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Frightfest Imminent

Bleeding Cool's new film editor is still very excited, if unnamed, and gives us a little taste of what he'll be writing for us.

As you'll soon work out, I'm a big fan of the Frightfest film festival. Every August, I book myself into days of back-to-back movie viewing, snugly set in the same seat for a whole avalanche of fantasy and horror film premieres. And there's always premieres – UK premieres, European premieres and some crowd-thrilling world premieres. Last year, the big surprise hit of the fest was Tom Six's remarkable Human Centipede. You can trace the film's reputation back to that first screening. I remember the moments before the film started – talking to the very friendly people sat next to me, none of us really sure what to expect but, speaking for myself at least, getting rather excited. And I remember the moments afterwards even more vividly. A cult classic had been born. Or at least sewn together in a filthy chain.

The full programme for this year's festival will be announced on July 2nd, and then on July 3rd, the festival's weekend passes will go on sale. Just as a tease, however, the opening and closing films have already been named. Saucy.

To open up this year's party we'll be treated to the world premiere of Adam Green's Hatchet II. Green is a truly beloved member of the Frightfest family and his homecoming, as gory and alarming as the film might be, is bound to be warm. Autograph hunters note: the Hatchet II has a cast full of horror favourites (Todd, Hodder, Buechler) and while just who will join Green in attending the premiere hasn't been announced yet, you can guarantee a number of the actors will be there.

Aaaaaaand… as a bonus, Green will be presenting a double bill at the Prince Charles Cinema the night before: the original Hatchet and… Steven Spielberg's ET. Okay.

The closing film will be Daniel Stamm's The Last Exorcism, previously known as Cotton. This isn't a world premiere, but it is a very early screening and director Stamm and producers Eli Roth and Eric Newman will be on hand for a Q&A. The film is a mock-doc about an Exorcism (…yawn) but is reputedly very, very scary indeed (oh – okay! Yay!).

To me, this all sounds like Heaven. Or, well, Hell, I suppose – but the kind of Hell you can really enjoy. But that's not all, there's more: if you buy your weekend pass on Saturday July 3rd, you also get given entry to a midday screening on that very day – Joey Stewart's revenge film The Final. Just a nice bit of shine rubbed on top.

Sparkly.

This Wednesday sees the launch of the Frightfest E-zine, a bi-monthly magazine that promises a whole lot simply through virtue of who is putting it together. These guys know their horror, they've got access and their industry friends are legion. Look to that for more on this
year's fest.

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