Sunday 24 August 2008

From Within

(UK Premiere)

Religion, suicide and witchcraft are the terrifying threads of cinematographer/director Phedon Papamichael's (3:10 To Yuma) supernatural shocker. Inexplicable deaths are plaguing the village of Grovetown. Fundamentalist fanatic Dylan blames the seeming suicides on dark forces - in particular outsider Aidan, just arrived back in town after the suspicious fiery death of his mother whom the locals proclaimed a devil-worshipper. Soon Dylan's girlfriend Lindsay has joined Aidan in trying to stop a curse. With inventive staging and a refreshing take on psychological horror, Papamichael makes supernatural presence palpable while keeping terror personal. As the situation reaches critical mass and skeletons tumble out of closets, it becomes clear that guilt, as much as faith, is at the heart of Grovetown's troubles. And in a stunning climax From Within proves teen horror is best served when pitched with a grown-up frame of mind.

90 minutes

Director: Phedon Papamichael

Elizabeth Rice
Thomas Dekker
Kelly Blatz
Laura Allen
Adam Goldberg

USA 2008

Distributor: Burgundy Films

Let The Right One In

(English Premiere)

The award-winning Swedish shock sensation of the year is Tomas Alfredson's stunningly directed juvenile vampire saga written by John Ajvide Lindquist (adapting his acclaimed novel). It charts the budding friendship between bullied loner Oskar and angelic Eli, his new neighbour. But Eli requires freshly tapped human blood to survive and Oskar might just be the person to replace her ageing guardian getting sloppy in his covert murder methods. Alfredson adopts a naturalistic approach to developing the core relationship and the duo's parallel dramas, using long takes and static shots, combined with Hoyte van Hoytema's gorgeous cinematography and Johan Soderqvist's perfectly pitched score, establishing a strangely captivating mood. Adult in unsentimental tone, chilling texture, and encompassing a full spectrum of provocative emotions, Alfredson's subtle masterpiece is a remarkably moving and genuinely frightening evocation of childhood terrors, fantasies and frailties. It immediately takes its place among the classics of the vampire genre.

114 minutes

Director: Tomas Alfredson

Kare Hedebrant
Lina Leandersson
Per Ragnar
Henrik Dahl
Karin Bergquist

Sweden 2008

Distributor: Momentum Pictures

The Brøken

(UK Premiere)

Broken mirrors, fragmented souls, shattered minds - Edgar Allan Poe goes Alfred Hitchcock in director Sean Ellis's superstitious tale of the supernatural. Radiologist Gina McVey finds her life turned inside out when she sees her exact double drive by in a car. Following the mysterious doppelganger to a London apartment, things become stranger still when she begins to question the true identities of those around her. To her family, she appears to be losing touch with reality. But she is determined to prove them wrong even though she can't be sure whose life she is leading - her own or her psychotic body double's. Further proof, if any were needed after the wonderful Cashback, that former fashion photographer Ellis is a consummate visual stylist and a brilliant filmmaker. It's the stunning look, the eerie tone and precise pacing of this world of reflective horror that makes The Brøken such a haunting, pulse-pounding and ethereal experience.

88 minutes

Director
Sean Ellis

Starring
Lena Headey
Richard Jenkins
Asier Newman
Michelle Duncan
Melvil Popaud

UK/France, 2008

Distributor: The Works

Autopsy

(World Premiere)

Written by Adam Gieraschand Jace Anderson (Mother Of Tears, Toolbox Murders), former B-movie horror actor Gierasch makes his directorial debut with homage to such gore slashers as Doctor Butcher MD. It's Mardi Gras and Emily Hosfeld, boyfriend Bobby and friends Clare, Dmitri and Jude have had the time of their lives. On their way out of New Orleans, a car accident leaves them injured and stranded on a lonely Louisiana highway. When the ambulance arrives, it whisks them to Mercy Hospital. With a minimal staff and many empty wings, the hospital is an eerie place, but that's only the beginning. Dr. David Benway and his sinister staff are using patients in gruesome experiments. It's up to Emily to rescue her friends and escape the surgical terrors and medical menace. A new talent on the American independent horror scene, Gierasch is currently prepping his splatter remake of Night of the Demons.

85 minutes

Director Adam Gierasch

Starring Robert Patrick
Jenette Goldstein
Jessica Lowndes
Ross Kohn
Ashley Schneider

USA 2008

Distributor: Seven Arts

Martyrs

(UK Premiere)

The most talked about, contentiously divisive chiller at this year's Cannes Film Festival was director Pascal Laugier's esoteric development of an everyday tabloid headline into a blood-freezing nightmare underworld. A disturbing uncompromising work with challenging ideas and extreme violence that tells the spine-tingling tale of a group of rich elite enforcing martyrdom on those most susceptible to torture distress.

The victims witness religious nirvana at the climax of their intense suffering, letting the elite learn secrets from beyond the grave. Multiply Inside by Frontier(s) and Switchblade Romancefor the full impact of Laugier's masterpiece.

A viscerally audacious, ballsy piece of brilliant filmmaking Martyrs is an astounding blend of the surreal, the excessive, the repulsive and the totally unpredictable. 2008's most unforgettable and controversial horror experience - prepare yourself for its strangely beautiful, utterly thrilling and profoundly astounding shock conclusion.

100 minutes

Director Pascal Laugier

Starring Mylène Jampanoï
Morjana Alaoui
Catherine Begin
Mike Chute
Anie Pascale


France/Canada 2008

Distributor: Optimum Releasing

Jack Brooks Monster Slayer

(UK Premiere)

A wild and crazy homage to such '80s horrors as The Evil Dead, From Beyond and The Fly, oozing slime, weird creatures, gruesome transformations and good old-fashioned geek gore fuel director Jon Knautz's mutant mind-meld. Jack Brooks is a moody young plumber given to fits of uncontrollable anger whenever he hears Bobby Darin's pop classic 'Beyond The Sea'. And with good reason: During a camping trip years earlier, he was traumatized by the sight of his family being devoured by a bloodthirsty beast. Trying hard to be normal, he takes night school science classes with his girlfriend Eve. But when their professor (genre icon Robert Englund) is transformed into a multi-tentacled monster thanks to an ancient black heart that forces its way inside him, Jack at long last finds a useful way to channel his violent temper. A slyly amusing, genially energetic and consistently entertaining campy horror comic destined for cult classic status.

90 minutes

Director
Jon Knautz

Starring
Trevor Matthews
Robert Englund
Rachel Skarstein
David Fox
Stefanie Drummond


Canada 2007

Distributor: Momentum Pictures