Ah yes, kicking off tomorrow is the London Film4 FrightFest 2010, with five days packed full of premieres, previews, personal appearances, signings and surprises. The wonderful FrightFest organisers – Greg Day, Alan Jones, Paul McEvoy and Ian Rattray (mentioned in alphabetical order so nobody can accuse us of playing favourites) – have come up with a programme that's is sure to please everyone. I mean, if you can't find at least ONE film here that gets your filmic tastebuds a-tingling, then there has to be somethng wrong with you!
I've been lucky enough to already have seen quite a few of this year's selection – more on those below. But the three films I'm most excited to see are the opening night's Hatchet II (which is having its world premiere at FrightFest), the remake of the 1979 "video nasty" I Spit on Your Grave and the highly controversial A Serbian Film – said to be the most shocking movie ever made. Can't wait. (UPDATE: A Serbian Film has been pulled from the festival.)
OK, that's three highlights that I haven't seen what about the films that I have seen? Top of the "highly recommended" list comes the surprising sci-fi drama Monsters. Starring the wonderful Scoot McNairy (who was so good a couple of years ago in the charming and funny indie romance In Search of a Midnight Kiss) it's a sensational debut from director Gareth Edwards that proves you can do a lot with a small budget and a big imagination. Next on my must-see list is another low-budget thrillride, Burning Bright. Two people are trapped in a boarded-up house in Florida, during a hurricane. With a very hungry tiger trapped inside with them. What's not to like? Don't miss that one. And finally, the film that everyone is talking about, The Last Exorcism, which is the Monday night closing film. Again, don't miss this one – it's truly excellent.
Among the rest of the films I've already sen I can recommend hoodie-horror F, Aussie shocker Primal, US revenge drama The Tortured and After.Life, which stars Liam Neeson, Just Long and a very naked (and dead?) Christina Ricci. Fanboys – the two-year-old, unscreened comedy about a bunch of Star Wars geeks trying to get a sneaky first look at The Phantom Menace – is OK, mainly for its excellent cast. And two to avoid are werewolf horror 13Hrs, and east-end-gangsters-meet-vampires Dead Cert. Both, sadly, are examples of how bad the UK can sometimes be at making horror movies.
Among the films I'm yet to see, I'm really looking forward to Simon Rumley’s Red White & Blue, Christopher Roth, Alien vs Ninja, The Pack, Finale, The Clinic and Wound, which sees the return of Death Warmed Up director David Blyth.
So that's the films. Other events over the weekend for which I'll be glued to my seat in the Empire are the Total Icon session on Saturday with horror legend Tobe Hooper (plus I get to interview him – sweet!), Andy Nyman's Quiz From Hell on the Sunday, and the Jake West/Marc Morris documentary Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape on the Monday, which is being followed by a panel discussion – which should be fascinating in light of the problems with two of the films in this year's festival.
Of course, as well as all the films, special events and surpises (and Adam and Joe's special FrightFest shorts) it will simply be a joy to hang out once again with some of the wonderful friends I made at last year's FrightFest – people such as Axelle Carolyn, Emily Booth and Paul Davis. Ready for more Sambucca shots, guys?