28th – 31st October 2010.
Manchester’s premier horror and sci-fi film festival returned this Halloween for its second year with another selection of the best movies the genre has to offer. This year, the festival moved to Manchester’s Dancehouse Theatre, which the festival director Simeon Halligan explained was originally built as a cinema in the 1940s. Grimmfest had so much to offer that they also had to make use of another smaller auditorium, where they showed even more movies that were previously unseen on these shores, since most of the films being shown were premieres in some way.
There was a lot going on outside of the cinema, with stalls selling all things horror, a display of special effects and prosthetics, academic seminars, and an endless sea of people in zombie makeup and Stormtrooper uniforms. However, the main attractions were the films, so let’s have a look at the subtitled highlights.
The festival opened with Mario Bava’s definitive version of I Am Legend by Richard Mattheson, The Last Man On Earth. This was a rare opportunity to see this classic on the big screen, and it was accompanied by electionica duo Animat. Animat’s replacement score added a new, tongue-in-cheek aspect to the camp, yet atmospheric ambience of the original, by mixing in pieces of Michael Jacksons Thriller and Human by Goldfrapp, as well as their own blend of creepy vibes. There was also a screening of the digitally remastered version of the classic Dario Argento giallo, Deep Red. Once again something a lot of us have seen before, but not on the big screen.
From Hong Kong, there was Dream Home, a powerful piece of Asian extreme cinema. Dream Home is the story of a lady who has been trying to buy a flat for most of her life and eventually finds herself going to great lengths to get it. It’s almost clinical style and mundane realism makes the dark deeds all the more effective. Dream Home is akin to films like American Psycho and Audition but much more extreme and graphic in its depiction of violence.
Chased By Satan was another highlight, although not entirely original. In many ways it works as an Indonesian version of Ring or Ju-On, this time with a haunted video camera rather than a tape. Many of the same themes prevail, although the story has nicely encompassed a lot of Indonesian folklore and offers several bits that will make you jump off your seat (and pretend you didn’t to the person sat next to you)! All in all, it is light on gore and a good fun ghost story.
Evil In The Time Of Heroes was a splatterfest of epic proportions. This Greek zombie movie is as visually stunning as Nightwatch and Shaun Of The Dead, and also mixes in a lot of comedy moments. The story is a little hard to follow, and is set in both ancient and modern day Greece, however, with the stunning comedic gore and visceral pace, being lost in the story doesn’t seem to matter so much. This was definitely one of the most enjoyable movies of the festival, making the audience gasp and laugh throughout. Oddly enough, it also features Billy Zane as a mystical warrior, although his Greek is flawless so one could be forgiven for missing him altogether.
The most artistic movie of Grimmfest was Amer, a French/Belgian homage to the gialli of the ‘60s and ‘70s. As you can imagine, it features all the usual iconography of giallo, from monstrous mothers to lace gloved hands and heavy breathing. The most impressive thing about Amer is its visual style, which creates a very raw exploration of sexuality. The narrative follows a woman at three stages of her life, almost echoing the life span of giallo itself. Although the almost avant garde visuals do overwhelm the story (and the viewer), Amer is undoubtedly an impressive piece of filmmaking. Not to be missed.
The only way to describe Alien Vs Ninja is fun. However, as one audience member kept shouting: “This is the worst film I’ve ever seen” - I guess it is not for everyone. Most of the audience did seem to laugh at this crazy Japanese comedy/action/sci-fi romp. As you can imagine, it involves a clan of ninja who come across a dangerous alien threat in the style of a Power Rangers version of H.R. Gigers Xenomorphs from the Alien franchise. There are lots of laughs, lots of coolnessm, and if you want anything more you are watching the wrong film! This is a bit of a spoof, and much of the comedy is farcical and slapstick.
Opstandelsen (The Resurrection) was a real gem of a zombie film. At only fifty minutes long, it moves quickly and utilises a raw realistic aesthetic with a lot of hand-held shots, which may remind many of The Blair Witch Project. The story follows two brothers who come up against a whole horde of zombies at their brother’s funeral. The whole movie is shot in a real church. In fact, the priest conducting the funeral is played by the actual vicar who runs the church in real life! The gore is layered on thick, and the pace of the camera and edits leave you feeling like you just ran a marathon in under an hour. An awesome debut from director Casper Haugegaard, and a must for any zombie fan.
Already making a big splash with critics, We Are What We Are was one of the top films at the festival. Pitched as “doing for cannibals what Let the Right One In did for vampires,” this instant classic does just that. The debut feature from Mexican director Jorge Michael Grau explores the ideas behind family unit and sexuality as danger, with a dark tragic tale which leaves us identifying sympathetically with a group of people whose lifestyle breaches one of the most ancient of taboos. We Are What We Are is powerful, moving and sensitive - and manages to avoid being exploitative like almost all other cannibal movies. A real genre film.
The most powerful and impressive film of the Grimmfest was Korean movie Bedevilled. Loosely speaking, it is a rape-revenge film, although completely avoids presenting the topic in any sort of exploitative context. More powerful and relevant than films like I Spit On Your Grave, due to the social context of Korea and its treatment of women, Bedevilled is more than rape-revenge, it is about a lifetime of suffering and turning-the-other-cheek, and the almost entirely justified grisly revenge that ensues. This is a film that set a whole audience to tears, and I’m not sure anyone who sees it will ever forget it. It was easily the film of the festival, not just because of its immense power, but also because of its hidden charm and wit that punctuates the underlying darkness that it presents. Bedevilled is a pure cinematic force, and something to be watched and cherished for its sensitive treatment of such a difficult subject matter.
On the whole, Grimmfest featured an incredible line-up of films spanning the entire spectrum of horror. It made us laugh, it made us jump and it even made us cry like children. A first class event for any genre aficionado. DOB
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