FrightFest

Brilliant movie - I really really enjoyed this. Stunning visuals and a knock-out performance from Jim Sturgess - if he doesnt get an award for this then its a crime. Loved Eddie Marsan's "Weapons Man" divining for the weapon with his bit of old twig Only one criticism - I thought this deserved to be the closing movie. If it wasnt for the superb Girl With the Dragon Tattoo then Heartless would have been my No1 movie of the weekend - its a very close second though.

A bit like last years Martyrs, it needed a special ending to really give it the emotional impact necessary to raise it up a notch. And it certainly had that. Although I have to admit before the final ten minutes or so I was wavering somewhat and felt it had lost its way a bit. But the finale put that all to rights and punctuated the serious points raised throughout perfectly. Not everyone agreed though. There were a couple in our group alone who hated it big time so not to everyone's tastes. And my 'favourite' of the festival is still Human Centipede which seems to be permanently lodged in my brain at the moment... likewise Joe Lynch who earlier today told me he'd like to be at the front of the centipede with Landis in the middle! Said the thought of that beard rammed up against his cheeks... well, you get the idea (John Landis was standing mere feet away signing autographs and trying to ignore what he was hearing).

The Aylmer wrote:Not everyone agreed though. There were a couple in our group alone who hated it big time so not to everyone's tastes.

Yeah, that would be me then

A cliche-ridden story dressed up as "art" - couldn't relate to it on any level...

sherbetbizarre wrote:

The Aylmer wrote:Not everyone agreed though. There were a couple in our group alone who hated it big time so not to everyone's tastes.

Yeah, that would be me then

A cliche-ridden story dressed up as "art" - couldn't relate to it on any level...

It might have helped if you'd stayed awake while it was on though

Glad you got home quicker tonight. I'm feeling quite sad now that it's all over though. This has been one of my favourite Frightfests of the past ten years. Roll on 2010

The Aylmer wrote:It might have helped if you'd stayed awake while it was on though

I did! I only crashed out when it was time to give up on it...

sherbetbizarre wrote:

The Aylmer wrote:It might have helped if you'd stayed awake while it was on though

I did! I only crashed out when it was time to give up on it...

Five minutes after the start isn't long enough though surely. I should never have given you that hot watter bottle

All joking aside, you gave it a good go so that's fair enough. I just wish I could have fallen asleep early on during Zombie Women Of Satan and Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl. The latter made Tokyo Gore Police look like Citizen Kane!

This wasn't quite as amazing as I thought it was going to be, but still an interesting film. Great soundtrack and all the performances were very strong, particularly from Sturgess who really made the film.

I hope Philip Ridley was only joking when he said he thinks this is the start of a whole new genre of horror.

It had some really good moments, but I thought the mix of horror, romance, comedy, fantasy and melodrama didn't blend together at all. It was more like the film "had a go" at each genre in turn before moving on to something else. And none of the "bits" were anything I hadn't seen before.

And I know Ridley lives in Bethnal Green, but I found all the "gritty, innit" Cockernee famerlee, tough streets of the East End bollocks completely phoney and annoying.

The Soapmaker wrote:I hope Philip Ridley was only joking when he said he thinks this is the start of a whole new genre of horror.

Yes as much as I enjoyed the movie I'd agree with you on this - a blend of elements but nothing new.

Thought the film packed a serious punch, it did this however from the result of well constructed scenes and performances, because somewhere down the creative line Ridley's concept must of even confused himself and he thought the only way this film could succeed was by over saturation of styles and genres. As criticizing as that sounds, I still found the picture to deliver a film that is going to burn a well deserved image in my head.

Hated this one so much. Wanted to leave, but didn't want to disturb anyone on my row. The music was awful - I don't need you to sing about what happened ten seconds ago I get the point. The acting was very good, but a boring predictable storyline. Also thought it was a shame they didn't bring on the little girl at the end, she had to stand on the sidelines whilst we had to watch Noel Clarke twatting around with his phone.

I can't believe the director thinks he has created a new genre of horror

Hmmm you know Doris I think overall I'm agreeing with you on this one. For me this is the problem with movies that have some hype of the "oh this is so good and moving/heartbreaking" type going on around them. Expectations run high then the reality doesnt live up to it (although with Trick r Treat it DID live up to the hype)

Good:
- Havent really seen Jim Sturgess in anything other than 21. His performance was good and I also liked the little girl

Bad:
- Sorry really didnt like the songs before the movie especially the first one when he had the microphone so close and was screaming into it. Made my ears ache
- "new genre of horror" ?? eh no I dont think so just a lets throw a bit of everything in and hope it all works
- Yeh the gor-blimey-luva-aduck-cockernee-faaamilee-fing-innit was a tad annoying and cliched
- Noel Clarke dicking around with his phone on stage. Would you rather have been somewhere else mate? Thats two of us then
-Storyline pretty predictable ... so was it all in his head then?

So overall I didnt hate it but didnt see what all the fuss was about either. Guess that means Alan Jones is gonna hunt me down?

Didn't understand what the big deal was about this.

Was okay but nothing exactly ground breaking.

I'm with all the people that weren't fans of this one. Really boring.

Frustrating movie, this one. There's some nice things going on... like the fact that making a deal with the Devil leaves you screwed forever. But on the other hand, the ending leaves it unclear whether any of the main plot actually happened outside of his head, and jonbly found it hard to give a shit about the main character after the clingfilm massacre.

Still, at least we got a new genre of pretension out of it...

7/10