A few thoughts about FrightFest 2010

Friday July 23rd 2010

We didn’t dedicate a lot of bandwidth to last year’s Film4 FrightFest. To be honest, it’s not really our thing. But a certain subset of the population seem to get very excited about it, so I thought it would be worth a small mention on this fine Friday morning. The following films are showing at this year’s festival, which runs from 26th to the 30th of August at the Empire Leicester Square:

THURSDAY 26TH AUGUST

6.30 - Hatchet 2
9.15 – Primal
11.15 – Dead Cert

 [No films showing]

FRIDAY 27TH AUGUST

11:00 – Eggshells
1:00 – Texas Chain Saw Massacre
3:00 – Total Icon Tobe Hooper
5:00 - Isle of Dogs
7:15 - F
9:25 – Red Hill
11:30 - Alien vs. Ninja

FRIDAY 27TH AUGUST

10:45 – Burning Bright
12:45 – The Clinic
3:00 – Finale
5:00 – Wound
7:15 – Outcast
9:45 – Higanjima: Escape from Vampire Island

SATURDAY 28TH AUGUST

11:00 – Cherry Tree Lane
1:15 – The Tortured
3:15 – 13 HRS
6:30 – I Spit on Your Grave
9:00 – Monsters
11:30 – Dream Home

SATURDAY 28TH AUGUST

11:00 – Christopher Roth
1:15 – Fanboys
3:30 – After.Life
6:35 – Finale
9:00 – Burning Bright

SUNDAY 29TH AUGUST

11:00 – The Pack
1:00 – Andy Nyman’s Quiz from Hell
+ Short Film Showcase
4:00 – We Are What We Are
6:30 – Kaboom
9:00 – A Serbian Film
11:30 – The Loved Ones

SUNDAY 29TH AUGUST

11:00 – Higanjima: Escape from Vampire Island
1:30 – Outcast
4:05 - Wound
6:35 - Amer
9:05 - The Clinic

MONDAY 30TH AUGUST

11:15 – Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape
1:15 – The Dead
3:30 – Bedevilled
6:30 – Red White & Blue
9:00 – The Last Exorcism

MONDAY 30TH AUGUST

11:00 – Amer
1:30 – After.Life
3:35 – Fanboys
6:35 – Christopher Roth

Most of those titles mean very little to me, but inevitably quite a few will probably make their mark across the next 12 months.

Last year’s token controversial offering was The Human Centipede, so the organisers will be looking to step it up a notch with an even controversial-er choice. That choice could well be A Serbian Film which, from what I’ve heard of its content, sounds unlikely to be passed uncut even by the increasingly liberal BBFC. Maybe check it out if that’s ‘your thing’ but personally I think I’ll steer clear.

I’d be more interested to know which title will turn out to be this year’s House of the Devil (which showed at last year’s fest long before it made it big on the blogosphere). Any one of the dozens of movies on offer could be the hidden gem waiting to be discovered beneath the mountain of proverbial rubble.

My guess: it won’t be Alien vs. Ninja.