Following that was his incredible The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. What more can I say that has not been said before, the film is astonishing. Hooper then took to the stage for a Q&A where he regaled the Frightfest audience with stories of working on Poltergeist and cleared up a few false rumours and misremembered half truths.
Next up was the uneven Isle of Dogs. The director, Tammi Sutto, wears her influences on her sleeve in the film, with clear references to Giallo and what appeared to be nods to the female revenge legends Christina Lindberg and Meiko Kaji. The film suffered though from some very unintentionally funny moments and an over dominating score. There was possibly a much better film here struggling to get out.
After Isle of Dogs came Johannes Roberts’ ‘hoodie horror’ (is this a sub-genre now?) F. There are going to be a lot of jokes in the coming months about what could be a title that reviews the film, but it’s really not an F. Maybe a D or a low C though. The film is technically satisfactory and judging by Roberts’ introduction he has taken previous criticisms to heart and has made a concerted effort to improve on previous work with F. The film is not without flaws but is generally quite well made. There is the issue of the subject matter though and the knee-jerk reaction to a cultural ‘issue’ that comes across doesn’t sit too well with me (think Harry Brown or Eden Lake). David Schofield as Robert Anderson is worth mentioning though as he is excellent throughout.
Red Hill was next and boy was I glad. This film is stunning and although I was underwhelmed by his short film Signs, Red Hill has firmly placed Patrick Hughes on the map. You can read Martyn’s review from Edinburgh here. He wasn’t as enamoured with it as me though. Trust me though, it’s really good.
Closing the day was Alien vs. Ninja which is a lot of fun. Check out my full review here.
Over on the Discovery screen there was a gem in the form of Burning Bright. You can read my full review here and check out an exclusive clip here.
Throughout the day we were also treated to a whole bunch of fun stuff. Parts 1 and 2 of The Road to Frightfest with Adam and Joe (Green and Lynch, not the other two) was very funny and the revelation that the Friday the 13th remake would be Adam Green’s desert island horror film turned the audience against him for a second before he revealed why (his reasoning was sound).
Momentum also treated us Frightfesters to some pretty great trailers before Red Hill began. Most notable (for their relative exclusivity) were the trailers for Skyline and Hobo With a Shotgun.
The trailer for Skyline was a longer one than the teaser currently online and introduced the characters the film will follow. This is perhaps not a good thing as beneath the veneer of striking and bombastic imagery the cast and their interactions look very flat and unappealing.
The Hobo With a Shotgun trailer was a wonderful exercise in film geek baiting though (and it caught me). The trailer builds on the footage and sneak peeks we’ve already seen and is aided by a great voiceover from Rutger Hauer. I’ll save my gushing for when the trailer hits the net but this looks like it’s going to be thoroughly entertaining and if Eisner can pull off the heavy influences that could potentially overwhelm the film, this could be a runaway success. Check out our coverage of the film here.
Follow my Frightfest adventures on Twitter @Bandini1 and @HeyUGuysLive
Embedded below are a few trailers to give you a taste of the day.
TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE
RED HILL
ALIEN VS. NINJA
