FrightFest: London is uneasy

The 25th FrightFest continues to take over Leicester Square, providing grisly fun for audiences over the long weekend. Here are highlights for Saturday...

ENGLISH PREMIERE
Strange Darling
dir-scr JT Mollner; with Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner 23/US ***.
After an opening caption states that this is the true story of a serial killer's rampage, this thriller unfolds in a wonderfully lurid style over six chapters that arrive out of sequence. With saturated hues and heightened performances, the film is grippingly over-the-top right from the start, impressively crafted by writer-director JT Mollner. So even it never feels very substantial, the film's twisty, playful touches keep us on our toes, messing with our expectations... FULL REVIEW >

UK PREMIERE
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
dir Andre Ovredal; with Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi 23/Ger ***.
A rarely filmed section of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula is the basis for this thriller, which is set on an ill-fated journey at sea plagued by something that's both murderous and unnatural. Norwegian director Andre Ovredal keeps the film grounded through quirky character touches while emphasising the dark and stormy menace. So the film becomes a claustrophobic slasher horror as it goes along, pitting a diminishing number of crew members against a monster... FULL REVIEW >

UK PREMIERE
Video Vision
dir-scr Michael Turney; with Andrea Figliomeni, Chrystal Peterson 24/US ****
Snappy dialog and a witty use of forgotten video formats add a sharply entertaining spark to this offbeat horror movie about a demon-possessed videotape player. And while the direction is fairly simplistic, there are terrific camera effects along the way that give the film a woozily disorienting tone, pulling us in because the characters are strongly well-developed. Filmmaker Michael Turney also gives the audience some genuinely nasty grisliness for good measure. Plus a storming theme song.

WORLD PREMIERE
Traumatika
dir Pierre Tsigaridis; with Rebekah Kennedy, Emily Goss ***.
Opening with a caption about childhood trauma, this horror movie submerges the topic in a demonic context that's full of jolts and grisly surprises. Instead of building suspense, director Pierre Tsigaridis deploys grubby production design, nutty editing and a super-heightened sound mix to keep us off-balance. So the main tension is the wait for the next moment of hyper-grisliness. Rather than a coherent, involving narrative, this is an enjoyably bonkers collection of nightmarish scenes... FULL REVIEW >

For info, FRIGHTFEST >

Critical Week: Rock the block

With summer weather finally arriving in Britain (we basically skipped spring this year), it's tricky for us to go back to the newly reopened cinemas or spend time outside in the sunshine. But it's been too long since we were able to watch movies! My screenings this week included In the Heights, the film of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical celebrating New York's Caribbean subculture. It's exuberant and fun, and has a terrific cast. But the songs felt a bit thin to me. And both Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson are back for a third go-round with the supernatural in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, a genuinely creepy thriller about demonic possession based on a true story. That narrative is somewhat watered down by rather a lot of effective movie nonsense.

BEST OUT THIS WEEK:
Sublet • The Father
The Dose • Ellie and Abbie
To the Ends of the Earth
ALL REVIEWS >

The British comedy-thriller School's Out Forever is a fresh but over-violent take on the genre, as teens go into military mode following a deadly pandemic. From Australia, Ellie & Abbie (and Abbie's Dead Aunt) is a charming romantic comedy about teen girls in love, with an added witty ghost. Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman's It Must Be Heaven is a serious charmer, a surreal trip from Nazareth to Paris to New York packed with witty and very pointed observations. From Japan, To the Ends of the Earth is an offbeat and very likeable odyssey for a confused young TV host on location in Uzbekistan. And the riveting Swedish documentary The Most Beautiful Boy in the World follows the life of actor Bjorn Andresen following his explosion onto the world scene in Visconti's Death in Venice.

This next week I have a screening of the sequel Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard, plus review links to watch include Disney's animated adventure Luca, Willem Dafoe in Lansky, the spy thriller The Serpent and the comedy Untitled Horror Movie.