Goodbye. Doesn't feel like FrightFest anymore.

The place to discuss FrightFest 2018 - Dates this year are 23 - 27th August.
argento1977
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Re: Goodbye. Doesn't feel like FrightFest anymore.

Post by argento1977 »

Suspiria premieres at, I think, Venice which is after Frightfest. As for Halloween 2018 it's still in post-production so there was no chance of it been at FFest.
Some FFesters need to be more realistic...can't always blame the FFest team for not getting specific movies that we would have liked to see as there are many other factors that come into play than simply " that would be good for Ffest, let's book it!"
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Re: Goodbye. Doesn't feel like FrightFest anymore.

Post by Magic Hour »

ArghZombies wrote: Thu Jun 28, 2018 4:31 pm A lot of this is probably more down to London Film Festival than Frightfest really. If a film gets booked at LFF then it can't be shown at another festival.
I think you've hit the nail on the head here. When the BFI rebranded the LFF and split their programme into categories (DARE, CULT etc-) and brought in horror fan Michael Blyth to oversee it, they grabbed some stellar genre films from under the Frightfest noses:

2013:
The Strange Colour Of Your Body's Tears
Jodorowsky's Dune (doc)

2014:
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
IT FOLLOWS
Shrew's Nest
Spring

2015:
Evolution
The Witch
The Corpse Of Anna Fritz
Observance
What We Become

2016:
The Autopsy Of Jane Doe
RAW
The Eyes Of My Mother
PHANTASM - Remastered

2017:
Thelma
Good Manners
78/52 (doc)
The Endless
SUSPIRIA 4k

I read an interview in which the FF Organisers basically said that FF was so big now that they could practically claim any genre film
for the August slot, which is absolutely Not true. I think pre-2014 they were better placed, but I certainly wouldn't say so now.
CLIMAX is a coup of sorts, but not when you consider that the UK distributor is Arrow.
I don't think the FF programme is varied enough - too much of the same type of film, and this is where LFF triumphs.
I remember Alan telling me a few years back that he didn't feel "A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night" was a FF film. When he said that I knew
that my home was at the LFF and not FF.
Do I feel left out? Not really. The LFF screening of IT FOLLOWS was one of the best screenings of a horror film I've seen since I saw a pre-public screening of 'Evil Dead' in 1982.

I hope FF 2018 is a success for those that attend - the organisers work their socks off to put this together, and hopefully I will get a ticket for "Climax", which ironically I thought was nailed on for the LFF!
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Re: Goodbye. Doesn't feel like FrightFest anymore.

Post by Sue77 »

Darn, I wish I'd read your post before I sent my Hubby my Birthday List for this year. I've now a few dvds to add!
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Re: Goodbye. Doesn't feel like FrightFest anymore.

Post by morralex »

I don't really think the comparisons with LF are totally fair. FF is good for the under the radar films, that you won't see anywhere else. Also, although just because LFF always has the bigger, overhyped films - it doesn't mean they are actually amazing. Seen plenty of ok/mediocre films there along with the really good stuff. I am very hopeful for FF line-up this year, it looks banging!
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Re: Goodbye. Doesn't feel like FrightFest anymore.

Post by Magic Hour »

I Don't think comparisons are being made to say one Festival is better than the other - they are chalk & cheese.
The Original post was alluding to the lowering of quality, and part of the reason is that the LFF are grabbing films they weren't pre 2014.

When you're showing 80 odd films then there are going to be disappointments, just like the LFF, but with the LFF you may be going to see 3 or 4
excellent genre pics and mixing them with other films such as "Under The Skin" or "You Were Never Really Here" etc-.

The experiences are different, as are the audiences, but with FF I don't want to sit through 20 films to find 3 Excellent ones, but I understand fully
why people would & do.
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Re: Goodbye. Doesn't feel like FrightFest anymore.

Post by MalJutley »

Oh I don't see much doom and gloom...part of the attraction of frightfest is discovering films I don't know much about or don't get the hype. I'm looking forward to the following:

Upgrade
Climax
Tigers Are Not Afraid (missed this in Glasgow)
Summer of 84
Incident in a Ghost Land
The Man Who Killed Hitler then Bigfoot
Anna and the Apocalypse
Bodied
Book of Monsters
The Night Sitter
Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich
Terrified


Most of the big name titles that are expected end up getting a cinema release anyway so I don't mind of Mandy isn't showing coz I'll catch it anyway. Its all subjective too...it needs to be varied in terms of types of films as well and also we seem to get a lot more foreign horrors too lately.
Appreciate what they original poster is saying but LFF will also get its picks and sometimes the film companies probably dictate too. Also...I'm not too bothered about The Nun, again i'l catch it anyway and if The Conjuring 2 is anything to go by, it was ok but not a 9/10 film.
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Re: Goodbye. Doesn't feel like FrightFest anymore.

Post by DavieT »

STun wrote: Sat Jun 30, 2018 4:30 pm I always find that I get surprised by a film at frightfest.

There’s always the ones that people are raving about and wanting to see eg Halloween remake or Suspiria (me included).

And then it’s generally something shown in the afternoon (eg lowlife, let the right one in, the signal - the one with the tv signal directed by three different people), or a midnight movie (eg maniac - which was shown after tulpa) that come out of nowhere and knock it right out the park.

But you can’t beat watching a film with the frightfest audience!

I personally enjoy the so bad it’s good/funny experiences like Tulpa, Mirrors, and Giallo with a frightfest audience.

#shesahermaphrodite
Same here - Tulpa, Mirrors and Giallo were movies I enjoyed enormously with a Frightfest audience because they were so incredibly bad they were good. I still wonder whether the badly dubbed actress in Tulpa ever quite got over the experience 😂
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Re: Goodbye. Doesn't feel like FrightFest anymore.

Post by Vice »

Magic Hour wrote: Sun Jul 01, 2018 11:31 pm
ArghZombies wrote: Thu Jun 28, 2018 4:31 pm A lot of this is probably more down to London Film Festival than Frightfest really. If a film gets booked at LFF then it can't be shown at another festival.
I think you've hit the nail on the head here. When the BFI rebranded the LFF and split their programme into categories (DARE, CULT etc-) and brought in horror fan Michael Blyth to oversee it, they grabbed some stellar genre films from under the Frightfest noses:
Perhaps those involved in organising FF could consider moving the main FrightFest forward or backward to counter this? There are plenty of festivals earlier in the year that seem to get the 'bigger' genre films, as well as later in the year after LFF.

If they did move it, then mid-June would be good - that's a month after Cannes, and a month prior to the July fests like Neuchatel. As far as I know there aren't any major fests in June normally.

Another positive for June would be it's 4 months before LFF, 3 months after SXSW and 5 months after Sundance, so any of the standout genre films from there might see a June FrightFest as suitable as it's in the middle of that cluster.

Either way, LFF does seem to be hurting FF.
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Re: Goodbye. Doesn't feel like FrightFest anymore.

Post by nickoh »

I am not disappointed at all that THE NUN, MANDY, SLENDER MAN, etc. are not playing. Yes it would be nice to see them with a FF audience but I can easily see those films on a big screen when they’re released. For me, FF has always been about discovering those gems that don’t get a mainstream cinema release. I think this year’s lineup looks really strong. There are a lot of films that already have some buzz from previews. The fact that LFF has also recently got into horror is a bonus.
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Re: Goodbye. Doesn't feel like FrightFest anymore.

Post by gazadams »

Really would of liked to see some 3d films in their . Dawn of the Dead was remastered into tru 3d a few years back and George Romero said it looked really good . I did ask frightfest last year about showing it, but they were not really interested in it . Its been show at a couple of festivals in America.
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Re: Goodbye. Doesn't feel like FrightFest anymore.

Post by Fturner01 »

Firstly let me say, i would be looking forward to the festival regardless of what was on the line up. Seeing the family is always the best part.

I can understand people who bemoan the lack of big films, the easiest comparison is to music festivals. Frightfest consider themselves a huge player in the market, very much the reading/Leeds to LFF's Glastonbury.

So if look at the market and go look, foo fighters, killers and Eminem are touring for example, you can understand why people get frustrated at being told don't moan about the lack of big bands, go and discover something you've never heard of on the 3rd stage.

Yes I may find something great occasionally but there is a reason they are in the placement they are and that's not why I spend my money, and to be fair it is a lot of money the festival takes from the punter for the weekend.
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Re: Goodbye. Doesn't feel like FrightFest anymore.

Post by Whiptail »

gazadams wrote: Tue Jul 03, 2018 7:25 pm Really would of liked to see some 3d films in their . Dawn of the Dead was remastered into tru 3d a few years back and George Romero said it looked really good . I did ask frightfest last year about showing it, but they were not really interested in it . Its been show at a couple of festivals in America.
I would have really liked this, though Im not generally a fan of 3d films in general. Would be nice to get some vintage horror films in there as well as original films, (especially if they gave out special DotD 3d glasses.)
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Re: Goodbye. Doesn't feel like FrightFest anymore.

Post by STun »

I'm surprised there aren't any screenings of classic horror films. Esp as Arrow have loads of titles in their back catalogue. Would be great filler for those TBA slots? ;)
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Re: Goodbye. Doesn't feel like FrightFest anymore.

Post by zappa fan »

While they are showing Blue Sunshine and there is the Hammer documentary.

I'm guessing the TBC slot will be Interviews with TBA guest(s). Also they haven't confirmed FINAL STOP.

Plenty of Arrow DVDs/BluRays for sale during the weekend.
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Re: Goodbye. Doesn't feel like FrightFest anymore.

Post by IndianaM »

STun wrote: Wed Jul 04, 2018 9:52 am I'm surprised there aren't any screenings of classic horror films. Esp as Arrow have loads of titles in their back catalogue. Would be great filler for those TBA slots? ;)
Would have loved a retro Halloween (1978) screening in its 40th year, with a couple of cast members over to introduce/do a Q&A.
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