So here we are, the 11th annual Film4 FrightFest. It's my first time going and I could not be more excited. With such a fantastic line-up including a multitude of world, European and UK premieres, this year's long weekend of blood and guts looks to be quite possibly the best ever. Let's not forget the incredible amount of special guests (who we get to interview!) and suprises the festival has in store for us, so it's set to be a truly unforgettable weekend that promises to deliver the goods for us always-hungry fans of the most celebrated genre in film.
I'm looking forward to a number of films, as I'm sure most attendees are. There's such a great variety of flicks on the cards for this year's festival that there really is something for everyone. I've been hotly anticipating Adam Green's Hatchet II ever since it was announced as the opening film, and the exact same goes for the Daniel Stamm-directed, Eli Roth-produced The Last Exorcism, which Stuart O'Connor rates highly. Another film Editor Stu has seen and finds stunning is Gareth Edwards' Monsters, a sci-fi romp that I am told is not quite what you expect it to be.
It wouldn't be a proper horror festival without controversy, and there's plenty of it in the programme. I Spit on Your Grave, the remake of Meir Zarchi's video nasty Day of the Woman (also titled I Spit on Your Grave in most markets), has been passed with 40-odd seconds of cuts, so you can see just how far the filmmakers went in their reimagining of the '70s rape-revenge movie. But what looks to take the crown as the most controversial film at the festival is A Serbian Film (which has since been cut!), a politically-charged film that has been hailed as the most disturbing and shocking piece of cinema ever made. Will it live up to the horrific hype? Speaking of controversy and video nasties, Jake West (Evil Aliens, Doghouse) will be premiering his new documentary Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape, a definitive look at the much debated films on the video nasties list back in the '80s.
FrightFest 2010 looks to be high on blood, guts, shocks, screams and, of course, fun. Lots and lots of fun. I can't wait to speak to the legions of talent scheduled to appear, mingle with fellow horror fans, and generally just wrap up the "summer" in memorable fashion. See you in horror heaven.