Another year. Another Frightfest. Now in its 15th year, Frightfest’s bank holiday main event has blossomed steadily over time to become one of the most anticipated genre festivals in Europe, if not the world. This year was incredibly special from a personal perspective, as I returned after a 2 year hiatus, was re – introduced to the Frightfest family and sat down to one of its strongest line – ups in years. From the sheer eclecticism of world and UK premieres, guests such as iconic graphic novelist Alan Moore and Robert Englund (Nightmare on Elm Street) and a venue change from Empire to the Leicester square Vue, the festival had an exciting energy – with three main screens and two discovery screens leaving fans with difficult schedule choices and an even broader scope to discover that prized sleeper hit.
Having coasted through horror in a caffeine fueled delirium over 5 days, there were inevitable hiccups along the way with scheduling conflicts leaving Flickfeast regrettably missing John Mcnaughton’s The Harvest , R100, The Canal and failing to meet Englund through swathes of ravenous dealers. However Frightfest 2014 still brought its own sinistAnother year. Another Frightfest. Now in its 15th year, Frightfest’s bank holiday main event has blossomed steadily over time to become one of the most anticipated genre festivals in Europe, if not the world. This year was incredibly special from a personal perspective, as I returned after a 2 year hiatus, was re – introduced to the Frightfest family and sat down to one of its strongest line – ups in years. From the sheer eclecticism of world and UK premieres, guests such as iconic graphic novelist Alan Moore and Robert Englund (Nightmare on Elm Street) and a venue change from Empire to the Leicester square Vue, the festival had an exciting energy – with three main screens and two discovery screens leaving fans with difficult schedule choices and an even broader scope to discover that prized sleeper hit.
Having coasted through horror in a caffeine fueled delirium over 5 days, there were inevitable hiccups along the way with scheduling conflicts leaving Flickfeast regrettably missing John Mcnaughton’s The Harvest , R100, The Canal and failing to meet Englund through swathes of ravenous dealers. However Frightfest 2014 still brought its own sinister delights to the proceedings from the trashy comedy of Zombeavers and Dead Snow 2 and the genuine frights of The Babadook and Creep, to the festivals obligatory stinkers spreading through word of mouth dialogues as fans huddled from torrential rain or mingled at the classy ‘beaverbar’ joint. Yes thats a thing.
I also had the pleasure to speak to several directors this year each with their own interesting and eclectic projects. From chatting to Phil Hawkins about scoring Robert Englund for his cinema set thriller The Last Showing, to exploring the dark side of celeb culture with Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kolsch (Starry Eyes), chasing interviews is always another exciting part of the festival experience.Through my efforts I also nabbed a serious sit down zombie discussion with Alexandre.O.Philippe (Doc of the Dead) and a chat with rising independent filmmaker Ed Boase (The Mirror) about his tale of occult mirrors.
Presided over by the four horsemen of the apocalypse – organizers Alan Jones, Ian Rattray, Paul Mcevoy and Greg Day – the annual event is an absolute must for horror fans delivering the perfect combination of scares, laughter and camaraderie that you never experience from most self aggrandizing film festivals. So if you dare, follow me on my journey through over 20 films ranging from killer mermaids and horror musicals to psycho – sexual samurai.
Interviews:
Doc of the Dead: An Interview with Alexandre O. Philippe
Starry Eyes: An Interview with Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer
The Last Showing: An Interview with Phil Hawkins
The Mirror: An Interview with Ed Boase
Reviews:
Alleluia (2014)
Creep (2014)
Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014)
Digging up the Marrow (2014)
Housebound (2014)
Late Phases (2014)
Nymph (2014)
Open Windows (2014)
Preservation (2014)
Show Pieces (2014)
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014)
Stage Fright (2014)
Starry Eyes (2014)
The Babadook (2014)
The Guest (2014)
The Last Showing (2014)
The Mirror (2014)
The Samurai (2014)
The Signal (2014)
VHS: Viral (2014)
Zombeavers (2014)