It’s that time again. This is my third visit to Scotland’s longest-running horror film festival: the first time I dipped my toes in the murky water with Spawn of Dawn, the Saturday all-nighter that shows about eight hours of festival highlights; last year I did Friday night to Sunday morning, and this year I stayed a bit longer. Having to work means I’ll probably never manage the whole thing so I still missed a few films. The new features I missed are: GREEN ROOM K-SHOP WE GO ON, which won the audience award for best film, so I'm gutted I missed it. MEN AND CHICKEN. For those of you who don’t know, the festival runs from Thursday night to Sunday night, showing a mix of features and shorts from noon till the small hours. It’s run by the indomitable Adele Hartley, who introduces each film or set of shorts. I only have experience of two horror film festivals, and Dead By Dawn is my favourite. Compared to the one I won't mention (because it's also good I don't want to bad-mouth it) the quality of the films here is higher, and the content is more varied. The short films are a delight, breaking up the experience, and there is always a mixture of heavy horror and more fun or whimsical pieces. it seems more lovingly curated and has its own character. I don't understand why it isn't always sold out like the other one.
Next year I'm going to try harder to persuade more friends to come. Here is a round-up of everything I saw... JERUZALEM (2015)
18/4/2016
The gates of hell are bout to open for three american students Still in shock and recovering from the death of her brother Sarah (Danielle Jadelyn) decides to go on vacation with her best friend Rachel (Yael Grobglas) to The Holy Land. As a going away gift Sarah's father gives her a pair of Google Glasses.
While on the flight from American the two travellers befriend history buff and anthropologist Kevin (Yon Tumarkin), who charms them into taking a detour from their plans and travelling with him to Jerusalem. Where they meet, in a night club, Omar (Tom Graziani) a local hotel owner, who becomes their local tourist guide. As Omar leads them through the ancient city as it prepares itself for Yom Kippur we are given hints that this isn't going to be your usual holiday for the city.... MUCK
13/4/2016
MUCK (USA) I get that horror is supposed to mack you feel uneasy, I get the it is supposed to shock, and I even understand that it is supposed to push the boundaries. So it is such a pity that all of those involved with woefully terrible film don't understand the difference between being shocking and pushing the boundaries, and just plain old abyssal film making.
Muck must rank as not only one of the worst horror films of all time, but as one of the worst examples of filmmaking in itself. There is not a single aspect of this film that warrants any sort of praise. Read on to find why this film made me angrier than Scotsman the day before payday HUSH (2016)
11/4/2016
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