Horrorthon: Day 5

Director Tim O'Sullivan was the festival guest for the final day, bringing with him screenings of Hood Of Horror (which I missed, thankfully!) and his new film Driftwood.

Review: Driftwood
It's a TV movie essentially. Same kind of production value, actors who you'll find in the depths of mediocre or worse TV shows and a story that pretty much riffs off The Devil's Backbone (a much better film). And it wasn't all that scary, or even looked like it was even trying to be scary. A poor effort, but the DVD is apparently selling well in the States.
Rating: * * (2 Stars)

Following a rather long Q & A with O'Sullivan, where he came across as a decent individual and decried the emergence of torture porn (go Tim!), there was a screening of Close Encounters. What was interesting about this is that it was a brand new print from Columbia Pictures of Spielberg's definitive edit. Most of the additional scenes from the Collector's Edition DVD remain (and some are trimmed) but gone is the final scene inside the mothership, something that Spielberg hated having to include in a re-release some time following the original. It looked great and was a good reason as any for those with Blu Ray players to buy the new disc.

Review: Planet Terror
Talk about the perfect way to end the festival! Full of over-the-top gore, violence, laughs and in-jokes it was a hell of a ride, especially while watching it with a cinema full of horror hounds. A film like this is practically impossible to review, as it's shortcomings are on purpose and any attempt to pick at them is utterly pointless. So instead I ask the question: how enjoyable was it? It was great, but it's subject won't push it beyond anything that could be construed as a masterpiece.
Rating: * * * * (4 Stars)

5 days of horror movies and I was exhausted. The following 2 days I took in Psycho, The Exorcist and Halloween at another horror fest in the IMC in Dun Laoghaire. While it doesn't compare to the "official" IFI Horrorthon it was good to see some effort in a multiplex attempting to give it's audience something that resembles purposeful programming. It showed they're not totally governed by a studio release schedule and I hope they continue it next year.