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FrightFest · 2009

FrightFest 2009

Full line-up

Programme

34 films · 17 reviews

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An American Werewolf In London

Review preview for An American Werewolf In London

Landis keeps the humour dry, the speech naturalistic, yet his keen sense of the absurd provides for some laugh-out-loud moments.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
Fully restored version of the werewolf classic.

(Country: UK, US; Year: 1981; Director: John Landis; Writer: John Landis; Stars: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne, John Woodvine, Lila Kaye, Joe Belcher, David Schofield, Brian Glover, Rik Mayall, Sean Baker, Paddy Ryan, Anne-Marie Davies, Frank Oz, Don McKillop, Paul Kember)

Full review

Best Worst Movie

Review preview for Best Worst Movie

Not just for Troll 2 fans, it comments on the much wider culture surrounding the love of bad movies.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Documentary about Troll 2 - considered by many to be the worst film ever made.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Michael Stephenson; Writer: Michael Stephenson; Stars: George Hardy, Michael Stephenson, Darren Ewing, Jason Wright, Randall Colburn, Adam Deyoe, Patrick Gibbs, Paul Gibbs, Eric Gosselin, Timothy Marklevitz, Ryan Martin, Chris Pudlo, Jason Steadman, James M. Tate, Scott Weinberg)

Full review

Beware the Moon: Remembering 'An American Werewolf in London'

Documentary about the John Landis classic.

(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Paul Davis; Writer: Paul Davis; Stars: Jenny Agutter, Ray Andrew, Vic Armstrong, Rick Baker, Sydney Bromley, Geoffrey Burridge, Malcolm Campbell, Michael Carter, Brenda Cavendish, Paul Davis, Rufus Deakin, Leslie Dilley, Linzi Drew, Griffin Dunne, George Folsey Jr.)

Black

Review preview for Black

The breaking of genre boundaries is surreal but one of many enjoyable elements of Black.

Leanne McGrath · 4 out of 5
After a bank heist goes south, the surviving robber tries to get rich quick in Senegal, only to fall foul of a millionaire who is morphing into a snake and gaggle of other weirdos vying for power.

(Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Pierre Laffargue; Writer: Pierre Laffargue, Lucio Mad, Gábor Rassov; Stars: MC Jean Gab'1, Carole Karemera, François Levantal, Anton Yakovlev, Christophe Aquillon, Ludovic Berthillot, Laurent Larrieu, Youssef Hajdi, Guillaume Zublena)

Full review See: FrightFest 2009 analysis and reviews

Case 36

A social worker's sympathy for a vulnerable 10 year old leads her into unexpected danger.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Christian Alvart; Stars: Renee Zellweger, Jodelle Ferland, Ian McShane, Kerry O'Malley, Callum Keith Rennie)

Clive Barker's Dread

Two students agree to participate in a study of fear, not realising that another participant is a psychopath.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Anthony DiBlasi; Stars: Jackson Rathbone, Hanne Steen, Shaun Evans, Laura Donnelly, Carl McCrystal)

Coffin Rock

Review preview for Coffin Rock

A garbled, unsatisfying mess that lacks any credibility or genuine suspense.

Jeff Robson · 1.5 out of 5
A psychopath targets a woman who is seeking fertility treatment.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2009; Director: Rupert Glasson; Stars: Lisa Chappell, Terry Camilleri, Sam Parsonson, Robert Taylor, Geoff Morrell) , Official site

Full review See: FrightFest 2009 analysis and reviews

Colin

Review preview for Colin

This is an intelligent, moving depiction of a world gone to hell, dripping with the melancholy of a ‘hero’ still driven by a yearning from his past that he is incapable any longer of understanding.

Anton Bitel · 3.5 out of 5
One man's journey into the realm of the undead... from the wrong side of life.

(Country: UK; Year: 2008; Director: Marc Price; Writer: Marc Price; Stars: Alastair Kirton, Daisy Aitkens, Leanne Pammen, Kate Alderman, Tat Whalley, Leigh Crocombe)

Full review

Deadwalkers

A bounty hunter stumbles into a town of the undead.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Spencer Eastabrooks, Greg Jeffs; Stars: Michael Shepherd, Adam Sterling, Brendan Hunter)

Dead Snow (Død Snø)

Review preview for Dead Snow

A highly entertaining, if derivative, thrill ride.

James Benefield · 3 out of 5
Teens on vacation fall foul of a Nazi-zombie battalion.

(Country: Norway; Year: 2009; Director: Tommy Wirkola; Writer: Stig Frode Henriksen, Tommy Wirkola; Stars: Ane Dahl Torp, Jenny Skavlan, Bjørn Sundquist, Charlotte Frogner, Stig Frode Henriksen, Jeppe Laursen, Evy Kasseth Røsten, Lasse Valdal, Vegar Hoel, Ørjan Gamst) , Official site , Trailer

Full review See: FrightFest 2009 analysis and reviews , Sundance Diary: Day Seven

The Descent: Part Two (The Descent: Part 2)

Review preview for The Descent: Part Two

This delivers the kind of disappointment you always fear a sequel to a great first film will.

Paul Griffiths · 2 out of 5
The survivor of the first film is forced to lead a rescue party in search of her missing friends.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Jon Harris; Writer: J Blakeson, James McCarthy, James Watkins; Stars: Shauna MacDonald, Natalie Mendoza, Douglas Hodge, Krysten Cummings, Gavan O'Herlihy)

Full review

Evil Things

Things go horribly wrong at a birthday party in a remote country house.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Dominic Perez; Stars: Laurel Casilo, Elyssa Mersdorf, Morgan Hooper, Torrey Weiss, Ryan Maslyn)

Fragment

A military photographer dying of a brain tumour discovers that he can revive the dead through his camera, and seeks out the beautiful victim of a snuff film.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2009; Director: Andrew Miles; Stars: Wayne Bradley, Bree Robinson, Ian McPhee, Erin Chadwick, Alexandra Davies)

Giallo

Review preview for Giallo

Provides a solid framework for plenty of classic Argento images, suspense, shocks and splatter.

Keith Hennessey Brown · 4 out of 5
As a killer stalks and kidnaps beautiful young women, how far will the local detective have to go to stop him?

(Country: USA, Italy; Year: 2009; Director: Dario Argento; Writer: Jim Agnew, Sean Keller; Stars: Adrien Brody, Emmanuelle Seigner, Elsa Pataky, Robert Miano, Valentina Izumi, Silvia Spross, Lorenzo Pedrotti, Byron Deidra, Daniela Fazzolari, Luis Molteni, Giuseppe Lo Console, Barbara Mautino, Taiyo Yamanouchi, Maryann McIver, Anna Varello)

Full review See: FrightFest 2009 analysis and reviews

Heartless

Review preview for Heartless

The amount of creativity and ideas on display is astonishing.

James Benefield · 4 out of 5
A photographer's son with an unusual birthmark comes to suspect that demons are murdering the people of London.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Philip Ridley; Stars: Jim Stugess, Timothy Spall, Clemence Poesy, Noel Clarke, Joseph Rawle)

Full review See: FrightFest 2009 analysis and reviews

Hierro

Review preview for Hierro

Ironically, despite the narrative positively drowning in water imagery, there is never any sense of flowing story.

Amber Wilkinson · 2.5 out of 5
A mother becomes convinced her missing son is still alive.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2009; Director: Gabe Ibáñez; Writer: Jesus de la Vega, Javier Gullón; Stars: Elena Anaya, Hugo Arbues, Jon Ariño, Miriam Correa, Tomás del Estal, Andrés Herrera, Javier Mejía, Kaiet Rodriguez, Raquel Salvador, Bea Segura, Mar Sodupe)

Full review See: FrightFest 2009 feature introduction and a celebration of 10 years of the festival

The Hills Run Red

A student becomes obsessed by a notorious slasher film tracks down the director's daughter but a trip to the film's location brings back more than bad memories.

(Year: 2009; Director: Dave Parker; Writer: John Carchietta, John Dombrow, David J. Schow; Stars: Janet Montgomery, William Sadler, Sophie Monk, Tad Hilgenbrink, Alex Wyndham, Mike Straub, Ewan Bailey, Raicho Vasilev, Hristo Mitzkov, Danko Jordanov, Itai Diakov)

The Horde (La horde)

When corrupt cops storm a mobster's hideout the arrival of zombies forces unlikely alliances to form.

(Country: France; Year: 2009; Director: Yannick Dahan, Benjamin Rocher; Writer: Arnaud Bordas, Yannick Dahan, Stéphane Moïssakis, Nicolas Peufaillit, Benjamin Rocher; Stars: Eriq Ebouaney, Jo Prestia, Jean-Pierre Martins, Aurélien Recoing, Claude Perron, Alain Figlarz, Doudou Masta, Yves Pignot, Antoine Oppenheim, Laurent Demianoff, Sébastien Peres, Cédric Boyer, Gauthier Lamothe)

The Horseman

Review preview for The Horseman

While The Horseman will have viewers squirming in their seats, its take on the workings of vengeance is remarkably responsible.

Anton Bitel · 3.5 out of 5
A grief-mad father tracks down the men responsible for his daughter’s death and discovers more about his daughter than a father should ever know.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2008; Director: Steven Kastrissios; Writer: Steven Kastrissios; Stars: Peter Marshall, Caroline Marohasy, Brad McMurray, Jack Henry, Evert McQueen, Christopher Sommers, Bryan Probets, Steve Tandy, Chris Betts, Damon Gibson)

Full review See: FrightFest 2009 analysis and reviews , Australian Film Festival preview, plus Richard Brennan and Jasmine Yuen-Carrucan talk about film Down Under

The House Of The Devil

Review preview for The House Of The Devil

As a genre filmmaker through and through, West is unlikely to be winning an Oscar any time soon – but when it comes to the extraordinary manipulation of tension and atmosphere, he is an unsung master of cinema.

Anton Bitel · 4 out of 5
Retro suspense thriller centers on a cash-strapped college girl who answers a babysitting ad only to gradually unravel the horrifying secret behind why she was truly hired.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Ti West; Writer: Ti West; Stars: Jocelin Donahue, Tom Noonan, Mary Woronov, Greta Gerwig, A.J. Bowen, Dee Wallace)

Full review See: FrightFest 2009 analysis and reviews

The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (The Human Centipede)

Review preview for The Human Centipede (First Sequence)

The film, surprisingly, pulls back from extreme gore and specific scenes of insane surgery.

Owen Van Spall · 2.5 out of 5
A mad doctor plans to graft people together so that they form a crawling monstrosity, and two unfortunate American girls fall into his clutches.

(Country: Netherlands, UK; Year: 2009; Director: Tom Six; Writer: Tom Six; Stars: Dieter Laser, Ashley C. Williams, Ashlyn Yennie, Akihiro Kitamura) , Official site

Full review

Infestation

Humans get bugged by outsize creepy crawlies.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Kyle Rankin; Writer: Kyle Rankin; Stars: Diane Gaeta, Deborah Geffner, VJ Kewl, Chris Marquette, Bru Muller, Brooke Nevin, Kinsey Packard, Linda Park, Efram Potelle, Dale R. Simonton, E. Quincy Sloan, Mike Straub, Wesley Thompson, Jim Cody Williams, Ray Wise)

It's Alive

After being treated with experimental drugs, a woman gives birth to a baby which is determined to kill everyone is sight.

(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Joseph Rusnak; Stars: Bijou Phillips, James Murray, Raphael Coleman, Ty Glasser, Owen Teale)

I Sell The Dead

Review preview for I Sell The Dead

Monaghan and Fessenden are cast perfectly and have a great onscreen rapport, reminding me of a re-vamped Abbott and Costello.

Darren Amner · 3.5 out of 5
A grave robber looks back on the life he has led and the unburied bodies that haunt his memories.

(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Glenn McQuaid; Writer: Glenn McQuaid; Stars: Dominic Monaghan, Ron Perlman, Larry Fessenden, Angus Scrimm, Daniel Manche, John Speredakos, Eileen Colgan, Brenda Cooney) , Official site , Trailer

Full review

I Think We're Alone Now

Documentary about two fans obsessed with the pop star Tiffany.

(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Sean Donnelly; Writer: Sean Donnelly)

Macabre

Four friends pick up trouble along with a hitchhiker.

(Country: Singapore, Indonesia; Year: 2009; Director: The Mo Brothers; Writer: The Mo Brothers; Stars: Ario Bayu, Shareefa Daanish, Julie Estelle, Ruly Lubis, Daniel Mananta, Mike Muliadro, Arifin Putra, Dendy Subangil, Imelda Therinne, Sigi Wimala)

Night Of The Demons

A group of young women discover that the house where they're enjoying a party is inhabited by demons which want to possess them.

(Country: US; Year: 2009; Director: Adam Gierasch; Writer: Jace Anderson, Adam Gierasch; Stars: Monica Keena, Shannon Elizabeth, Edward Furlong, Bobbi Sue Luther, John F. Beach)

Pontypool

Review preview for Pontypool

McDonald has once more created a unique and entertaining film that will be appreciated by fans of the zombie film and the quirky comedy alike.

Sarah Artt · 5 out of 5
A radio DJ tries to track the source of a virus which turns people into zombies.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2008; Director: Bruce McDonald; Writer: Tony Burgess; Stars: Stephen McHattie, Lisa Houle, Georgina Reilly, Hrant Alianak, Rick Roberts, Tony Burgess)

Full review See: FrightFest 2009 analysis and reviews

The Shadow

A young soldier on an adventure after returning from Iraq, finds the horrors of war are the least of his worries.

(Country: Italy; Year: 2009; Director: Federico Zampaglione; Stars: Chris Coppola, Jake Muxworthy, Karina Testa, Matt Patresi, Emilio De Marchi, Gianpiero Cognoli, Ottaviano Blitch, Nuot Arquint)

Smash Cut

Able Whitman is a horror-film director whose movies are panned by critics and audiences alike — until he starts killing people and using their body parts as props in his new flick.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2009; Director: Lee Demarbre; Writer: Ian Driscoll; Stars: Sasha Grey, Michael Berryman, David Hess, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Meghanne Kessels, Phil Caracas, Cinthia Burke, David Lipman, Jade Carpenter, Ray Sager, Ian Driscoll, Peter Michael Dillon, Dennis Stamp, Rusty Nails, Kathy Logan) , Official site

Trick 'R Treat

Scary stories of vampires, werewolves, zombies and serial killers combine in a small town one Halloween night.

(Country: US; Year: 2008; Director: Michael Dougherty; Stars: Brian Cox, Dylan Baker, Anna Paquin, Quinn Lord, Leslie Bibb)

Triangle

Review preview for Triangle

This film is stunningly photographed, and as a piece of art it draws the viewer in until it becomes apparent that all is not what it seems.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
When a yachting party get caught in a storm they take refuge on a liner... but is it really a safe haven?

(Country: Australia; Year: 2009; Director: Christopher Smith; Writer: Christopher Smith; Stars: Liam Hemsworth, Melissa George, Emma Lung, Rachael Carpani, Michael Dorman, Henry Nixon) , Trailer

Full review

Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl

Review preview for Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl

Cartoonish scenes of violence are fed through a deranged Manga ethos to create a film that is uber-kitsch and heavily saturated in post-modern sensibilities.

James Gracey · 3 out of 5
Two schoolgirls fight over a boy - using supernatural powers and extreme violence.

(Country: Japan; Year: 2009; Director: Yoshihiro Nishimura, Naoyuki Tomomatsu; Stars: Yuki Kawamura, Elly Otoguro, Takumi Saitoh, Eihi Shiina, Takashi Shimizu)

Full review See: FrightFest 2009 analysis and reviews

Zombie Women Of Satan

A rock singer attempts to save her sister from a Satanic burlesque cult.

(Country: UK; Year: 2009; Director: Warren Speed, Steve O'Brien; Stars: Victoria Hopkins, Warren Speed, Christian Steel, Seymour Mace, Kate Soulsby)