FrightFest 2013: epic critics’ roundtable post-mortem
Anton Bitel, Kim Newman and Virginie Selavy emerge from the UK's leading horror film festival with 41 films in the bag.
Films discussed, by chapter:
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22-26 August | London, UK |
1. A series of unfortunate titles (0m 16s)
The Dyatlov Pass Incident (aka Devil’s Pass)
Renny Harlin, US 2013
Dark Touch
Marina de Van, Ireland 2013
Dark Tourist (aka The Grief Tourist)
Suri Krishnamma, US 2012
You’re Next
Adam Wingard, UK 2013
The Dead 2: India
Howard & Jon Ford, UK 2013
2. The state of horror (3m 07s)
3. Found-footage films (4m 34s)
Banshee Chapter
Anton Bitel’s top threeDark TouchThis uses the trappings of gothic to show ramifying victimisation and misdirected vengeance, as the grim legacy of abuse is visited upon a rural community. PainlessMedina’s ambitiously time-leaping debut unearths monsters, whether born or made, buried in the torturous turmoil of Spain’s 20th-century history. Willow CreekA found-footage no-budgeter that mixes relationship comedy and lost-in-the-woods horror without putting a (big)foot wrong, and leave its most transgressive events to the viewer’s errant imagination. |
Blair Erickson, US 2013
The Conspiracy
Christopher MacBride, Canada 2012
Frankenstein’s Army
Richard Raaphorst, US 2013
Willow Creek
Bobcat Goldthwait, US 2013
4. Vampires 0, zombies 3½? (9m 14s)
Stalled
Christian James, UK 2013
The Dead 2: India
The Desert
Christoph Behl, Argentina 2013
Contracted
Eric England, US 2013
5. Mumblegore? (12m 21s)
Snap
Youssef Delara & Victor Teran, US 2013
Missionary
Anthony DiBlasi, US 2013
You’re Next
Cheap Thrills
E.L. Katz, US 2013
In Fear
Jeremy Lovering, UK 2013
Hatchet III
B J McDonnell, US 2013
6. Rid of ‘Rapefest’ (15m 05s)
I Spit on Your Grave 2
Steven R. Monroe, US 2013
Kim Newman’s top threeCheap ThrillsA shaggy dog story that becomes a conte cruel. Big Bad WolvesEveryone’s a torturer. StalledA good micro-budget British zombie movie. |
Willow Creek
7. British horror (21m 35s)
The Dead 2: India
The Borderlands
Elliot Goldner, UK 2013
In Fear
8. Lost in the countryside (23m 19s)
Dark Tourist (aka The Grief Tourist)
100 Bloody Acres
Cameron & Colin Cairnes, Australia 2013
No One Lives
Ryuhei Kitamura, US 2012
9. This year’s sequels (26m 01s)
Curse of Chucky
Don Mancini, US 2013
10. Strong women and economic hardship (26m 59s)
We Are What We Are
Jim Mickle, US 2013
11. Cheap Thrills and the late slot (30m 02s)
Cheap Thrills
The Hypnotist
Lasse Hallström, Sweden 2012
Virginie Selavy’s top threeBig Bad WolvesIntelligent, dark fable about Israel’s macho culture laced with incongruous black humour. PainlessHeart-rending take on Spain’s monstrous past and its poignantly convoluted consequences on the present. We Are What We AreDreamy, poetic American retelling of the 2010 Mexican film about a cannibal family. |
12. The Spanish contingent (32m 56s)
For Elisa
Juanra Fernandez, Spain 2013
The Last Days
Alex & David Pastor, Spain 2013
Painless
Juan Carlos Medina, Spain 2012
Sadik 2
Robin Entreinger, France 2013
13. Victims, persecutors and the revenge motive (37m 51s)
Big Bad Wolves
Aharon Keshales & Navot Papushado, Israel 2013
Cannon Fodder
Eitan Gafny, Israel 2012
Dark Touch
Dark Tourist (aka The Grief Tourist)
14. Hope and fairy tales (43m 59s)
Hansel & Gretel: The 420 Witch
Duane Journey, US 2013
Odd Thomas
Stephen Sommers, US 2013
R.I.P.D.
Robert Schwentke, US 2013
15. V/H/S/2 (47m 38s)
V/H/S/2
Adam Wingard, Simon Barrett, Eduardo Sanchez, Gregg Hale, Timo Tjahjanto, Gareth Huw Evans, Jason Eisener, US 2013
16. Retrospectives (50m 12s)
Nosferatu
F.W. Murnau, Germany 1922
The Fall of the House of Usher
Roger Corman, US 1960
17. Documentaries (50m 54s)
The American Scream
Michael Stephenson, US 2012
Rewind This!
Josh Johnson, US 2013
On Tender Hooks
Kate Shenton, UK 2013
18. Wake in Fright (54m 00s)
Wake in Fright
Ted Kotcheff, Australia 1971
19. Corruption (58m 24s)
Corruption
Robert Hartford-Davis, UK 1967