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Abertoir · 2012

Abertoir 2012

Features

Programme

24 films · 12 reviews

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American Mary

Review preview for American Mary

An entertaining, intelligent film about how our choices influence our lives.

Lindis Kipp · 5 out of 5
A disenfranchised medical student goes AWOL into the lucrative underworld of unnecessary surgery.

(Country: US, Canada; Year: 2012; Director: Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska; Writer: Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska; Stars: Katharine Isabelle, Julia Maxwell, Antonio Cupo, Connor Stanhope, Paul Anthony, Sierra Pitkin, Paula Lindberg, John Emmet Tracy, Rikki Gagne, Jen Soska, David Lovgren, Twan Holliday, Sylvia Soska, Nelson Wong, Sean Amsing)

Full review

Antiviral

Review preview for Antiviral

As a first feature, it may not be totally surprising or very subtle, but it does have some impact, particularly visually.

Owen Van Spall · 3 out of 5
In a future where people pay to be infected with the same diseases as their idols, a dealer races to find a cure after a starlet whose illness he has stolen dies.

(Country: Canada, US; Year: 2012; Director: Brandon Cronenberg; Writer: Brandon Cronenberg; Stars: Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Malcolm McDowell)

Full review

The Barrens

Things go horribly wrong on a family trip out to the Pine Barrens, with mutilated animals and whispers of the Jersey Devil.

(Country: US, Canada; Year: 2012; Director: Darren Lynn Bousman; Stars: Stephen Moyer, Mia Kirshner, Allie MacDonald)

The Beyond (E Tu Vivrai Nel Terrore - L'Aldilà, Seven Doors of Death)

Review preview for The Beyond

The inventiveness of the crew and Lucio Fulci's singular vision raise it well above most genre work of the period and make it well worth checking out.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A woman inherits a New Orleans hotel with a sinister secret, and horror commences.

(Country: Italy; Year: 1981; Director: Lucio Fulci; Writer: Dardano Sacchetti; Stars: Catriona MacColl, David Warbeck, Cinzia Monreale, Antoine Saint-John, Veronica Lazar) , Trailer

Full review See: Interview with Catriona MacColl about Lucio Fulci and her career in horror.

The Butterfly Room

Befriended by a deceptively sweet younger woman, a lepidopterist is drawn into a dangerous world - but she has secrets of her own.

(Country: Italy, US; Year: 2012; Director: Jonathan Zarantonello; Stars: Barbara Steele, Ray Wise, Erica Leerhsen, Heather Lagenkamp)

Citadel

Review preview for Citadel

Anchored by a sincerely anguished turn from talented young Welsh star Aneurin Barnard.

David Graham · 4 out of 5
A bereaved, agoraphobic single father is beseiged by hooded teenagers who may not be quite human.

(Country: Ireland, UK; Year: 2012; Director: Ciarán Foy; Writer: Ciarán Foy; Stars: Aneurin Barnard, James Cosmo, Wunmi Mosaku, Jake Wilson, Amy Shiels)

Full review

Dead Mine

Treasure hunters encounter unexpected horrors when searching for wartime gold deep in an old Indonesian mine.

(Country: Indonesia; Year: 2012; Director: Steven Sheil; Stars: Ario Bayu, Afwan, Andre)

Dead Sushi (Deddo sushi)

Review preview for Dead Sushi

I was crying with laughter 20 minutes into the film and would not stop until the credits rolled

Lindis Kipp · 5 out of 5
Attack of the killer mutant sushi! (from Mars?)

(Country: Japan; Year: 2012; Director: Noboru Iguchi; Writer: Makiko Iguchi, Noboru Iguchi, Jun Tsugita; Stars: Asami, Jiji Bû, Yasuhiko Fukuda, Hiyori Hachiya, Aiko Hashiuchi, Miho Hoshino, Nao Ibaraki, Yûya Ishikawa, Kentaro Kishi, Marin., Shigeru Matsuzaki, Maaya Morinaga, Hiroaki Murakami, Yui Murata, Takashi Nishina)

Full review

Errors Of The Human Body

A bereaved geneticist on the brink of a startling discovery undergoes a dangerous psychological breakdown.

(Country: Germany, US; Year: 2012; Director: Eron Sheean; Stars: Michael Eklund, Karoline Herfurth, Tómas Lemarquis)

The Ghastly Love Of Johnny X

Exiled alien juvenile delinquents get their kicks on Earth.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Paul Bunnell; Stars: Will Keenan, Creed Bratton, De Anna Joy Brooks)

The House By The Cemetery (Quella villa accanto al cimitero)

Review preview for The House By The Cemetery

The House By The Cemetery will, as would be expected, offer viewers a shocking and gut-churning expose of Fulci’s directorial penchant for gore.

Merlin Harries · 3.5 out of 5
A deranged killer lives in the basement of an old mansion and pops out occasionally to commit grisly murders that include beheadings...

(Country: Italy; Year: 1981; Director: Lucio Fulci; Writer: Elisa Briganti, Lucio Fulci, Giorgio Mariuzzo, Dardano Sacchetti, based on the story by HP Lovecraft; Stars: Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, Ania Pieroni, Giovanni Frezza, Silvia Collatina, Dagmar Lassander, Giovanni De Nava, Daniela Doria, Gianpaolo Saccarola, Carlo De Mejo, Kenneth A. Olsen, Elmer Johnsson, Ranieri Ferrara, Teresa Rossi Passante, Carolyn De Fonseca)

Full review See: Interview with Catriona MacColl about Lucio Fulci and her career in horror.

John Dies At The End

Review preview for John Dies At The End

It may sound like a spurious stream-of-consciousness from someone who’s taken too many drugs in their life, but it’s not.

Sophie Monks Kaufman · 4 out of 5
Two friends use a drug that enables them to warp space time in an attempt to save the world.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Don Coscarelli; Writer: Don Coscarelli, based on the novel by David Wong; Stars: Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes, Paul Giamatti, Clancy Brown, Glynn Turman, Doug Jones, Daniel Roebuck, Fabianne Therese, Jonny Weston, Jimmy Wong, Tai Bennett, Allison Weissman, Angus Scrimm, Riley Rose Critchlow, Jerry Droz)

Full review

Last Kind Words

A teenager uncovers dark secrets on an isolated farm.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Kevin Barker; Stars: Brad Dourif, Spencer Daniels, Alexia Fast)

The Mad Magician

An illusionist exacts a terrible revenge on the fellow magicians who betrayed him.

(Country: US; Year: 1954; Director: John Brahm; Stars: Vincent Price, Mary Murphy, Eva Gabor)

Manborg

A supersoldier is raised from the dead as a cyborg so he can battle the armies of Hell.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2011; Director: Steven Kostanski; Stars: Matthew Kennedy, Adam Brooks, Meredith Sweeney)

Nightbreed: The Cabal Cut

Restored version of Clive Barker's controversial 1990 film.

(Year: 2012; Director: Russell Cherrington; Writer: Clive Barker; Stars: Craig Sheffer, Anne Bobby, Doug Bradley, Simon Bamford, Oliver Parker, Nick Vince, Hugh Ross, David Cronenberg)

Quatermass And The Pit (Five Million Years To Earth)

Review preview for Quatermass And The Pit

Quatermass And The Pit is a tale filled with creeping fear.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
A scientist steps in to invesigate after something sinister is unearthed in a London tube station.

(Country: UK; Year: 1967; Director: Roy Ward Baker; Writer: Nigel Kneale; Stars: James Donald, Andrew Keir, Barbara Shelley, Julian Glover, Duncan Lamont, Bryan Marshall, Peter Copley, Edwin Richfield, Grant Taylor, Maurice Good, Robert Morris, Sheila Steafel, Hugh Futcher, Hugh Morton, Thomas Heathcote)

Full review

Resolution

Review preview for Resolution

Resolution is an excellent amalgamation of horror traits that also stands on its own two feet.

Michael Pattison · 4 out of 5
An attempted intervention at the remote woodland home of a troubled addict reveals unexpected dangers.

(Country: US; Year: 2012; Director: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead; Writer: Justin Benson; Stars: Peter Cilella, Vinny Curran, Zahn McClarnon, Bill Oberst Jr., Kurt David Anderson, Emily Montague, Skyler Meacham, Carmel Benson, Justin Benson, Catherine Burns, Michael Felker, Josh Higgins, David Clarke Lawson Jr., Bob Low, Melissa E. Low)

Full review

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Review preview for The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Possibly the best musical ever written.

Gabriella Trybalska · 5 out of 5
Gothic horror meets rock musical.

(Country: GB; Year: 1975; Director: Jim Sharman; Writer: Jim Sharman, Richard O'Brien; Stars: Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick, Little Nell, Richard O'Brien, Patricia Quinn, Jonathan Adams, Peter Hinwood, Meat Loaf)

Full review

Sleep Tight (Mientras duermes)

Unassuming janitor holds dark fantasies.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2011; Director: Jaume Balagueró; Writer: Alberto Marini; Stars: Luis Tosar, Marta Etura, Alberto San Juan, Petra Martínez, Iris Almeida, Carlos Lasarte, Amparo Fernández, Roger Morilla, Pep Tosar, Margarita Rosed, Rubèn Ametllé, Manel Dueso, Tony Corvillo, Ricard Sadurní, Xavier Pujolràs)

The Shining

Review preview for The Shining

A masterpiece of horror cinema, it features a bleak atmosphere, striking visuals, frenzied performances, and an utterly unshakable, creeping sense of dread.

James Gracey · 5 out of 5
After moving his family to a remote hotel with a troubled past, a writer gradually loses his mind.

(Country: US, UK; Year: 1980; Director: Stanley Kubrick; Writer: Stanley Kubrick, Diane Johnson, based on the novel by Stephen King; Stars: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers, Danny Lloyd, Joe Turkel)

Full review

Sightseers

Review preview for Sightseers

If Malick's lands were bad, then Wheatley's are sad, as small injustices, petty jealousies and perceived slights lead to cold blooded murder and childish revenge.

Neil Mitchell · 4 out of 5
A young couple on a caravan holiday find themselves going on a killing spree.

(Country: UK; Year: 2012; Director: Ben Wheatley; Writer: Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Alice Jump; Stars: Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Eileen Davies, Richard Glover)

Full review See: Steve Oram, Ben Wheatley, Alice Lowe interview about Sightseers

True Love

A newlywed couple find themselves trapped in a room with no exit, forced to reveal their secrets in order to survive.

(Country: Italy, US; Year: 2012; Director: Enrico Clerico Nasino; Stars: Ellen Hollman, John Brotherton, Gabriel Myers)

The Unknown

A knife thrower has his arms amputated to please the bareback rider he loves, only to find a strongman emerging as his rival for her affections.

(Country: US; Year: 1927; Director: Tod Browning; Stars: Lon Chaney, Joan Crawford)