Strong Year?

The place to discuss FrightFest 2018 - Dates this year are 23 - 27th August.
DJBenz
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Strong Year?

Post by DJBenz »

So... for the first time in a good number of years I was unable to attend, but I've been watching intently while running the press for my site remotely. My writers at the festival seem to have had a ball, certainly there were very few poor ratings on the pre-festival screeners we reviewed and from watching social media intently the post-screening reactions seem to have been overwhelmingly positive.

There's normally a thread on here shortly after the fest where someone thinks it's been a weak year or bemoaning the fact that the 'quality of films is declining', so has this been one of the stronger years in a while?
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Re: Strong Year?

Post by DavieT »

For me personally I thought it was one of the weaker - I had a higher number of meh moments than prior years - lineups but others I talked to had the opposite view - we’re all different. I never expect anything other than a mix of good, bad, meh and so awful it’s funny - I guess in the latter is really difficult to top Tulpa 🤣 My personal favourites were Chuck Steel : Night of the Trampires (bloody criminal if that doesn’t get a distribution deal as it was absolutely superb), Puppetmaster Littlest Reich, Crystal Eyes, Videoman and the Fright Fest Behind the scenes - PS was Alan really serious when he said they’d talke to Right Said Fred about sponsoring???
DJBenz
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Re: Strong Year?

Post by DJBenz »

DavieT wrote: Tue Aug 28, 2018 8:56 am For me personally I thought it was one of the weaker
Oh well, looks like I read it wrong. :lol:
DavieT
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Re: Strong Year?

Post by DavieT »

DJBenz wrote: Tue Aug 28, 2018 9:23 am
DavieT wrote: Tue Aug 28, 2018 8:56 am For me personally I thought it was one of the weaker
Oh well, looks like I read it wrong. :lol:
Others will prob tell you the exact opposite - I bet we’ve all had those moments when in a Q&A for example someone raves about how great they thought a movie was or writes a long lovingly detailed review of why they thought it was amazeballs when I’m sat there thinking “ did we watch the same movie???? “ 😂😂
greenzombidog
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Re: Strong Year?

Post by greenzombidog »

For me, this year crushed last year. I thought it was a pretty strong line up. There was only one movie I really disliked and that was Black site. Other than that I made some really good discovery film choices. It's funny because I thought last year was awful when everyone said it was one of the best. Film really is subjective.
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Jon H
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Re: Strong Year?

Post by Jon H »

Overall, I though the overall quality of films was no better or worse than recent years. There were probably fewer real stinkers. In common with the last few years, the films that caused the real buzz were in Discovery.

I did feel the atmosphere in the Arrow Screen was a bit flat this year. I don't know if that was down to the nature of the films showing, but there did not seem to be as much audience engagement with the films as in previous years. Completely agree the lack of Q&A's didn't help that. One Cut of the Dead and Tigers should have been main screen films.

I enjoyed myself as always and you always see enough good films to make it worthwhile, but there was something lacking for me personally this year.
danthsmith
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Re: Strong Year?

Post by danthsmith »

Far too many weak, derivative slashers in main screen. He's out ther, fell asleep in that one. They need more non-american or brit films given bigger chances. one Cut of the Dead saved it for me, an absolute gem. Was it in the small screens just to save us from subtitles?
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Re: Strong Year?

Post by Persephone »

I thought it was a really strong year. Only two duds -Heretiks and A Field Guide to Evil for me. But this year was one where again the titles with a lot of buzz were in the Discovery screens -Tigers Are Not Afraid, The Devils Doorway and One Cut of the Dead. I don’t like it when ref must see films are in smaller screens as I worry about missing out. I think the lack of Q&As changed the atmosphere for the worst. People were irritable at them entering into break times & it’s the only year where people have routinely come in very late
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Re: Strong Year?

Post by anaana »

For me, a stronger year than the last two or three. I enjoyed every movie I saw, with the only exceptions of Heretiks, Field Guide and Braid (my only walkout of the festival).
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Re: Strong Year?

Post by anaana »

Sorry, I also deeply disliked Hell is Where the Home is. I am not necessarily hung on plot plausibility, but the sheer stupidity of this bunch was hard to watch.
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Re: Strong Year?

Post by scarebear »

Had a really great time as usual this year. For me the highlights were What Keeps you alive, One cut of the Dead, Summer of 84 and Pimped (Tigers would have been on there but id already seen it at Glasgow). Im gonna be controversial and say i didnt think Hitler/Bigfoot should have been in Frightfest and i thought Incident in a Ghost Land (which i was really looking forward to) seriosuly overdid it on the Jump Scares and depravity but i should have known what was coming after the directors Martyrs a few years ago. Also i was a bit hacked off that i decided to queue for a ticket for the Night sitter which was rubbish when i could have seen Anna and the Apocalypse, which has had some top comments. Never mind, it always happens each year.

Leg room was always gonna be an issue for me, but as may of the films were not too long, i coped fine and had a great bunch of guys and gals around me to chat with. But some films like Upgrade and Climax were meant for the massive screen and they both didnt dissapoint.

Looking forward the preview of the Nun and Halloween.
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Re: Strong Year?

Post by Wolfshade »

Pretty middling year for me, no absolutely amazing films, and a lot of filler, especially on the main screen.

There was so much generic and bland stuff this year, that'll go straight to DVD and end up been shown repeatedly on the Horror Channel and/or thrown in the goodie bag in future years..... The Ranger, Ravers, Heretiks, Fright Fest, Braid, Hell Is Where The Home Is, Open 24 Hours, The Golem, all completely forgettable and will disappear without trace. The main screen seems to get weaker and weaker every year, why? Only Summer Of 84, The Cleaning Lady and Upgrade really stood out for me on the main screen (didn't see Anna And The Apocalypse though, which everyone said was good).

3 of my top 5 this year were in the Disco - Book Of Monsters, White Chamber and The Devil's Doorway - I really don't understand why they're making good films hard to see and putting so much bland stuff in the main screen.
Last edited by Wolfshade on Tue Aug 28, 2018 1:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Paxton
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Re: Strong Year?

Post by Paxton »

Defies tell a middling year. I

I don't think I saw anything that I would sit down and watch again, that's not to say I didn't enjoy watching them to begin with but there was nothing outstanding. Agree with posters who say it's all DVD stuff but that seems to be the way the festival runs these days, likewise no iconic guests and lack of Q&As, as noted elsewhere, meant even the guests who were there had limited opportunity to interact with audience.
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Re: Strong Year?

Post by The Soapmaker »

I think it was quite a strong year by recent standards. Nothing absolutely outstanding (as I think the Top 5 thread is already showing) but there were a good seven or eight really solid films, lots which were "OK" and only a few stinkers.

That said, as usual I didn't see many films on the Discovery screens and no doubt there were some gems I missed. A constant frustration. It's all very well to say "there are over 70 films again this year!", but you can only see 25 of them and it's somewhat at odds with the oft-repeated principle of having your own, guaranteed, seat for the entire weekend if lots of the good stuff is nowhere near that seat.

It feels like the Main Screens have now been designated as the home for the safe, middle of the road stuff rather than the most interesting, challenging - and yes, potentially polarising - films, which I find almost a little insulting. If the FF organisers really like something, then put it on the main screen where we can see it to best effect, and put He's Out There or Open 24 Hours in the Discovery. I didn't particularly like Terrified (and I fell asleep) but it was good to see it on the Main Screen, it felt like a throwback to FrightFests of old.

Of course, I know the answer to this is to do more research in advance, to pick put the "best" films, but that means having to go into every film knowing much more about them than I'd like, losing the element of surprise. It also means having to go through the annual scuffle of trying to get Discovery tickets having already gone through the scuffle of getting the weekend pass. The Main Screens should be the home of the cream of the crop.
ChrisReynolds
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Re: Strong Year?

Post by ChrisReynolds »

I think it was one of the strongest years for a while. There's always a lot of filler, but I do think this year had more high-quality films than usual.

However, more than ever, there are a lot of films being relegated to the Discovery screens that are undoubtedly higher quality than stuff that played on the main screen. There's a lot of films that play the main screen that are either boring, badly shot or generic, sometimes all three.
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