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Glasgow Film Festival · 2019

Glasgow Film Festival 2019

Frightfest

Programme

12 films · 9 reviews

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Automata

Antique expert Brendon Cole is summoned to authenticate a 300-year-old clockwork doll with a notoriously dark history known as The Inferno Princess in the remote Highlands mansion where it has recently been uncovered.

(Country: UK; Year: 2019; Director: Lawrie Brewster; Writer: Sarah Daly; Stars: Erich Redman, Alexandra Hulme, Nick Ford)

Black Circle (Svart Cirkel)

When her sister Isa recommends she listen to the B-side of an old Seventies vinyl album she swears changes lives, Celeste is sceptical. But deciding to go along with the request, she plays it just as slumber hits, only to discover she has released a ghostly doppelgänger desperate to replace its original.

(Country: Sweden, Mexico; Year: 2018; Director: Adrián García Bogliano; Stars: Christina Lindberg, Felice Jankell, Erica Midfjäll)

The Dead Center (The Dead Centre)

Review preview for The Dead Center

Whilst this may superficially seem like just another horror film about possession or a zombie, it has a lot more going on both narratively and thematically.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A hospital psychiatrist's own sanity is pushed to the edge when a frightened amnesiac patient insists that he has died and brought something terrible back from the other side.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Billy Senese; Writer: Billy Senese; Stars: Shane Carruth, Poorna Jagannathan, Jeremy Childs, Bill Feehely)

Full review See: Interview with Billy Senese about The Dead Center

Freaks

Review preview for Freaks

On a whole different level from most films of its ilk.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
Seven-year-old Chloe's father tells her to adopt an assumed identity if she’s ever separated from him, or to hide in a well-provisioned panic room if he should not return from one of his forays outside. But Chloe is determined to find out what exactly lies outside the door he's frightened of.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2018; Director: Zach Lipovsky, Adam B Stein; Writer: Zach Lipovsky, Adam B Stein; Stars: Emile Hirsch, Bruce Dern, Lexy Kolker)

Full review See: Interview with Zach Lipovsky and Adam B Stein about Freaks

Giant Killer Ant (Dead Ant)

Review preview for Giant Killer Ant

If the concept appeals to you, you're likely to find it one of the most entertaining films of the year.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
When the 1989 'one-hit-wonder' glam metal band Sonic Grave embark on a trip to Coachella in the hope of making a comeback, their peyote trip pit stop in Joshua Tree incites an attack by giant ants.

(Country: US; Year: 2017; Director: Ron Carlson; Writer: Hank Braxtan, Ron Carlson; Stars: Tom Arnold, Jake Busey, Rhys Coiro, Sean Astin, Martin Blasick, Natasha Blasick, Michael Horse)

Full review

Here Comes Hell

Review preview for Here Comes Hell

Perhaps the most entertaining cinematic romp of the year so far.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A sophisticated Thirties soiree at an isolated country mansion descends into carnage, gore and demonic possession as rivalries and old friendships are put to the test when a gateway to Hell opens up.

(Country: UK; Year: 2018; Director: Jack McHenry; Writer: Jack McHenry, Alice Sidgwick; Stars: Margaret Clunie, Jasper Britton, Timothy Renouf, Tom Bailey)

Full review See: Interview with Jack McHenry and Margaret Clunie about Here Comes Hell

The Hoard

Review preview for The Hoard

It captures the in-your-face style of hoarding programmes perfectly but it's 96 minutes long with no advert breaks, and watching it quickly becomes exhausting.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
A crew of TV personalities, including a professional organiser, a psychologist, two ghost hunters and a team of junk removers, attempts to reform a legendary hoarder who owns four condemned and haunted properties.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2019; Director: Jesse Thomas Cook, Matt Wiele; Writer: Tony Burgess, Jesse Thomas Cook, Matt Wiele; Stars: Lisa Solberg, Tony Burgess, Barry More, Ry Barrett, Elma Begovic)

Full review

Level 16

Review preview for Level 16

The more science fiction you have watched (or read), the more chills you will feel running down your spine as the carefully structured story plays out.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Two girls trapped in a prison-like boarding school embark on a dangerous search to uncover the truth behind their imprisonment.

(Country: Canada; Year: 2018; Director: Danishka Esterhazy; Writer: Danishka Esterhazy; Stars: Katie Douglas, Celina Martin, Sara Canning)

Full review See: Interview with Danishka Esterhazy about Level 16

Lords Of Chaos

True story of the Norwegian black metal scene, which saw a teenager mount increasingly shocking publicity stunts to put a band's name on the map.

(Country: UK, Sweden; Year: 2018; Director: Jonas Åkerlund; Writer: Dennis Magnusson, Michael Moynihan, Didrik Søderlind, Jonas Åkerlund; Stars: Rory Culkin, Emory Cohen, Valter Skarsgård, Sky Ferreira, Jack Kilmer, Jonathan Barnwell, Anthony De La Torre, Sam Coleman, Wilson Gonzalez, Jon Øigarden, Lucian Charles Collier, Anette Martinsen, Andrew Lavelle, Adrian Mills, James Edwin)

The Ringmaster (Finale)

Review preview for The Ringmaster

Of the two halves, the first is by far the most successful.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Denmark has reached the finals of the European Championships and everyone is glued to their TVs. Petrol station employees Agnes and Belinda were hoping for a quiet night but they have been chosen as players in a gruesome game and no customers means no witnesses.

(Country: Denmark; Year: 2018; Director: Søren Juul Petersen; Writer: Carsten Juul Bladt, Søren Juul Petersen, based on the novel by Steen Langstrup; Stars: Anne Bergfeld, Karin Michelsen, Damon Younger, Kristoffer Fabricius, Mads Koudal, Kim Sønderholm, Gustav Scavenius)

Full review See: Interview with Søren Juul Petersen about Finale

The Siren (The Rusalka)

Review preview for The Siren

With a haunting choral score by the Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble, The Siren trades heavily on the beauty of its setting and the willingness of its audience to suspend disbelief when lulled by a very traditional approach to storytelling.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Tom falls in love with a mysterious woman who swims by night in a lake where far too many people have recently drowned.

(Country: US; Year: 2018; Director: Perry Blackshear; Writer: Perry Blackshear; Stars: Evan Dumouchel, Maragret Ying Drake, MacLeod Andrews)

Full review See: Interview with Perry Blackshear about The Siren

The Witch: Part 1, The Subversion (Manyeo)

Review preview for The Witch: Part 1, The Subversion

Though seasoned viewers will see these twists coming, Kim deftly shifts the tone if her performance along with them to keep us guessing.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
A nefarious agency has been conducting experiments on children. One of them escapes and goes into hiding with an adopted family. Ten years later, she appears on a talent show, where she's spotted by the bad guys and becomes prey for both her peers and a hit squad.

(Country: South Korea; Year: 2018; Director: Park Hoon-jung; Writer: Park Hoon-jung; Stars: Kim Da-mi)

Full review