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The Horror! The Horror!

Hello, dear Frightfesters. What a week we’ve had! Not only did we finally get to see the full damn line-up for this year’s amazing, mind=blowing, crazy and fantastic Frightfest ,we also saw the mad rush for the passes which sold out in record time.

Because of this, I have decided to make this week’s column a little different. What I will do you is give you an interesting read of two halves: The first part of the column is going to be dedicated to ‘Sleepy Queue’. You see I was one of the people who queued for 27 hours for the tickets this year and I really would like to share with you some of our collective experiences as well as a brief explanation of why we do this year in, year out.

In the second part of the column (even though it is now over. Sigh. I had such hopes for Turkey) I will continue our tour of Europe, giving you information on some of the new films we’ll be seeing this year.

Now I know it must have seemed odd to some of the new-comers to see people start queuing up around 8.00 a.m. – a whole 27 hours before the tickets actually go on sale. And I am sure some of you probably think that it is a tad too much. But I’d like to contradict you for a second.

You see this queuing business really started a couple of years ago – and one of the reasons it started was that we all would get so excited before the tickets went on sale, we wanted to go down to Leicester Square as early as possible and hang out with the other Festers. This being one, big friendly festival of a kind, friendships are forged every year and the closer we get to the event that actually brought us together, the more excited we get.

Last year, one of the highlights of the festival for some of us was even before the festival: it was the queue. When we arrived to queue on Friday evening last year, we were pretty much strangers in small groups. By the end of the evening, we had invented games, had amused ourselves with anecdotes and had consumed a very striking quantity of alcohol. In fact it had been fun so much so that we had to be reminded to create some semblance of a queue near door opening time – so that we could buy the tickets in some order!

This year, the fun was even more established. Most of the people who arrived early knew exactly what they were in for: we had all been waiting for this moment. The early morning was dominated by the excitement of waiting for the queue. Those of us who had taken the day off work stood around milling, chatting about what could be and what could not be on the line-up. We got given enormous amounts of water by Odeon (a lovely gesture) , some people came down during their lunch break and actually joined us, bringing us news from the forum and we even met a few new Festers who questioned us on the mechanics of the queue.

Then the line-up got announced and we (by courtesy of another Frightfester) received a stapled copy of the line-up, all the films and synopsis. The talk until the evening was dominated by the titles included discussion of what we wanted to see and most of all how brilliant it was. We also discussed going out in front of the webcam in Leicester Square to wave hello at the forumites. People went in groups and got lunch. All in all it was a wonderful day, passed as if we were in the middle of some urban picnic under the bemused gaze of all the tourists and Odeon-goers (Sex And The City !) – shudder!

The real fun started around 4 p.m. Our group was completed by this point with only one or two absentees and then Ian and Paul turned up just to say hello. Their arrival also heralded the imminent popping of champagne corks and the party proper started.

Now when I say to that the next 16 hours passed in a whirlwind, I really am not exaggerating. Everyone in the queue had their faltering moments, everyone grabbed a little kip here and there (except for Trixy who proved she had more balls than any of the boys there!) but the general mood was of fun. We had crazies who gave us some of more memorable moments of the evening (from the German who in clipped English asked us ‘What we were longing for? Sex And The City?’ , to Neil Mcnuggett who simply would not leave to a poor girl who at 4 a.m. had the unfortunate chance of asking the dumbest questions and being on the receiving end of a blunt and rather funny rant from yours truly)

Around 6.a.m other people started to turn up for the queue. It got harder, more unpleasant, very taxing: and still the overwhelming mood was one of fun. Even after 20 hours on the same spot, we, as a group found things to make us laugh, to take us into the next hour. And it was testament to Frightfest that we could be brought together so strongly by an event but also become such close friends. (For those looking for amusement, check out the 12A restriction explanation for Happy-Go-Lucky! It killed pretty much everyone in the morning!)

We celebrated our 24th hour in the square with a shot of vodka and a toast to 9 a.m. Everyone got a whole round of applause as their 24th hours came and went. It was particularly brilliant to clap Dino and Tom who simply were embarrassed to death about the hoopla. But it was all in good spirit.

Then the hour came, we all got our tickets and dispersed not to meet again until August.

Now if you asked me, whether I would do it again right now, my answer would be an astounding yes without batting an eyelid. I cannot think of any other festival which can create so much excitement that it creates a pre-event which is just as fun. I also cannot think of anything better than spending 27 hours with people who are intelligent, funny, amusing and most of all passionate about our common ground: horror films. We are proof against the generalisation that people who attend genre festival are geeks, that they are anti-social, that they cannot function in life: Within one group of people we had diverse backgrounds, sexes, countries, even professions: From It managers to Film Editors to Stewards to Finance Managers to Teachers to journalists, we were as diverse and as normal as could be. So let them put that in their judgemental pipe and smoke.

Why did I share this with you? It wasn’t to show off or to say look how much fun we had. I just wanted to share with those who are dipping their toes in the ocean what we are about; how we operate. Come August, I certainly hope people will come and introduce themselves, discuss movies and join in the midnight drinking games (of any beverage – we do not discriminate. ) Because this is the only way I can think of the festival: as 5 days of non-stop fun !

Right that was a long rant – I am afraid i will have to keep the movies short this time. I do hope neither Ian nor you will mind this diversion from our planned programme.

Who can resist a new Pupi Avati film? I know I can’t. After ‘The House With the Windows That Laughed’, I never could stop myself from watching anything that had the man’s name on it. So when I heard of ‘The Hideout’ I kept my fingers crossed that it’d be a return to form. The film is a mystery-thriller about an Italian woman (Laura Morante) who moves to Davenport to open a restaurant. After her husband commits suicide, she spends 15 years recovering at a Minnesota mental hospital. When she builds herself up enough to begin another restaurant, she discovers that a murder took place there 50 years earlier. She decides to investigate and finds a secret plot. The advance word is that it is an interesting title though it might not be an absolute return to form. You can watch the trailer here: http://www.ilnascondiglio.com/eng/index.php

Next up is a Polish western: What?! Yep you heard me right a polish western, the first of its’ kind, that casts Val Kilmer as....a corpse. As weird as it sounds, the film has been acquired by Cinema Epoch and should hit screen in the US (and later here ) hopefully soon: you can watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE2pPFz4NOE

And finally, Greece with Tale 52! The film’s synopsis is as follows: Jason meets Penelope at a dinner with mutual friends at his home. Everything begins here. Everything will keep starting from here. They go out, they get to know each other, and at some point Penelope moves in. He can share everything with her. Even that childhood game of trying to control his dreams. Until one morning, when Jason wakes up to find that Penelope has disappeared. He doesn’t know where she has gone, or why she left. He can’t remember what has happened. They go out, they get to know each other, and at some point Penelope moves in. He can share everything with her. Even that childhood game of trying to control his dreams. Are his chronic headaches to blame, or a secret that reaches out from the past and pulls him further and further away from reality? Jason has to find a way to get his memory and his life back. But something keeps getting in the way. Is it the childhood game that has returned? Is it some sort of psychological disorder that threatens him? Or perhaps an inexplicable natural phenomenon, a time warp that pulls him in, deeper and deeper? You can watch the trailer at the official site: http://www.tale52.gr/

And that’s it for this time. Next time a better informed and more focused blog!

Sincerely yours

Evrim ‘The Duke’ Ersoy

P.s.: Who is crazy about August?! I know I am! Martyrs roll on...