Nothing exceptional today but no duds either. First up Cold Prey showed that a change of locale and some genuinely likable characters could breathe new life into the slasher film even if the end result felt a bit like Jason takes a holiday in Norway. Director Roar Uthang did a pretty good job although keeping the identity of the killer a secret was pretty pointless as anyone into this kind of film will know who it is by the end of the credits. He did a short Q&A after the film and told us the film had been a big hit in Norway and another horror film (not directed by him) was in production there.
Next came a new entry in the creepy kid sub-genre. Joshua brought back memories of Rosemary’s Baby and other films of that era, its slow burning atmosphere a nice change of pace from the usual fare. Vera Farmiga impressed as Joshua’s mum, who after giving birth to a second child, a little girl, goes a little nuts (with more than a little help from young Josh). Sam Rockwell as the father gets better as the film goes on, but the real star of the film is Jacob Kogan as the titular character. Playing the part with so little emotion can’t have been easy, particularly with the histrionics of the other actors but he never falters throughout. This wasn’t a film I was really looking forward to but I was pleasantly surprised.
Then it was time for Short Film Showcase. It started out ok with We’re Ready For You Now coming across like a short Tales of the Unexpected episode with added gore. Things went downhill with Dead@17 but picked up a little with the one joke The Dear Hunter. Best of the bunch though was Little Brats, which (sick as it may sound) made killing kids funny. Pig Tale brought them to a close with a decent idea hampered by the desire to spell everything out for the viewer.
If anyone was expecting something along the lines of Everett De Roche’s Long Weekend from Storm Warning they were in for a surprise. Although the build up could leave you to think that was what you were getting the over the top climax was something else altogether. Giving the audience the best set piece of the festival so far (that met with applause from the audience) this delivered a healthy helping of gore that acted as a nice warm-up for Wrong Turn 2.
The ketchup really started to fly with Joe Lynch’s sequel to Wrong Turn. This was the world premier of the film that’s going to be a straight to DVD release (they’d never get that much gore past the MPAA anyway) and the audience were suitably appreciative. This fit the bill perfectly for all the gore-hounds and the free can of Kirin beer before hand no doubt added to the audience’s enthusiasm. The cast all did a nice job but it was Henry Rollins that stole the film. Imagine Predator era Arnie taking on the Texas Chainsaw family and you’ll have some idea how much fun this was.
Lynch introduced the film and answered the crowd’s questions after. Tatantinoesque, the highly animated director was thrilled to be there and justifiably pleased with the reception his film got. He told us he set out to make a video nasty and if this had been released in the ‘80s this would doubtless have joined that infamous group of films. Lynch is without doubt a horror fan and I think we’ll be hearing a lot more of him in the future.
Prior to Wrong Turn we had the FrightFest quiz. I won’t tell you how many I got right but I will say it was in single figures (there were 20 questions).
That was my lot for the day as an early night was preferable to seeing Disturbia for a second time and the Ozzie comedy The Devil Dared Me To for the first. Tomorrow it’s Jack Ketchum’s The Girl Next Door and Waz that are the pick of the bunch with the Uwe Boll double bill allowing a much needed break (the festival is an endurance test as it is without adding Boll).
Horror and Western film buff, Marvel comic geek, music lover and occasional gamer. 