FrightFest

A big thank you to Alan, Greg, Ian, Paul, Clare and Helen, as well as everyone else involved in making the Frightfest October 2020 online edition so thoroughly entertaining with a super line-up! Also, I'll take this opportunity to spare a thought for those who would have hosted us physically at cine...

My top 5 of October 2020:
1. Relic
2. For The Sake Of Vicious
3 equal:
Caveat
Blood Harvest
The Reckoning

Fun, sci-fi actioner, which does much as you would expect, but does it well and not without a little heart to it. Lindsey Morgan makes for a great lead.

7.5 / 10

Intriguing and creepy with odd characters and the most bizarre and freaky rabbit toy in movie history. Nice and tense and I enjoyed the ending.

8 / 10

A bit of a curio, an action-packed fantasy that feels like the first instalment of a franchise. Not sure the film's internal logic always makes sense - but then this is the sort of movie that doesn't worry too much about that kind of thing. An amiable enough storyline for this type of flick. 6.5 / 10

A quirky thriller, a stylish study of a lonely outsider. It perhaps would've benefitted from an additional kill as it does become a bit of a slow burner during the second half as the premise seemed to get a little stretched, but plenty to enjoy here.

7.5 / 10

Fantastic! Sad and deeply affecting, yet full of dread. There are spine-chilling moments early on that intensify into a long, unbroken one that spans most of the third act, which itself becomes increasingly labyrinthine, freakish and creepy. One of the best films of recent years.

9.5 / 10

This seemed to take a long time to get to the action and when it did the kills were pretty good but nothing particularly new. Kudos for a couple of things that happened at the very end which you don't see too often.

6 / 10

A gripping tale of misery and woe afflicting an isolated rural village. Filled with some memorable imagery and at times is reminiscent of 8 / 10

Wow! Best of the fest so far for me - a terrifically tense interplay between the three main characters for the first half of the film before the non-stop brutal carnage of the second half.

8.5 / 10

Pretty dismal for the most part and often fell flat. Plenty of unlikeable characters and some of the kills were amateurish too. It was only enlivened by some celebrity cameos and some twists at the end.

5 / 10

A fairly simple plot, some am-dram acting in places and some dodgy CGI aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this rollicking ride, like an old Hammer horror with a contemporary twist. There are some satisfying scenes of gore and I liked how the tale was wrapped up.

8 / 10

An entertaining home invasion / babysitter in peril thriller with a bit of a twist. Good fun with some pleasing moments of tension as well as some occasionally brutal violence. Stick around for the mid-credits sequence.
7.5 / 10

It is a bit difficult to talk much about this without giving away the twists, but this is an effective if occasionally predictable thriller with gory and grim elements thrown in, which benefits from a strong lead.

7.5 / 10

Phase I: Naturally cheaply made having been filmed during the lockdown, but effective and a neat twist at the end. 7.5 / 10 Phase II: A further covid-era stalk and slash with a giallo tinge, but with a contemporary and effective twist at the end. Just a shame about the technological glitch partway t...