27th September - Wellcome Mike Hewitt to the Post Cards from Austin. Mike (Rawshark) from the forum, is here for the first time and by the sounds of his report below he is having a fantastic time. Thanks for this Mike, it's fabulous. And if nothing else, it saves me having to do it thus sparing FrightFesters 20 minutes of tedium. Ian.

Welcome to day four of what is probably the world’s best genre festival outside of FrightFest. I had been trying to get out to this festival for the last three or four years, attracted to the event by the lure of the legendary Alamo Drafthouse cinema, brilliant feedback from guests who I know that have attended and the fantastic generosity and friendliness of festival organisers Tim and Karrie League. And let me tell you, this festival has not disappointed on any front, with some great films, friendly folk and some very wild parties and events.

After losing the previous night’s Fantastic Feud (an onstage horror quiz between teams from the US and the Rest of the World), we were looking to console ourselves at the start of today, so what better way to start than a slap up BBQ meal at one of Texas’ best BBQ restaurants. Personally I blame Paul McEvoy’s inebriation on our loss, but he was the light and soul of the quiz, and even if we did lose, at least we were funnier and more entertaining than the boring know-it-all yanks (no offence to our US hosts!)

Temperatures were soaring by the time we boarded the shuttle buses (today reached around 96 degrees) to take us on a 45 minute drive out of Austin to Smitty’s barbecue, the oldest BBQ place in Texas. We ended up sitting next to David Hess and Lee Demarbre who were still on a high after their earlier first screening of Smash Cut. We chatted all the way to the restaurant about their upcoming projects (fingers crossed they manage to get their ‘Western’ off the ground) and Hess’ experiences on several films including working with the legend Ruggero Deodato. Two very fine chaps, and Mr Hess is hoping to return to FrightFest next year with his guitar, and hopefully another film, so let’s hope we get to see him cause havoc in the Empire auditorium and dance the night away at The Phoenix in 2010.

Festival organiser Tim League was on hand to give us a history lesson on Smitty’s on arrival, and as we entered we knew that this was the real deal. Warned not to order any sauces as this would take away from the taste of the meat served, we were all given three or four healthy slabs of sliced crispy meat and one of the best tasting wiener sausages I’ve ever had the pleasure to pass through my lips. No plates and cutlery here, just greasy slabs of meat on brown paper accompanied with dry bread and a bottle of local brew, Shiner Bock. Meat and beer heaven, and no hint of possible ‘human’-inspired BBQ sauce as seen on Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

We chatted to several other guests at the restaurant, including Jake West (still on a high after his earlier Doghouse screening), Pieter van Hees who was there with his Belgian stunt film Dirty Mind, Joshua Zeman who was there with his US documentary Cropsey and a contingent of three Brits; Ben Wheately, Robin Hill and Andy Starke who were attending with their low-budget black comedy Down Terrace which was screening later in the evening. After two or three courses of some of the best meat we’ve ever tasted, topped off with Cookies and Cream ice cream, we boarded the shuttle buses to return to the Alamo for our first film of the day.

Directed by Jordan Barker (who you may remember as a previous FrightFest guest with his first film The Marsh), Duress is a solid thriller looking inside the mind and psyche of a serial killer. Engaging, and supported with a great performance by 11-year-old Ariel Winter, Duress builds nicely towards a hugely satisfying ending, which I won’t give away. Jordan claims the film is due for UK release later this year, so keep your eyes out for this one.

We then visited the Highball again for a quick look at the aftermath of the Real-D demonstration and watched the demonstration of Home Entertainment 3D soon to be coming our way. With Real-D glasses, the 3D on the TV screens looks frankly awesome, and we stayed for a while watching samples of U23D, some test footage and the Avatar trailer which looks twice as good in 3D. Cannot wait to catch James Cameron’s full film in cinemas at the end of this year.

We then took our seats for the next film of the day, Down Terrace, and ordered a refillable coke and Root Beer cookies (to die for!) for the screening. Made over 8 days with a cast of professionals and non-professionals, Down Terrace turned out to be the surprise of the festival, darkly funny and tenderly poignant with some top-class performances. It’s so refreshing to see a new take on the British gangster film and was thoroughly enjoyable with many laugh-out-loud moments and one jaw-dropping moment of shock. Down Terrace screens in the UK at the upcoming Raindance festival, so don’t miss it if you have a chance to catch it at either of its two showings.

In the chaos leaving that screening, we managed to miss both the secret screening (Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) and Rampage, the new film from Uwe Boll, and instead ended up at the nearby drinks venue, the Highball where we chatted more with Andy Starke about his film and his US DVD label Mondo Macabro, of which I’m sure some of you are already aware of. If not, check out more of his label at www.mondomacabrodvd.com.

By this time the Michael Jackson Dance party was starting to kick off, so we spent the rest of the night learning the Thriller dance moves along with 100 or so other festival attendees, before dancing the night away to a succession of classic MJ tunes whilst being smothered with confetti and drenched with water pistols. Ah, those Austinites sure know how to party!

Mike

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