and explore a variety of social attitudes of the period. Blake’s Wintergreen is relentlessly upbeat, even in the face of failure, which makes the movie’s finale - one of the all-time great endings of 1970s cinema - all the more poignant.

       Conrad Hall’s photography is quite wonderful, with the gorgeous Arizona landscape also enhanced by the use of the widescreen format. The acting is fine but it’s Guercio’s show, as he creates a fascinating, thoughtful and frequently mesmerising movie. Someone on imdb has claimed they have seen it over a hundred times and having seen it only once I can now understand why. Perhaps not as well known as Dennis Hopper’s EASY RIDER, or Antonioni’s ZABRISKIE POINT, ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE is nonetheless just as vital a movie from that period and in some ways it surpasses both of those. 

Odyssey’s DVD presents ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE in widescreen format. The disc provided for review had no extras and none are listed on the press release. A previous Optimum UK DVD release apparently has an introduction and commentary from director Guercio.

Odyssey are releasing James William Guercio's ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE on Region 2 DVD on 15th September 2014

The Top Ten Movies of Frightfest 2014 (and Some of the Worst As Well)

A move to the Vue Multiplex that was nowhere near as painful as anyone was expecting and a fantastic programme of movies meant that FrightFest 2014 turned out to be my favourite so far of those I’ve attended. Quality was high, with many of the best films being shown on the smaller ‘Discovery’ screens. That didn’t mean there wasn’t some right old rubbish in there, though, if you looked hard enough. The award for Film On The Main Screen Everyone Can Delight in Despising went this year to SHOCKWAVE DARKSIDE 3D. I was fortunate enough to dodge that particular bullet, which means that, after careful consideration, my own award for Most Rubbish  FrightFest Film 2014 is a tie between Lucky McKee’s woeful ALL CHEERLEADERS DIE, which boasted elements of THE CRAFT and some rubbish about floaty, shiny stones; and Jessica Cameron’s TRUTH OR DARE, which reminded me of Joel M Reed’s BLOODSUCKING FREAKS, or the worst films of Herschell Gordon Lewis for its sheer mean-spirited gross-out gore - all shot on a single ‘set’ where the walls looked as if they were made of bin liners. Both of these were of a type of film I thought no-one made anymore, and not in a good way. 

         Eli Roth’s THE GREEN INFERNO wasn’t much better, being a ‘homage’ to the kind of cannibal film that film-makers could get away with in the late 1970s but which now feel xenophobic and exploitative. Roth is in danger of building a CV of movies that suggest he is either terrified of absolutely anywhere abroad, or he wants you to be, neither of which can be considered exactly laudable. VHS 3 - VHS VIRAL was a bit of a mess, offering lots more wobbly-cam, an Amicus-style ‘cloak’ opener, a decent story from Nacho Vigalondo (definitely my favourite film-maker of the festival) and some quite terrible ones otherwise. The theme of a wraparound that makes absolutely no sense at all and ends up as a confusing waste of time also continued, and one story had been left out altogether resulting in a truncated running time.    

           SIN CITY 2 - A DAME TO KILL FOR at two hours was about 119 minutes too long and offered more grunty growly men in ludicrous situations and Eva Green with no clothes on a lot. NYMPH was a great idea for a Euro-Horror about a KILLER MERMAID (retitled as such for the subtle and discerning US market) living on an island. Franco Nero is in that one, and he completely unbalances the movie with a great performance that shows everyone else up. The festival closed with SF OUTER LIMITS episode-wannabe THE SIGNAL, which was all right.

Other than that, by my count Larry Fessenden only managed to appear in one film this year (werewolf picture LATE PHASES) and it really wasn’t the festival for dog lovers, with poor old canines getting beheaded (THE SAMURAI), shot (LATE PHASES) twisted in half (THE BABADOOK), eaten by zombie beavers (ZOMBEAVERS - of course) and spiked through the head (VHS 3). Other recurring themes included weird things going on behind a crack in the wall (at least three films), and the saving of screaming children under the age of ten. 

OK, that’s enough of the stuff I wasn’t blown away by - now on to everything I really liked.

First off, the honourable mentions. HOME was the new film from Nicholas McCarthy (it's been retitled AT THE DEVIL'S DOOR for its US release). While it wasn’t quite as good as THE PACT, there were plenty of extremely well-orchestrated scares, a deliciously creepy atmosphere, and a bottle of J&B at the beginning. If nothing else, it helps to consolidate McCarthy’s position as the new king of suburban horror and a worthy successor to Wes Craven in the ‘Horror comes to your house’ subgenre. 

           ZOMBEAVERS scored points for sheer bravado in its use of glove puppet beavers that were turned into glove puppet zombie beavers by toxic waste. There was also a very catchy end title song sung by a Sinatra soundalike that I’m having difficulty getting out of my head. 

         STARRY EYES was a Hollywood satire with a great synthesiser score (analog was very much in this year) and a stellar central performance from Alex Essoe as the struggling actress who finds that tinseltown is even nastier than Robert Bloch suggested in TORTURE GARDEN. THE SAMURAI featured a man in a dress wielding a very big sword (in more than one meaning of the term) in this German art-house picture that was a splendid allegorical tale of one man’s struggle to come to terms with his sexuality. THE SLEEPING ROOM was the new British horror from the producers of PANIC BUTTON and while it wasn’t as good it featured a fascinating premise with its Victorian mutograph used to make turn of the century snuff movies and a gloomy Brighton setting. 

          And now…the top ten!

10 BLOOD MOON

A British-made werewolf Western filmed in Kent and set in 1887 Colorado sounded like a recipe for disaster but I couldn’t resist it. And how pleasantly surprised I was. Jeremy Wooding’s picture feels like a Hammer film from the good old days, with fantastic production values (including Black Park location shooting with stagecoach!), a likeable ensemble cast and a great monster. A genuine surprise and a film that deserves lots of love and attention. There’s also the suggestion at the end that Shaun Dooley’s monster-hunting gunslinger might be back for more adventures and I for one think that would be an excellent idea.

9 STAGE FRIGHT

Not the classic Michele Soavi picture but an American slasher musical billed as a cross between FRIDAY THE 13TH and GLEE. I have never seen the latter, but this was the best of the horror comedies shown this year. A summer camp for ‘talented children’ is staging a production of the ‘classic’ THE HAUNTING OF THE OPERA but setting it in feudal Japan for no real reason other than to give the killer a scarier mask. Great songs (the killer sings heavy metal riffs) and a fine sense of both horror and comedy made this one a breath of fresh air - highly recommended if you’re a fan of PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE-style craziness. Meat Loaf is the star and Minnie Driver gets killed before the credits roll.

8 THE BABADOOK

I very much suspect THE BABADOOK will be the standout film at FrightFest for many. A mature, considered horror movie for grownups about a single mother having to cope with a six year old son who has behavioural difficulties. The arrival of a mysterious storybook allows for fear, guilt, horror and regret to be expressed in the form of the titular creature. Well made and acted and with thoughtful production design suggestive of a mature Tim Burton film, this was the antithesis of movies like TRUTH OR DARE.

7 FAULTS

Has Mary Elizabeth Winstead been brainwashed by a cult? Or is something far more sinister going on? It’s the job of Leland Orser’s cult de-programmer to sort her out in this terrific movie that, for the most part, is pretty much a two-hander filmed on a single set. I loved it and I’m not going to say anything else about it other than you should watch it at the soonest opportunity.

6 DIGGING UP THE MARROW

Director Adam Green implored the FrightFest audience not to give too much away about this one. What I will say is that it begins as a documentary about monster-based art with Green playing himself. Then Ray Wise turns up playing a man who claims monsters are real and he can prove it. MARROW starts off as comedy but then gets darker and weirder. It was one of the few films on this list to properly scare me, and well done to Mr Green for doing so.

5 CREEP

Another film on this list I imagined lasting for ten minutes of and then leaving.  Ten minutes in and I was absolutely hooked. I think the original title must have been PEACHFUZZ (see poster above) which makes no sense until you see the movie. Now if you mention the word  you’ll still get a shiver out of me. A found footage, mumblecore improvisational piece featuring only two actors, one of whom is also the director, CREEP is about a man answering an advert to go to the isolated house of a complete stranger who claims he is dying of cancer and wants a video diary of one day to leave to his unborn son. It quickly gets very weird with an ending that was a candidate for most horrible and disturbing in the festival. Now, who’s for ‘Tubby Time’?

4 OPEN WINDOWS

I liked Nacho Vigalondo’s clever TIMECRIMES a lot, and OPEN WINDOWS confirms that he is one of the most deliciously manic and original film-makers working today. Elijah Wood runs a website devoted to actress Jill Goddard (Sasha Grey). When the competition he believes he has won to meet her turns out to be a hoax and he is contacted by someone who claims he can help Wood get revenge that’s just the beginning of a hugely complex plot that eventually collapses in on itself but is still rather brilliant anyway. Another film I loved and I can’t wait to watch again.

3 THE GUEST

The biggest shock of the festival for me - an Adam Wingard film that I adored. I’ve never been a huge fan of his wobbly-cam mumblecore aesthetic but THE GUEST is a revelation. Inspired by John Carpenter movies and THE TERMINATOR, and with a fantastic analog synthesiser score to match, THE GUEST stars Dan Stevens from DOWNTON ABBEY (I’ve never seen it) as a soldier who arrives on the doorstep of the Peterson family, claiming he was friends with their recently-deceased son. What he doesn’t mention is that he’s been part of a military experiment that’s turned him into an unstoppable killing machine. A great film in its own right, but watch out for gags related to HALLOWEEN III, HALLOWEEN IV (!) and YOU’RE NEXT.

2 THE FORGOTTEN

After last year’s THE BORDERLANDS and the previous THE DEVIL’S BUSINESS, any horror movie producer Jennifer Handorf has a hand in is going to get my undivided attention, and THE FORGOTTEN is another winner. I’m not usually a fan of movies set on deserted council estates but this won me over with one of the saddest ghost stories I’ve seen in many a year. It was a delight to discover afterwards that both director Oliver Frampton and writer James Hall admitted MR James and Henry James as influences, and special mention should be made of the sound design which makes the already terrifying location feel like HELL HOUSE for hoodies.

1 THE CANAL

This played directly after THE FORGOTTEN, which had already managed a good job of scaring me silly. The reason it deserves the number one spot is that almost anything coming after THE FORGOTTEN would have been on a losing streak and THE CANAL succeeded in terrifying me. A film archivist moves into a house that was the scene of a murder in the early 1900s. He discovers newsreel footage of the case just as his life starts to fall apart and he enters a world where the horrors he is experiencing might be of his own imagining. Terrific, terrifying imagery, great acting and a downbeat tragic ending make THE CANAL my favourite in a festival loaded with great movies. Well done writer-director Ivan Kavanagh.