This is my first film festival experience and I wasn’t sure what to expect. Reaching the head of the cue I picked up my weekend pass and proceeded to find my seat (which was rather a good one, not to close to the front and almost dead centre, although there is a guy with a rather large head in the seat in front. This could present a problem with the subtitled films). I could see why people cued outside when the tickets first went on sale though, the rear seats are bigger and wider than the others and when you’re going to be sitting for so long I’m sure it makes all the difference. I came armed with a cushion (I’d done my research!) but decided not to use it one day one, although I’ll definitely be getting it out today.
So what about the films? Well first up was Black Sheep, a comedy horror from New Zealand. The screening was sold out (the guy in front of me in the cue for tickets was disappointed to find there were none left) and it was nice to see the film with such an appreciative audience. It’s a fun film, playing things straight and all the funnier for it, but I did feel that all the best bits were in the trailer.
The film’s director, Jonathan King (no not that Jonathan King) was on hand to introduce the film and do a short Q&A afterwards. He said he wanted to clear up some doubt about what type of film it was, “It’s a documentary, everything you see is real, New Zealand is a very dangerous place and you shouldn’t go there.” King clearly has a bright future ahead of him and it will be interesting to see how his career progresses.
Next up was what amounted to a promo for the 28 Weeks Later DVD, a showing of a deleted scene, a short featurette and an animated comicbook. The producer was on hand to field some questions, the highlight came when he was asked if there was any studio pressure to give the film a happier ending. “Happier than infecting the French?” he responded to much laughter from the crowd.
Black Water was next and I originally planed to skip it in favour of an early night but the late addition of a preview of Neil Marshall’s Doomsday persuaded me to stay and I’m glad I did. The film has some occasionally dodgy dialogue and raised a few unintentional (I think) laughs but it’s also got an incredible atmosphere. Far more than the “Open Water with a crocodile” I was expecting this gets my vote as the film of the day. It’s visually stylish, most notably during the night time storm sequence that makes the best use of darkness in a film I’ve seen for a long, long time. I can’t give it higher praise than to say it’s the first film since Jaws that’s made going in the water seem scary and it owes more to that film than it does Open Water.
Closing the day was Neil Marshall showing some exclusive footage of Doomsday that was deemed to gory for those across the pond. Some technical difficulties resulted in Marshall dashing across London to get the footage after the original tape was found to be blank. It was worth the wait though (even if the footage that should have been in colour was in black and white) as this love letter to ‘80s classics like Escape from New York and Mad Max looks like being one of the cinematic highlights of next year.
Filling in the time during the wait for Marshall the organisers treated us to some inside information: Rob Zombie’s Halloween had been offered for showing but too late for it to be included; Grindhouse was left out because of the Weinstein’s even though Tarantino wanted it shown; they missed out on Romero’s Diary of the Dead because it’s being shown at the Toronto film festival (likewise Argento’s Mother of Tears); The Day of the Dead remake didn’t make it because it’s undergoing reshoots (not a good sign).
Lot’s to look forward to on Day 2 including The Signal, 1408, possibly P2 (they’re having some problems with this but have a back-up should the need arise) and one of the films I’m looking forward to the most, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane. So keep reading for my thoughts on those.
Horror and Western film buff, Marvel comic geek, music lover and occasional gamer. 
Well Ian has just phoned me and is loving it big time. Have a great film festival will see you sunday
The very fact that Day of the Dead was being remade was not a good sign in the first place, and that was before any reshooting – it’s probably going to be a pile of tosh either way.
I’ve never been too keen on the idea of going to film festivals for a couple of reasons – a, I think I’d get a bit f**ked off watching films all day long, over several days and b, I don’t like sitting with a bunch of howling nutters – call me boring but I prefer the only sounds I hear to be sourced from the film itself rather than other people’s mouths. But you sound like you enjoyed yourself?
I did go to an Argento festival years ago but I was only there for a couple of movies and a talk so that wasn’t too bad – great to see the rare Four Flies on Grey Velvet on the big screen but that was spoiled somewhat by one of the points I mentioned above, that is the audience were laughing at every opportunity which I thought was a bit unfair on the material personally (thank heavens for Home Cinema!). On a related note, I don’t know about you but I’m mega looking forward to Mother of Tears!
You have a point about the Day of the Dead remake Paul but then again that’s how I felt about the Dawn remake and I ended up liking that one.
I wouldn’t describe the FrightFest audience as “howling nutters� in fact they were a lot better than most cinema audiences I’ve experienced. Yes there was applause for some of the over the top kills in the likes of Wrong Turn 2 but that’s kind of what films like that are about. When it came to more serious fare like WAZ or The Orphanage they were silent throughout. In fact the only time any of the crowd put a foot wrong over the weekend was during and after Uwe Boll’s Seed. This wasn’t Wrong Turn 2 and the smattering of applause for the hammer scene was very tasteless and out of place.Then after the film we had the guy who thought we’d rather listen to him rant than hear Mr Boll talk about his film but he was soon put in his place by the rest of the audience.
And yes, I too am eagerly awaiting Mother of Tears. It’s a shame given Alan Jones history with Argento that they couldn’t get it for FrightFest.
Yes I too felt the same about the Dawn remake and I ended up liking it also, but there are different companies behind the Day remake – two of them, Emmett/Furla Films and Nu Image, were responsible for the Wicker Man remake. Need I say more? Unless general opinion turns out to be surprisingly positive (as it did for Dawn 04) then I doubt I’ll be seeing Day 07, just as I never bothered with the so called Day of the Dead sequel (Contagium). Ian, surely a film as well crafted (and recent!) as Day of the Dead doesn’t need remaking?
You picking up Stendahl Syndrome, Ian? Blue Underground have recently put out the definitive edition – it seems Argento’s latter day material is undergoing a slight re-appreciation, the once-maligned Stendahl now receiving highly favourable reviews. I picked up Sleepless and while it’s no Suspiria or Deep Red, it did have a few good moments.
Another big difference is that Dawn had an up-and-coming director while Day has Steve Miner. I agree totally the Day doesn’t need remaking but Dawn didn’t ‘need’ it either. In Hollywood it’s never about need.
I’ve already got Stendahl Syndrome but will doubtless double dip and not for the first time with Argento. I never really understood why it was panned when it was released it’s no masterpiece but anything from Argento is better than most of what makes it into theatres. I really enjoyed Sleepless even though it isn’t up there with the best of the maestro’s work.