FrightFest

Good crop this year, overall.

2.22 - Too long for the plot. 6/10

TO MY MOTHER AND FATHER - Needed a dash more Cthulhu. 7/10

BON APPETIT - Short and sweet. 6/10

RISE OF THE APPLIANCES - Only in Wales would Brevilles walk the earth. 8/10

THE END… - Funny, but not that great. 6/10

THROUGH THE NIGHT - Not quite paced right, but nicely creepy initial dialogue. 7/10

DEAD HUNGRY - Nice spin on the living dead. 9/10

SWITCH - No depth. 4/10

PAPA WRESTLING - Hilarious. 8/10

NELLY AND LIO - Zany madness. Gnu! 7/10

RED BALLOON - Needed a better finish. 6/10

LA MADRE - Didn't really grab. 5/10

HOW I SURVIVED THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE - Nicely done. 7/10

CHOREOMANIA - Bit too long for the silly premise. 6/10

It's all about TO MY MOTHER AND MY FATHER - just furiously executed horror without an ounce of knowing sass or diluting selfi-aware, smug snark. Exactly how a horror short should be: uncanny and unnerving. Can't wait for Can's eventual feature.

Though if you're doing the other end of the spectrum, you couldn't look for a bettter example of the joy of splatter than the terrific PAPA WRESTLING. Short, simple, sublimely entertaining.

Is there anywhere to see these shorts outside the festival. There should be a Frightfest shorts showcase DVD every year.

I really enjoyed the Short Film Showcase and it really felt like this is the kind of thing Frightfest is about, films made by horror fans beign clapped and cheered by horror fans. It felt like a festival all the way through.

Switch was great, I didn't see the twist coming but perhaps I should have done! Short, sweet, clever and brutal - what more do you want?

Of course Papa Wrestling was wonderful and the Rise Of The Appliances was hilarious.

Being a big zombie fan I loved How I Survived The Zombie Apocolypse, it was engaging and the zombies looked great.

Red Balloon was good too, it felt like those tales you used to tell late at night as kids.

All in all a wonderful screening, and the kind of thing that is the reason to go to Frightfest IMHO.

Completely agree with the above about To my Mother & Father, just a really great unsettling film ... one of the few things (in an overall really good line up) to offer genuine weirdness and be actually scary. Had that inexplicable but terrifying air that David Lynch nails so well, best thing I saw all weekend.

Of the other short films I also really enjoyed Rise of the Appliances, Papa Wrestler & Nelly & Lio ... the latter has to get lots of credit for managing to fit so much into just over 10 minutes, but not seeming rushed or confused. Was a really good selection all round, I was at least entertained by all of them.

Agree with all those praising To My Mother And Father. A really effective Lynchian nightmare (9/10). Rise of the Appliances was great fun too (8/10). But my other real favourite was Papa Wrestling (also 9/10). Anyone who missed it can find the whole thing on YouTube.

Great to see the short films back but I wish they had been split over the 5 days like they used to be. I wish I'd had a dad like Papa Wrestling.

halloweengirl wrote:Great to see the short films back but I wish they had been split over the 5 days like they used to be. I wish I'd had a dad like Papa Wrestling.

RAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

There. I feel better for that.

Nelly and Lio Rocked...as daft as it was...as silly as the moose...it was still damn good fun. Loved the short film show case especially seeing how shite Marc Price's short was.

An enjoyable selection with the usual mixed bag of films.
My favourites - Papa Wrestling (great comedy and splat), Red Balloon (nice n creepy) & Rise of the Applicances (hilarious)
Didn't think much of - Switch (pointless) & Choreomania (a joke stretched way too far even at 10 mins)

I was very glad to see the return of the Short Film Showcase, and on the whole the standard was pleasingly high. I particularly liked Rise of the Appliances, Papa Wrestling, To My Mother and Father and Through the Night, but most of the others were good too.

I did think there were perhaps two or three films too many, though - one short after another, without knowing when they were going to end, did start to feel like slow torture (despite the quality). I could've done with a longer break before We Are What We Are, I felt a bit shell-shocked going into that one and consequently fell asleep a bit.

Really enjoyed this years short films - a good selection

Only a couple I'd want to see more of.

Papa Wrestling: The Movie and Choreomania.

Hear me out.

Chubby Scottish guy (I could play the lead ) goes out with his friends to a club but refuses to dance, he's one of those guys who just won't. As Choreomania takes over he has to track down the source of this insanity and along the way battles The Lord of the Dance himself, Michael Flatley, who has been hell bent on taking over the world ever since Feet of Flames ended.

Loved the short films, so many styles in so little time, very entertaining. The Papa Wrestling guy needs to do another one asap, some serious talent there.
How I survived... looked stunning.
Appliances was stupid but fun.

Rise Of The Appliances and Papa Wrestling - great fun !