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Glasgow Film Festival · 2022

Glasgow Film Festival 2022

Frightfest

Programme

12 films · 10 reviews

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The Cellar

Review preview for The Cellar

Familiar tropes create a certain level of comfort in a horror audience and Muldowney uses that to create a false sense of control.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
When her daughter mysteriously vanishes in the cellar of their new house, a woman uncovers dark secrets and a puzzle which keeps drawing her further in.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2022; Director: Brendan Muldowney; Writer: Brendan Muldowney; Stars: Elisha Cuthbert, Eoin Macken, Dylan Fitzmaurice Brady, Abby Fitz, Aaron Monaghan)

Full review See: Interview with Brendan Muldowney about The Cellar

A Cloud So High

While living under the roof of his aging, disgraced ex-cop father Gene Sarling, mentally unstable 22-year-old war veteran Paul evolves from a petty thief and ransacker to brutal killer.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Christopher Lee Parson; Writer: Christopher Lee Parson; Stars: Aaron Perito, John Savage, Jessica Lundy, Hemky Madera, Stephenie Lemelin)

Freaks Out

Rome, 1943: Matilde, Cencio, Fulvio and Mario live like siblings in Israel’s circus. When Israel mysteriously disappears, perhaps in flight or perhaps captured by the Nazis, the four “circus freaks” are left alone in the occupied city.

(Country: Italy, Belgium; Year: 2021; Director: Gabriele Mainetti; Writer: Nicola Guaglianone, Nicola Guaglianone, Gabriele Mainetti; Stars: Franz Rogowski, Eric Godon, Claudio Santamaria, Anna Tenta, Emilio De Marchi, Pietro Castellitto, Edoardo Purgatori, Elia Pietschmann, Aurora Giovinazzo, Giorgio Tirabassi, Franco Pistoni, Christoph Hülsen, Massimiliano Ubaldi, Riccardo Angelini, Astrid Meloni)

Homebound

Review preview for Homebound

This is a house where children’s rules hold sway.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
A man takes his new wife to meet his children in their remote country home.

(Country: UK; Year: 2021; Director: Sebastian Godwin; Writer: Sebastian Godwin; Stars: Tom Goodman-Hill, Aisling Loftus, Raffiella Chapman, Hattie Gotobed, Lukas Rolfe)

Full review See: Interview with Sebastian Godwin about Homebound

The Ledge

Review preview for The Ledge

The various accidents which befall these characters on the mountain are scary enough at a dramatic level. Take a step back from that and you’ll realise that you’re watching people do a lot of it for real.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
Mountain climber Kelly captures on camera her co-backpacker friend Sophie’s lifeless body being thrown from a ledge by four men they met earlier and now she must run for her life. Grabbing whatever climbing gear she can, Kelly begins scaling the daunting rock face in order to escape the merciless pack.

(Country: UK; Year: 2022; Director: Howard J Ford; Writer: Tom Boyle; Stars: Brittany Ashworth, Ben Lamb, Nathan Welsh)

Full review See: Interview with Howard J Ford about The Ledge

Let The Wrong One In

Review preview for Let The Wrong One In

With memorable characters, skilled acting and great comic timing, this film is entertaining throughout.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
When Matt’s estranged older brother Deco turns up at his flat looking terrible one morning, Matt figures he’s just on another typical loser bender. But Deco’s symptoms turn out to be more than a wicked hangover, and his newly grown fangs leave little doubt he’s fallen victim to a group of vampires terrorizing Dublin.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2021; Director: Conor McMahon; Writer: Conor McMahon; Stars: Karl Rice, Eoin Duffy, Anthony Head, Mary Murray, Lisa Haskins)

Full review

Mandrake

Review preview for Mandrake

The film doesn’t leave much room for hope, but it does present viewers with a shifting moral landscape in which motivations are tricky to pin down.

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
Probation officer Cathy Madden is given the task of rehabilitating notorious killer ‘Bloody’ Mary Laidlaw back into society after 20 years in prison. Cathy has always believed that every client deserves a shot at redemption, but her beliefs are firmly tested when two children disappear near Mary’s farm.

(Country: UK; Year: 2022; Director: Lynne Davison; Writer: Matt Harvey; Stars: Deirdre Mullins, Derbhle Crotty, Paul Kennedy)

Full review See: Interview with Lynne Davison about Mandrake

Monstrous

Review preview for Monstrous

The whole film hinges on Ricci’s performance and as such it provides a means for her to demonstrate that she’s still got what it takes.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
A woman who is traumatised by an abusive relationship runs away from her former husband with her seven-year-old son, but in their new, idyllic and remote sanctuary, they find they have another, bigger and more terrifying monster to deal with

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Chris Sivertson; Stars: Christina Ricci, Santino Barnard, Colleen Camp)

Full review

Night's End

Review preview for Night's End

Addressing the occult through online communication is a wonderful way to explore a form of horror focused on the exchange of ideas.

Jennie Kermode · 3.5 out of 5
An anxious man moves into a haunted apartment. Hiring a stranger to perform an exorcism takes a horrific turn.

(Country: US; Year: 2022; Director: Jennifer Reeder; Writer: Brett Neveu; Stars: Michael Shannon, Kate Arrington, Daniel Kyri, Theo Germaine, Geno Walker, Felonious Munk)

Full review See: Interview with Jennifer Reeder about Night’s End

Some Like It Rare

Review preview for Some Like It Rare

Foïs is perfectly cast in the sort of villain role that’s rare these days, clearly relishing the viciousness of it.

Jennie Kermode · 3 out of 5
Sophie and Vincent Pascal have run the family butcher shop for a decade, but business is bad. So grim it’s on the brink of bankruptcy and so is their marriage. But then Vincent kills a vegan activist who had vandalised their shop. When he butchers the body and his wife accidentally sells it, customers can’t stop lining up for the tender cuts.

(Country: France; Year: 2021; Director: Fabrice Eboué; Writer: Fabrice Eboué, Vincent Solignac; Stars: Fabrice Eboué, Marina Foïs, Jean-François Cayrey)

Full review

Wyrmwood: Apocalypse

Review preview for Wyrmwood: Apocalypse

All this may sound like fun, and it does have its moments, but the ebullience which animated the original is missing.

Jennie Kermode · 2.5 out of 5
In a zombie-infested Australian wasteland, soldier Rhys has dedicated his life to tracking and capturing survivors for the Surgeon General in hopes of finding a cure.

(Country: Australia; Year: 2021; Director: Kiah Roache-Turner; Writer: Kiah Roache-Turner, Tristan Roache-Turner; Stars: Shantae Barnes-Cowan, Nicholas Boshier, Bianca Bradey, David Collins, Jay Gallagher)

Full review

You Are Not My Mother

Review preview for You Are Not My Mother

There’s a lot going on here but first time feature director Kate Dolan weaves all her narrative threads together seamlessly.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
In a North Dublin housing estate Char's mother goes missing. When she returns, Char is determined to uncover the truth of her disappearance and unearth the dark secrets of her family.

(Country: Ireland; Year: 2021; Director: Kate Dolan; Writer: Kate Dolan; Stars: Hazel Doupe, Paul Reid, Carolyn Bracken, Ingrid Craigie, Jordanne Jones)

Full review See: Interview with Kate Dolan about You Are not My Mother