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Bloody Good Film Festival
The International Bram Stoker Film Festival in England flowed with a surprising amount of Aussie blood.
The first International Bram Stoker Film Festival took place from the 16th to the 19th October in Whitby, England, and screenwriter Deborah Louise Robinson had the good fortune to be asked along to cover it.
My first impressions were very favourable indeed. I was warmly welcomed by festival director Mike McCarthy, who showed me around its fantastic old venue, the Whitby Pavilion Theatre. The way he’d transformed the quaint old theatre into a movie house was most impressive, installing a good sized screen and a great surround sound system. The theatre was pitch black, which is a prerequisite for a festival of this kind, and this made for a great atmosphere, further enhanced by green and red up lighting between the films.
The launch party was a good mix of appropriately horror themed acts. Burlesque dancers, Geishas, and The Mocky Horror Show all performed. But the act of the night was contortionist Chris-Cross who was scarily flexible. Not only could he contort into unimaginable positions but he also showed talent as a comedian and escape artist.
On to the films, which were an interesting and varied mix. No one could possibly enjoy them all, but no one could come away disappointed either. The Bram Stoker International Film Festival catered for all tastes.
The Australian film Family Demons follows the story of Billie (Cassandra Kane) and her traumatic life with an alcoholic mother (Kerry Reid). The film was impressively carried by these two main actors, and Kerry Reid was particularly incredible as the hideously unstable parent. The film shows us how our demons can stay with us forever, and has enough tension and gore to keep the average horror fan interested. Family Demons is a commendable first attempt by director Ursula Dabrowsky.
The Canadian Reel Zombies is a lot of fun, if a little too long. However, the humour is great, reminiscent of the Canadian series Trailer Park Boys. The film is a mockumentary about a group of filmmakers in the wake of a real life Zombie outbreak, wrangling the Zombies and using them to shoot a horror film, with real Zombies playing themselves. An interesting idea, which no doubt, with a larger budget and more experienced filmmakers could have been brilliant. As it is, it’s a fair attempt, and condensed into a short would have had more impact.
American short Kirksdale was one of the best films of the festival. With classy direction, an interesting story and real cringe inducing moments, it’s evident that writer/director Ryan Spindell is going places. The film is set in 1960s rural Florida, and centres on a girl who is picked up by a corrupt policeman and driven to the local lunatic asylum – what else would you expect to find there but a lunatic! There’s some sadistic, jaw-dropping wrongness going on here, and it is all done with great style. This is no ordinary horror film, and certainly packs a harder punch than most full length features.
The Fox Family (Gumiho gajok) is a Korean made film, so it’s not surprising that this was the strangest film at the festival. Weird, wonderful, but certainly not a film you’d want to watch over and over. The Fox Family is the story of a family of foxes who appear human; they must eat human liver on a certain date and time in order to remain human forever. This film is well made, the production quality is very high, and it clearly had a reasonable budget. If you’ve ever wanted to see a man dressed as Wonder Woman go ape with a chainsaw, then this is the film for you. If you like your films scary, forget it. The Fox Family film is weird, funny, and well made, but never scary.
There were many, many films at this festival that were all worth a mention, but Jody Dwyer’s Dying Breed, was one of the best. I was lucky enough to meet producer Rod Morris, who tells me he was aiming to make the quintessential Aussie horror, and that is exactly what he has done. If you haven’t yet seen the film on its Australian cinema or DVD release, Dying Breed is not particularly original, but certainly entertaining and ticks all the boxes.
A group of four friends head to the Tasmanian wilderness in search of the Tasmanian Tiger which is thought to be extinct. Once they are at their remote location it becomes apparent that the locals are not all they seem. In fact they are descendants of a notorious cannibal (Alexander Pearce, who has also been cinematically immortalised with Van Diemen’s Land and The Last Confession Of Alexander Pearce) and his love of human flesh has been passed down through the family. The production belies the small budget they had to work with; Dying Breed is a well-made film with a great deal of tension, a splattering of humour and a good dose of excitement. The perfect ingredients for a well made horror.
Whilst at the festival I was lucky enough to be invited to a filmmakers’ workshop, and as a screenwriter I found this very interesting and informative. It was an opportunity for local students to ask questions and learn from people in the industry. The panel consisted of Rachel Waters (Actress: Temptation), Caroline Haines (Actress: Temptation), Catherine Taylor (Director: Temptation), Steve Jaggi (Producer: Temptation), Darren (Producer/Director: Nightlife) Nina Romian (Journalist), Devi Snively (Director/Writer: Death In Charge), Augustine Fuentes (Producer: Death In Charge), Rod Morris (Writer/Producer: Dying Breed), Gavin Baddely (Journalist)
I’d like to give a special mention to Devi Snively and Augustine Fuentes (Death In Charge) for making my stay at the festival so much fun! And also to Mike McCarthy for making me feel so welcome and putting on a kick-ass show.