As Antipodean horror films continue to make their presence felt at Frightfest; our man down under David Michael Brown goes walkabout with giant crocs and outback killers to bring you the latest Aussie horror news.
 

17th June 2008.

After a three week trip back to the motherland and a very drunken night out with Monsieurs McEvoy and Ratray I thought it was about time that I regaled you with what’s been happening film wise in Sydney in recent times.

In terms of horror all blood shot eyes turned to the A Night of Horror film festival that took place over the Easter week. Previously a short film festival has broaden its horizons with a fine selection of independent and low budget features that while lacking some of the finesse of their big budget cousins more than made up for their lack of dollars with lashing of sex and violence. Kevin Tenney zombie filled Brain Dead feature snappy dialogue, voluptuous femme fatales and a wicked line in innovative and gory effects, especially a delightfully warped homage to Barbara Steele’s bathtub exploits in Cronenberg’s Shivers. A double bill of the Mo brothers Dara and Drew Barnhardt’s Murder Loves Killers Too also provided some grotesque frissons. Kara followed in the bloody footsteps of Takashi Miike’s Audition adding a nice line in pitch black humour while Barnhardt’s debut riffed with the 80s slasher movie but defied conventions with its matter of fact killer and completely unpredictable ending. The festival also featured The Double Born by Tony Randall, Doctor Hell by Paco Limon and an extraordinary closing film in the shape of the Argentine homage to film noir and German expressionism La Antena.

A few days later I was interviewing Keanu Reeves, a very bizarre experience being a huge Bill & Ted fan. The metal obsessed teen came out in the Hollywood actor when we reminisced about his less than legendary appearance on stage at Glastonbury with his band Dogstar… “rock!” but he did give me a taste of his forthcoming remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still. “It’s looking great,” he exclaimed, “I just finished filming that. It’s a great cast; Jennifer Connelly, Cathy Bates, myself, John Cleese and Jaden Smith. I think we did a good job; knock on wood. I didn’t jump in to make a remake of a classic, I worked with the writer and director almost two months and trying to get the script. I think we found a reason why to make it; we needed that story to tell our story. We’ve linked them up in a really good way. What Klatu is in the first film, what Klaatu is in the second and what gets spoken about?….and Gort’s around” he reassured me, “Klaatu Barada Nikto! He had to be, it would be like making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without any peanut butter!”

After a brief foray into Mediterranean horror at the Spanish Film Festival that included screenings of REC and The Orphanage the city is ensconced in the Sydney Film Festival. One week in and once again it looks like an entertaining and enthralling line up. The new Official Competition brings twelve Australian premieres, three of which are world premieres to the festival and the gala screenings have been sell outs. Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky has been widely acclaimed for a fabulous performance by Sally Hawkins and opened the Festival. Steve McQueen’s Hunger told the story of hunger striker Bobby Sands in a harrowing and beautifully crafted piece of cinema that pulled no punches while the ever reliable Guy Maddin narrated his latest film My Winnipeg live on stage and brought the house down with a hilarious Q & A session. The premiere of Kung Fu Panda was the biggest draw, however, and guest of honour Jack Black didn’t disappoint leaping the barriers to sign autographs and giving everyone a less than dazzling display of his martial arts prowess.

The Aussie documentary Salute looked fabulous; telling the story of the 1968 Olympics in Mexico and the politic statement that changed three athletes’ lives forever. The style of the film recalled Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary story of the New York Cosmos, one of my favourite documentaries of recent times, with its use of vintage archival footage. Other documentaries next week include American Teen (The Breakfast Club made flesh) Glass: A Portrait of Philip Glass in Twelve Parts (happy, happy, happy!) and Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr Hunter. S. Thompson. The trailer for Michael Haneke’s remake of his own 1997 Funny Games looked incredibly disturbing and will hopefully match the originals harrowing storyline. Having Naomi Watts and Tim Roth in the film will certainly help but it remains to seen whether the curse of the Hollywood remake continues…the film is showing next week so fingers crossed.

Music will once again play a major part of the festival at the Metro Theatre. Special nights are planned around many of the films. Respect Yourself: The Stax Records Story and Anvil: The Story of Anvil (a true life Spinal Tap) in particular have themed nights with DJs and live bands to enhance your viewing pleasure.

I was also very happy to see two new film’s from Takashi Miike on the bill – Crows: Episode 0 and Sukiyuki Western Django, the prolific director’s tribute to Sergio Corbucci’s classic spaghetti western Django along with Brian DePalma’s Redacted and the British comedy Son of Rambo.

The horror genre is somewhat lacking this year round but a few film’s do show promise. Oliver Blackburn’s UK low budget thriller Donkey Punch takes terror from Leeds to Mallorca as three brash young girls go on holiday for a good time and rather predictably…don’t get it when they head out on a cruise (Ladettes to Ladies meets Dead Calm anyone?) and the film also features the best outboard motor to the head scene since Dr Butcher MD. The Icelandic murder mystery Jar City just looks grim, in particular the scene when the film’s ‘hero’ tucks into a sheep’s head. Next week also includes the Spanish time travel horror film Timecrime, the Swedish vampire film Let the Right One in and the Thai ghost story The Unseeable. That barely scratches the surface of this three week movie marathon but hopefully it gives you a taste.

Well that’s it for now, planning a trip to Queensland next month to visit the set of Christopher Smith’s next feature Triangle so more news on that one next time.

Be lucky,

Dave.

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