Sunday
Hellions
A halloween set, small town horror with demonic trick & treaters. It feels like you know EXACTLY where this is going except.....
Its from the director of Pontypool so it goes completely weird (in a good way) and begins to deal with the terror of unwanted pregnancy. This was a really left-field and interesting little film that might alienate some of its audience but will be a firm favourite with others. The soundtrack is genuinely haunting and it has some startling imagery. Its nice to see originality can still be found, I cannot promise you that you will enjoy it but I would urge you to give it a chance.
The sun has died.
Short film from Scandinavia that makes me hope the director gets to make a full horror feature. Essentially its about a woman working as a cleaner at a nursery who finds herself menaced by a stalker. Not especially original but directed and executed in way that really works. This genuinely had me on the edge of my seat.
Antisocial 2
Bit of an odd bird this. Its a direct sequel to the first and deals with the aftermath of the events in the first. It's a much slower and more thoughtful sci-fi picture where what's happening may ultimately be a step forward in human evolution. Even if you liked Antisocial its not a flat out guarantee you will like this. My mate hated the films intensely where I actually found myself liking where it was taking me.
Hellraiser
Nuff said really. Arrows 2K release looks great and the film still delivers. Some of the flaws in the film show up a bit more clearly in this new master but it also has much more detail than my DVD release and does not look DNR'd unlike my US blu-ray.
A christmas Horror story
Another antholgy, this one has Santa facing off against zombie elves, a greedy family terrorised by Crampus, a family out stealing xmas trees who encounter some really scary shit and a couple of teens exploring a haunted school. All this is framed by a terrific performance from William Shatner as a drunk DJ. Christmas Horror story will likely be for me what Trick R treat is for halloween, essential viewing for the season. The effects are uniformly great and none of the stories are duds. Well worth a look.
DXM
The world premier of the new film from Andrew Goth the director of Gallowalkers and potentially the most divisive of the whole festival. Essentially a beautifully shot meditation on the future of science, human evolution and religion. Sam Neill plays a priest who builds a quantum computer in order to further science to a place where god is show to exist from the basis of single observer theory and unified field theory. As the work progresses shit gets weird....and that's all I'm really going to say on the plot. There were some walkouts and some applause. I dug it but then I have a high tolerance for beautiful , self indulgent overblown weirdness with pretensions to being profound. I will guarantee its going to see some hate, but it should build a fan base. Like Gallowalkers this will be a must buy for blu-ray owners who enjoy it.
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