The FrightFest ICA all-nighter

streetrw · Post by **streetrw** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 12:15 am

Heiko wrote:Seriously, I'm sitting here laughing my arse off!

'Ooooh, FF's stuff is always high quality' 'Baaah, Gorezone is shit'

Are UK genre fans really that shallow?

I mean, guys, we all love genre movies... right?

Heiko,

Did you go to the GZ thing last year? They had three of the worst "movies" I've ever seen - the very worst. Think of the most repugnant things in existence: Welsh soaps, bestial porn, infomercials for pile cream. You're not even close. Think of imbeciles filming themselves falling over and sending it to You've Been Framed - you're still not close.

It's not exactly a question of FF is good, GZ is bad - it's fair to say that the best films GZ premiered last year were better than several titles that FF has screened in ten years. Reeker 2 and Days Of Darkness were undeniably better than Bubba's Chilli Parlour, I Know How Many Runs..., Nine Lives, The Tesseract and all of Adam Mason's films to date. But Gutterballs? Come on! My lists tell me it was "directed" by one Ryan Nicholson (I had to look it up). More accurately "excreted" - that film wasn't directed. Ryan Nicholson's about as much a director as I am a brain surgeon, and his sub-YouTube stagings of badly acted atrocities had no business being screened anywhere outside his house. I am not about to have movies inflicted upon myself by people who think Gutterballs and Frat House Massacre are actually worth seeing.

Yes, we do love genre movies. We'd be on the Macrame World Forums if we didn't. But loving genre movies doesn't mean flooding your head with garbage, and it certainly doesn't mean paying for the privilege. GZ's first fest was a mess in terms of scheduling and in terms of unspeakable product (though the goodie bag did have Cabin Fever in it) and I'm not prepared to go back until word reaches me that the standard is markedly higher. Which is better - six top-notch movies or a dozen lousy ones? I know GZ is £10 cheaper but the money's really not an issue. GZ doesn't necessarily suck, but the first fest was not an auspicious debut.

Heiko · Post by **Heiko** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:17 am

streetrw,

we are going way off topic here! The topic being that all nighter!

Not: this is a good movie and that ain't!

But as we are already there'll just say a few words:

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and so is the ice pick!

You're happy to have found Cabin Fever in GZ'a grab bag... great... might surprise you but I found Cabin Fever to be a huge pile of ...

Meaning: everybody likes something else!

So, to go back to your question: Which is better - six top-notch movies or a dozen lousy ones? - you may as well ask: Which is better - 6 chances to see a movie you might like or a dozen chances? Or how about: Which is better - a chance to see 3 movies you definitely don't feel like seeing out of 6 movies with the other 3 still being maybes or a dozen movies, all maybes?

Frankly, GZ, FF, TIFF, BIFFF, FFF, LIFF, FA, etc. - this can always go any way, with movies we may or may not like! And I think that's why we are willing to take the 'risk' of checking out something new, to have that surprise moments where we go 'wow, that was a fucking awesome movie, didn't see that one coming, glad I went to see it!'

So yes, once more: if I could have done the all nighter, I would have done it... in combination with WoH! Total: 90 bucks - and with a minor overlap I think a total of 18 movies!

hock:

Or to use your question: Which is better - 6 movies you might like or 12 movies you might like or 18 movies you might like?

Can I do it? Nope... as the all nighter sold out too fast!

So the question really is: Which is better - watching 12 (actually 15) movies you might like or doing something completely different?

Answer: that's up to everybody's own gut and gory!

And now, please, everybody going to the all nighter: have a huge fun and blood filled night!

everybody going to something else: have a huge fun and it's in any way genre related blood filled night!

And most importantly: have fun watching genre movies, no matter where, when or why, all year round!

krispyg · Post by **krispyg** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 7:05 am

As an attendee of the GZ event last year I was not exactly best pleased. Being sold a £70 VIP ticket was something of a scam, anyone sat in the Premiere seats in the Odeon and no checks were ever made. The free booze did not materialise let alone being served at your seat. Films were somewhat hit and miss, Reeker 2, Gutterballs, FHM and Driftwood were enjoyable but they were the highlight tbh.

This year the line up does not look much better, again a few films stand out.

What annoyed me with GZ was their forum earlier this year where FF took something of a slating. Now i'm not the kind of person who criticises others and I would expect other people to behave that way but some of the comments that were made on there were disgusting and the fact that they remained on there for a few weeks without being removed makes it even worse. From that point on GZ lost me as a reader, I have always tried to support anything that is British and is supportive of the genre wherever possible.

Sometimes less is more, £50 for 6 films is about what I would pay for the cinema normally and do I think having more films on would have been better, perhaps and yes there are films I would like to have seen but when it is overnight, for me at least 6 back to back films is enough.

If people seem quick to defend FF maybe there is just a sense of loyalty to it perhaps?

Satans Puppy · Post by **Satans Puppy** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:02 am

THat's one thing about FF, sometimes we complain about the price and then Paul or Ian come along and smack us with a dose of reality, letting us knew we're actually paying standard cinema price or less for each film

Never been to GZ website, never read the mag, was tempted to go to their festival (To which they handed out leaflets to outside frightfest back in 2007) ... hmmm lol

Maxi was nice enough to invite me to FF and I've never looked back, been to every event since 2007, excluding the Repo event... cause I was skint

nekro · Post by **nekro** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 11:43 am

@ Heiko - the point is that there are 2 festivals on the same night in LONDON. one will be much better (FF) than the other (GZ). end of.

(although, had i known that GZ might be showing bestial porn then i might have considered going along)

Satans Puppy · Post by **Satans Puppy** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 12:15 pm

nekro wrote: (although, had i known that GZ might be showing bestial porn then i might have considered going along)

So I wasn't the only one who was a little disappointed to find they'd be missin out.... ?

voor · Post by **voor** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 12:50 pm

I'm sorry , nekro but I have to disagree with you strongly. Who gives any of us the right to judge 'x is better than y' other than for our own personal preference?

Yes agree for my money FF looks a much better line up - but maybe Heiko enjoys the GZ films more - maybe they seem more interesting to him?

With what authority can you come on and say one is better than the other , end of? Each of us is allowed to like one over the other but you simply can't put definitve statements and endorse them on the other person.

It would be like me saying 'David Lean is better than Micheall Powell and Emeric Pressburger. End of.' How dare I? End of for whom?

That kind of thing skirts around the edges of opinionated repression - let everyone make their own choice. And if it's only your own choice , then you should not make it sound like you have the absolute final word.

Sincerely yours

Voor

kimblebee · Post by **kimblebee** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:02 pm

As many have suggested - it really is down to personal taste as to which festival a person likes best - but why does there have to be a favourite? I just came back from Fantastic Fest in Austin, and having only ever been to one genre festival before other than Frightfest (Dublin Horrorthon), I was unsure what to expect - but it was Fantastic (as the name suggests), and I realised that each festival has its pros and cons and that as long as you enjoy them it nothing else matters!

It sounds like there are plenty of Halloween events going on this year, so commiserations if, like me, you missed out on an all-nighter ticket, but keep your eyes peeled for other fun things to do that evening - hey come on, it's not the end of the world

)

bohan · Post by **bohan** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:05 pm

wow this discussion has gone way off topic, why is it even relevant to discuss if GZ has a better lineup than the allnighter? I say lets just keep this topic for people who are attending the all nighter to discuss what they are looking forward to on the evening.

kimblebee · Post by **kimblebee** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:08 pm

Yep I'm afraid many threads on here go off topic, but it's improving (thank goodness) - so, what is everyone looking forward to then?

Grindhouse · Post by **Grindhouse** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:15 pm

Everything really its a great lineup,have great expectations for daybreakers which in the trailer uses placebo's cover version of running up that hill by kate bush,its been about time that was used in a film or trailer and i will love survival of the dead,this year it seems all killer no filler

Satans Puppy · Post by **Satans Puppy** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:18 pm

Grindhouse wrote:Everything really its a great lineup,have great expectations for daybreakers which in the trailer uses placebo's cover version of running up that hill by kate bush,its been about time that was used in a film or trailer and i will love survival of the dead,this year it seems all killer no filler

You're going to this one?

You were sorely missed in august... a few people asked me if you were about? Dunno why... I ran from you first time around

PatrolDave · Post by **PatrolDave** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:22 pm

For me, Paranormal Activity is the real treat.
I dearly hope it's going to scare me. Properly scare me.

Satans Puppy · Post by **Satans Puppy** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:27 pm

PatrolDave wrote:For me, Paranormal Activity is the real treat.
I dearly hope it's going to scare me. Properly scare me.

That's the one I'm dreading... I may be clutching anyone who's sat next to me, for this reason Orlovsky has allocated a seat for me next to Doris lol

bohan · Post by **bohan** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:42 pm

Not seen a movie that has genuinely scared me since Rec so i'm hoping Paranormal Activity does the trick! Although my girlfriend is using Paranormal Activity to gain some sleep before Daybreakers - silly girl!