![\"the](\"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/the-windmill-massacre-1-crop-u41771.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFirst up was Dutch slasher throwback The Windmill Massacre<\/em><\/strong>. The feature directing debut from Frankenstein\u2019s Army<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0producer Nick Jongerius finds a bus-load of visitors to Amsterdam\u00a0stranded in the middle of the countryside\u00a0with a flat tire. Seeking shelter in a nearby windmill, they\u2019re about to find out that the owner is not happy to see them\u2026<\/p>\n With a promisingly retro set-up and an eclectic cast including the great Noah Taylor, we were cautiously optimistic about this and, although there\u2019s some schlocky fun to be had, caution is definitely advised. The blend of axe-murders and guilty consciences does conjure up warm memories of Amicus guilt trips, as our characters realise that there might very well be a reason why they’re stranded in this deadly locale, and, of course, 80s slashers, with plenty of gruesome uses of farming implements, and there’s a solid lead turn from Broadchurch<\/em><\/strong>‘s Charlotte Beaumont, but it\u2019s neither particularly funny nor particularly scary. Some decent performances, good splatter and energetic direction push it along, but we were a bit disappointed.<\/p>\n Meanwhile in the discovery screen, Babak Anvari’s Under The Shadow<\/em><\/strong> was absolutely superb and our pick for film of the festival.\u00a0Tehran, 1988, and the Iran-Iraq war is raging. Shideh (Narges Rashidi) is struggling with the fact that her political past means that she cannot resume medical school, a frustration that causes friction between her, her husband Iraj (Bobby Naderi) and her young daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi). When Iraj is conscripted, he begs Shideh to take Dorsa and leave their apartment block and head to the hills but she refuses. As the missiles get closer, a strange presence begins to make its presence known\u2026<\/p>\n Comparisons with The Babadook<\/em><\/strong> are inevitable, as well as The Devil’s Backbone<\/em><\/strong>, and this is a film that deserves\u00a0to be in that esteemed company, but it’s also a powerful, complex and very, very scary\u00a0film in its own right.\u00a0Rashidi is superb as Shideh;\u00a0sympathetic but not sugarcoated, a woman who\u2019s been held back by the society she lives in, but never reduced to a statement. Her relationship with her daughter feels incredibly honest in its affection and difficulty, and it makes the terror all the more affecting. The spectre of conflict is a constant and oppressive presence, from the tape on the windows to the power cuts that precede the sprint to the basement bomb shelter. As for the supernatural,\u00a0Anvari keeps his spirits\u00a0just out of sight, in the corner of the frame, so that we\u2019re never sure if something\u2019s there\u2026until it moves.<\/p>\n It\u2019s incredibly tense stuff, and when the film wants to frighten you, it really does. Emotionally rich, politically sharp and absolutely terrifying, this is superb horror with has\u00a0modern classic written all over it.<\/p>\n Then we were back to the main screen and the world premiere of Ivan Silvestrini\u2019s Monolith<\/em><\/strong>. Pop star turned full time mum Sandra (Katrina Bowden) is driving her young son to her mother in law\u2019s house in a brand new Monolith, a car with brilliant AI and an impregnable vault mode. It\u2019s the latter that proves to be a major problem when she finds herself locked out in the middle of the desert, with her child still in the back seat\u2026<\/p>\n First of all, it has to be said that Monolith<\/em><\/strong> looks and sounds spectacular on the big screen, as Silvestrini and his cinematographer Michael FitzMaurice do justice to the beautiful desert landscape. Although the car is called Lilith, the AI is not inherently evil and it\u2019s Sandra\u2019s own carelessness that is her undoing, leaving her to try and find her way in to save herself and her son, like a\u00a0Buried<\/em><\/strong> in reverse. The problems lie in the script, which relies on some occasionally pretty terrible decision making from Sandra, and which also gives Bowden (Tucker And Dale Vs Evil<\/em><\/strong>) too many soliloquies that puncture the atmosphere. However, it definitely has its moments, some striking imagery and the actress gives a strong physical performance. A solid stranded thriller, even if it is a little bit too much like an endurance test at times.<\/p>\n The morning also saw the third and final\u00a0set\u00a0of excellent short films. The shorts are always a brilliant part of the FrightFest experience and this year’s selection was no different, with filmmakers like Cat Davies, Dan Savage, Bryan Lonano, Preston Nyman, Fabien Dubois and more showing their latest work (we really\u00a0enjoyed Sam Ashurst’s atmospheric Hell’s\u00a0Garden<\/em><\/strong>,\u00a0a great creepy effort with an ace\u00a0twist).<\/p>\n Up next in the main screen was the highly anticipated Director\u2019s Cut,<\/em><\/strong> the none-more-meta horror comedy from director Adam Rifkin (Detroit Rock City<\/em><\/strong>, Chillerama<\/em><\/strong>) and writer Penn Jillette. The funny conceit finds crowd-funding wannabe filmmaker Herbert Blount (Jillette) giving his own director\u2019s commentary over the film he put some money towards, pointing out the stereotypical characters, bad acting, and generally fawning over Missi Pyle (herself). However, his editorial choices, such as slow-motion close-ups of Pyle, become increasingly sinister\u2026<\/p>\n Although the idea of a director\u2019s commentary weirdly feels a little dated now, Director\u2019s Cut<\/em><\/strong> is very funny and very sharp; satirising the kickstarter process,\u00a0depicting an ego-laden low-budget movie set, and eventually becoming a really quite creepy horror movie. The commentary concept does start to wear a little thin, but Blount\u2019s inclusion of his own homemade footage in his cut keeps things fresh (and more than a little unnerving). Similarly, although we\u2019ve seen actors playing monstrous versions of themselves before, Pyle (Galaxy Quest<\/em><\/strong>, Dodgeball<\/em><\/strong>) sinks her teeth into the role of \u201cMissi Pyle\u201d with great relish, and Harry Hamlin is\u00a0an absolute delight. Fun cameos include Lin Shaye as the no-bullshit police captain, and an extremely vocal Teller as a murder suspect who gets a little too excited by the line of questioning. Director\u2019s Cut<\/em><\/strong> does threaten to outstay its welcome and the concept is overstretched by the 90 minute running time, but it\u2019s got enough laughs and enough weirdness to make it worth a look.<\/p>\n In the discovery screen, writer-director duo Michael Borowiec and Sam Marine\u2019s Man Underground<\/em><\/strong> was a tense and affecting drama with three very strong performances. Willem Koda (George Basil) is a conspiracy theorist looking for a way to get the truth out there, so when his friend Todd (Andy Rocco) suggests that they make a fiction film to make his story more palatable, he accepts. He writes, directs and stars as himself, while acting student Flossie (Pamela Fila) agrees to star alongside him as his wife. As shooting begins, some painful memories and harsh truths begin to float to the surface as Flossie starts to wonder just how fictionalised this story is.<\/p>\n Borowiec and Marine walk a fine line with their debut feature, which flips between awkward comedy, affecting drama and something tense and surprising. The performances from the cast, particularly from Basil and Fila, are excellent, and the film\u2019s treatment of Willem is impressively sensitive. He\u2019s a difficult person to get on with, and his stories might seem outrageous, but the script never turns him into a figure of fun or someone to be mocked. His pain is real and the movie treats that with the respect it deserves. You can read our full review of Man Underground<\/em><\/strong> here<\/a>, and we\u2019re very excited to see what these two do next.<\/p>\n Speaking of lines, Emiliano Rocha Minter\u2019s We Are The Flesh<\/em><\/strong> crosses a bunch of them. This sweaty, filthy, angry and hugely powerful debut from the Mexican filmmaker takes place in some kind of apocalypse, as two siblings (Diego Gamaliel and Mar\u00eda Evoli) stumble into the claustrophobic cardboard refuge of a terrifying scavenger (the amazing No\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez). He agrees to take them in, but he\u2019s got some pretty horrible demands\u2026<\/p>\n Minter has made no secret of the fact that he\u2019s influenced by Gaspar No\u00e9, and the images that he confronts the viewer with certainly recall the raw power of the French director\u2019s work. The acts depicted in the movie read like a list of things viewers might find offensive: incest, rape, cannibalism, ejaculation\u2026To say that it\u2019s full-on would be an understatement. But it\u2019s not just about shocking us. Minter creates an incredible atmosphere in his hellish womb-like setting, creating a nightmare world where logic has no foothold, and it\u2019s impossible to ignore the fierce political commentary. You can read our full review here<\/a>, but in short, this is definitely not for everyone, but it is stunning. Rod Blackhurst\u2019s Here Alone<\/em><\/strong> was rather more subdued but very\u00a0impressive indeed. Lucy Walters stars as Ann, a woman living, well, alone in the woods in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. Through flashbacks we see the extremely traumatic events that led her to this isolated situation, and when she encounters a man and his stepdaughter, she\u2019s immediately apprehensive about forming any kind of connection. The three eventually form a unit, but can it survive the harsh world they live in?<\/p>\n First-time director Blackhurst and writer David Ebeltoft have crafted a quietly compelling and deeply affecting story, using the genre backdrop to explore the character of a woman who has been through a terrible ordeal and is given the possibility of a second chance of a human connection. The set-up, atmosphere and location are immediately reminiscent of The Road<\/em><\/strong>, as we so how Lucy\u00a0and her husband grabbed their baby, gathered\u00a0supplies and headed to somewhere isolated and (hopefully safe), putting their survival above anyone else\u2019s. Walters (Power<\/em><\/strong>) is absolutely superb in the lead role, and there\u2019s strong support from Adam David Thompson (Mozart In The Jungle<\/em><\/strong>) as the warmly upbeat Chris and Gina Piersanti as Olivia, who watches her stepfather form a connection with this stranger. It\u2019s very well paced and very easy to become invested in, so when it builds to its finale, the emotional stakes are very high indeed. This is an excellent and moving drama and we hope it finds a UK release soon.<\/p>\n We were also very big fans of Ali Abasi\u2019s gothic pregnancy horror\/class commentary Shelley<\/em><\/strong>, in which young Romanian housekeeper Elena (Cosmina Stratan) agrees to be the surrogate mother for her wealthy Danish employers. The slightly awkward family unit gets along well until Elena\u2019s pregnancy advances, and her behaviour becomes increasingly erratic. Is there really something wrong with the baby as Elena believes, and whose well-being\u00a0should mother-to-be Louise (Dorrit Petersen) put first?<\/p>\n Shelley opens with a retro horror title card that makes it clear that this is a gothic horror, but once that bit of stylised fun is out of the way, the film settles in for a slow-burning and incredibly effective blend of social critique, satire and subdued chills. Stratan and Petersen are absolutely fantastic, and Abasi creates a wonderful atmosphere of nail-biting\u00a0unease. You can read our full review here<\/a>, but in short, it\u2019s very, very good. Hunt it down.<\/p>\n Back to the main screen, and it was time for Craig Anderson\u2019s seasonal slasher Red Christmas<\/em><\/strong>. Diane (Dee Wallace, on good form) and her family gather at her home for one last Christmas before she sells the house, a decision that leads to plenty of\u2026animated discussion. However, the inevitable seasonal bickering will take a backseat when a cloaked figure calling himself Cletus arrives with a message for Diane.<\/p>\n With a title like Red Christmas<\/em><\/strong>, our first assumption was that Anderson\u2019s debut feature would be a tribute to Bob Clark\u2019s classic. However, this is much more layered than a simple homage. There are obvious nods to yuletide horrors, and a lot of Dario Argento in the film\u2019s bold colour scheme, but this is a genre movie with a sharp piece of social commentary at its core. Cletus is Diane\u2019s son, the somehow-living result of a botched abortion, and his religious upbringing means that the significance of his arrival on Christmas is lost on no one.<\/p>\n Anderson\u2019s critique of religious conservative attitudes is sharp and bloody, but it\u2019s also refreshingly complex and he\u00a0enjoys playing with our sympathies. Cletus is an unstoppable killing machine, the physical manifestation of right-to-life aggression, but he’s also a human being who has been brought up with these beliefs that are completely unwavering and non-negotiable, and who is looking for his mother… There are one or two moments that don’t quite work and the cast is so big that some of the characters feel underdeveloped, but it’s great to see a slasher film that doesn’t give the viewer a simple ride. We’re big fans and we’re very excited to see what Anderson does next.<\/p>\n Buried memories are\u00a0also a key element of Tricia Lee\u2019s Canadian chiller Blood Hunters<\/em><\/strong>, which takes its monster movie premise to a surprisingly spiritual place. Ellie Barnes (Lara Gilchrist) is a harried single mother who wakes up in an abandoned hospital, inexplicably heavily pregnant. She finally finds a man who\u2019s been restrained, but the real threat is the monsters that are very hungry and very close behind.<\/p>\n Lee makes good use of her immediately creepy setting, and the \u201chow the hell did we get here?\u201d plot structure works nicely as the band of survivors, including a medical intern, an IT technician and a priest (the always welcome Julian Richings), realise that the key to getting out is remembering why they\u2019re in this situation. While the bloodsuckers make for a decent monster threat, what Lee and writer Corey Brown (working together on their third feature) are more interested in exploring the traumatic memories that are kept just out of reach for their characters. Although it\u2019s never really that scary, there are some impressively nasty gore effects (that birth sequence is difficult to watch), and while the script is patchy, the emotional resolution is earned and rewarding.<\/p>\n Next in the discovery screen was Jason William Lee\u2019s The Evil In Us<\/em><\/strong>, which sees a 4th<\/sup> July reunion going very, very wrong. Six friends who haven\u2019t seen each other for years head out to an island cabin to party, but some suspect cocaine turns the people who took into rampaging, rage-driven monsters, the celebration quickly becomes a fight for survival.<\/p>\n The Evil In Us<\/em><\/strong> does offer a couple of spins on the classic formula, but for the most part this is a film that sticks to formula: kids go to cabin, something goes wrong, kids die. There\u2019s some solid characterisation and some good performances, and the two main subplots tie nicely into the main narrative, but there\u2019s not really very much here to make it stand out. If you\u2019re looking for a fun, bloody genre movie, you could do better but you could most definitely do worse. As a debut feature, however, it shows promise and we\u2019ll be interested to see what Lee does next.<\/p>\n One of the most talked about films of the festival was up next: Steven DeGennaro\u2019s Found Footage 3D<\/em><\/strong>. First up, a disclaimer: we saw this film on a review link which was not in 3D, so our take on the film obviously cannot take that into consideration. That being said, we had a lot of fun with this one.<\/p>\n Screenwriter Andrew (Tom Saporito) is already struggling with the idea of a found footage movie when his director\/star Derek (Carter Roy) springs another gimmick on him: 3D. Can they make a 3D found footage movie that isn\u2019t terrible? And can Derek and his ex-wife Amy (Alenda von Stroheim) keep their disagreements off camera? And the location probably isn\u2019t actually cursed\u2026right?<\/p>\n Found Footage 3D<\/em> <\/strong>is catnip for genre fans who are exhausted by terrible lazy found footage films but haven\u2019t given up hope that the technique\u00a0can still be used\u00a0well. As a meta comedy, it\u2019s hilarious, as Andrew despairs at the prospect of coming up with answers to the questions that we all have while watching one of these films, including \u201cWhy are they still filming?\u201d and shares all our sentiments about the movies that use the technique badly. The relationships between the characters are very well-drawn and the performances are strong (Scott Allen Perry\u2019s understandably grumpy Carl is particularly good).<\/p>\n It also manages to pull off that extremely difficult horror comedy trick of being properly funny and genuinely scary. Not to give anything away, but DeGennaro keeps things tense with well-placed jump scares and little creepy chills throughout before mounting a very effective final act. We were excited about this one, and we are very pleased to report that it delivers. Funny, scary and inventive, this is highly recommended.<\/p>\n The final film of the festival was Korean zombie movie Train To Busan<\/em><\/strong>, which this reviewer had to miss in order to catch the Train To Bournemouth, but\u00a0judging by the reactions from the sold-out crowd, it went down a storm. You can read our review by Katherine McLaughlin here<\/a>.<\/p>\n And that was it for Horror Channel FrightFest 2016<\/strong>! It was a fantastic five days of horror, and we’d like to thank the FrightFest team, the staff at Vue Shepherd’s Bush and, of course, the FrightFest crowd, for making it a brilliant experience. We’ll see you next year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FrightFest reviews of Under The Shadow, Found Footage 3D, Red Christmas, Here Alone and more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":90670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"MSN_Categories":"Uncategorized","MSN_Publish_Option":false,"MSN_Is_Local_News":false,"MSN_Is_AIAC_Included":"Empty","MSN_Location":"[]","MSN_Add_Feature_Img_On_Top_Of_Post":false,"MSN_Has_Custom_Author":false,"MSN_Custom_Author":"","MSN_Has_Custom_Canonical_Url":false,"MSN_Custom_Canonical_Url":""},"categories":[2615,8],"tags":[5357,5353,5285,2634,5351,797,5355,5315,5263,5354,5356,5352],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Under-the-Shadow-4-620x310.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90644"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n