[SShaw]

Some brief notes on recent festival visits (my last day at Imagine and Dead by Dawn):

Zero Charisma - great little movie set in the world of role-play gaming.

Ragnorak - Rather good Norwegian adventure film which mixes up Norse mythology and a lot of references to Speilberg's films.

Babadook - very effective Australian pyscho-thriller exploring the relationship between a mother and her young son as she undergoes a breakdown.

Moebius - bizarre south Korean craziness that follows a man and his son after the son is castrated by his fathers girlfriend. Completely dialogue free this is both uncomfortable and odd.

Mr Sardonicus - following the previous nights House on Haunted Hill dead by dawns celebration of the Castle centenary continued with this marvel.

Les Gouffres - disappointing French psychological drama as yet another woman has a nervous breakdown after her husband disappears while exploring South American sinkholes.

Greatful Dead - Interesting Japanese stalker film.

Friday the 13th - a genre classic (and I notice June 13th 2014 is a Friday - so perhaps a rewatch on Bluray next month is required).

13 Sins - excellent English language remake.

Killer Legends - disappointing documentary from the makers of the much better Cropsey which looks at some of the urban legend origins of classic horror films.

Dead Banging (aka Metalca) - Zombie rock. Great fun.

Chocolate, Strawberry, Vanilla - lonely icecream vendor undergoes a mental breakdown. One of my highlights from dead by dawn.

Lesson of Evil - quite brilliant pyscho killer school massacre from the great Miike.

Twilight Zone - advertised as a classic. I had forgotten just how dull the movie is.

Housebound - brilliant horror comedy from New Zealand. My pick as best of Dead by Dawn 2014 and as it won the audience prize I guess I'm not alone.

Oculus - effective haunted mirror story developed from the short (which was previously shown at the festival).

Since returning from the U.K. I also found time to watch the excellent Street Law, Spike Lee's disappointing remake of Oldboy which seems to have lost all of the anger of the original and recent U.K. sci-fi in the form of The Machine and the Coen brothers latest Inside LLewyn Lewis.