FrightFest

Gosh, a low budget cabin-in-the-woods, there's-no-reception-on-my-cellphone* movie where the characters are actually likeable! How did that happen? Unfortunately it completely fails to deliver on the zombie horror side of things and ends up as a very feeble effort overall. Shame. (* I can't remember...

I enjoyed Beyond the Gates and felt well-disposed towards Graham Skipper and his cast... but this was just awful. I didn't believe in the main characters or their relationship, the weirdness surrounding the game itself happened out of nowhere rather than being properly set up, the goopy, slimy Crone...

I expected this to be rubbish, since it had apparently won the Bronze award at some festival where the feeble Dead Shack got the Gold... It didn't start well, with the familiar assortment of hateful, hard-partying, sex- and drugs-obsessed brats. But as soon as the game itself began I was suddenly im...

Oh dear. I actually quite liked it. Although I could see by the people leaving in droves that it wasn't going down well. Probably not a good choice for a late-nighter, but I enjoyed the arty cinematography, heightened sound effects and off-kilter music choices. In fact I think it would've worked bet...

This was a difficult one for me. It starts out looking like it's going to be Home Alone meets Krampus, maybe with a dash of Christmas Evil, all colourful and lighthearted, then halfway through things start getting nasty and I was suddenly quite angry, thinking (spoilers ahead...) no, you can NOT mak...

Well directed, pretty good performances (Samara Weaving was terrific, I loved the line about her three favourite bands), lots of manic action, entertaining enough while it lasts... but I just didn't connect with it at all. The plot is so shallow, with the "virus" - so wildly inconsistent in its effe...

Ultimately, this event isnt a charity. There are overheads that have to be met and part of that comes from single tickets. You're right, it's not a charity. We're paying £195 for a weekend pass and I had a vague inkling it wasn't a donation. As for the sales of single tickets, judging by the number...

And PM sent in reply.

Well spotted, TheDukeAbides!

Well what a shower of fucking shit that was. After 75 minutes of clicking on ever-shifting orange dots and being greeted with "you need to select a ticket", "some of the seats you've selected are not available", "that seat has been reserved by someone else" or "an error has occurred, please try agai...

Not so smooth for me, I clicked on the link the second it appeared but somehow almost the whole of the centre block had already disappeared. How does that happen? Ended up way out in one of the side blocks. Oh well. I'll just have to hope all the good stuff happens on the left hand side of the scree...

In the Arrow screen we had a few "frequent walkers" in the first 5-6 rows. People who I discovered were walking in and out in every single movie. I was sitting in that part of the Arrow screen and you're right, there were a few people who frequently turned up halfway through a film, decided it was ...

Meanwhile, back at the Main screens, large numbers of seats at many of the films were empty because people were more interested in seeing (better?) alternatives in the Discovery screens. That guaranteed seat for the weekend becomes something of an irrelevance . Not if you're in a group. I like the ...

I've just been discussing the Main vs Discovery screens situation again with my brother and I'm really starting to wonder if it's time for something to change. Booking for FrightFest is essentially the same as it's always been - we pay for a guaranteed seat in a Main screen, for the whole weekend. B...

The gold standard should be 2008 which included Eden Lake , Time Crimes , Mum & Dad , The Chaser , Let the Right One In and Martyrs . Gosh yes, that was a good year! Although I'm sure there was some dross as well if I could be bothered to look it up.... what year was Bubba's Chili Parlor ?

I wonder if we'll eventually gravitate towards a system more like the London Film Festival, with no "Main" or "Discovery" screens but with a number of films showing simultaneously, and you'd just pick (in advance?) what you wanted to see. Regardless of if it changes, I'll be doing a lot more resear...