Ah, the finish line approaches. The final day of FrightFest 2010 kicks off with Jake West’s brilliant documentary Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape, which explores the dark, evil days of the Thatcher's Britain. Yes, that terrible (and terrifying) period back in the 1980s when the people in power decided to stop letting adults choose to watch what they wanted to. When the peopel in power believed that they had the right to cut and ban horror movies that they felt were too extreme for UK audiences. The documentary – which features trailers and clips from the films under discussion, as well as fascinating interviews with people on both sides of the debate – was followed by a live on-stage discussion about censorship.
Post debate, there were three films – the Ford brothers zombie film The Dead, Korean thriller Bedevilled and Red White & Blue – and we saw none of them, being too busy running around doing interviews and stuff. I did spend some of the afternoon, though, chatting with Red White & Blue writer/director Simon Rumley and star Amanda Fuller.
Just before Bedevilled, there was a preview the forthcoming US cable series The Walking Dead, introduced by star Andrew Lincoln. It's the first American zombie series to be made for TV. It's based on the popular graphic novel, and it looks most impressive. We were shown the opening scene from the first pilot in which Lincoln’s character, police officer Rick Grimes, wakes up in hospital to find himself surrounded by death and destructin ... and the walking dead! As a lover of zombies, for me this is an absolute-must see when it begins airing in America in October and the UK in November. The fact that Frank Darabont is involved, both as cowriter and director of the pilot, is icing on the cake.
The big event of the final day was the UK premiere of The Last Exorcism, which closed the festival. Present for a media scrum before the screening were the principal cast members Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell and Iris Bahr, along with director Daniel Stamm and producer Eli Roth – plus Eli's girlfriend, Peaches Geldof. The gang introduced the screening, stayed to watch the film, did a Q&A afterwards and then stayed around for a signing session – impressive all round, because celebrities don't normally do that. The highlight of the night, though, was being invited to the official Last Exorcism after-party at Soho House, where I got to meet and chat with the three cast members (all of whom were charming and enthusiastic, particularly Ashley, who I learnt was a huge horror fan) and have my opinion of Peaches changed (for the better) by Peaches herself. And I made Eli's night by introducing him to Human Centipede writer/director Tom Six.
So another Frightfest sails off into the blood-drenched sunset. As always, it was a wonderful weekend, with some great (Monsters, Hatchet II, The Loved Ones, Burning Bright) and not-so great (13 Hrs, Damned By Dawn) films on show. Roll on next year ...
Adam Stephen Kelly adds: I certainly won't forget my very first FrightFest in a hurry. The five days were simply spectacular. While of course there were a few hiccups in the movies quality-wise, the festival was bursting with excellence as our reviews show. I had a brilliant time and met some great fans and talented film-makers, not to mention the Screenjabber team – Stuart, Julia, Stewart and Bill – who were a pleasure to work with for the whole shebang. Bring on the blood in 2011!