And so we finally arrive at the last day of FrightFest 2010!
A sad day indeed and after 4 full days of non-stop horror films I didn’t want this amazing event to end. But before leaving my personal cinema seat and surrendering to the sorrow and mediocrity of a FrightFest-less world I still had a full day ahead of me, and what a day it was.
Starting early we where treated to an extremely pre-emptive piece of programming in Jake West’s excellent documentary Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape.
The in-depth documentary details the entire video nasties phenomenon from the rise of video tape to the hysterical press campaign and the subsequent banning of 72 films resulting in police video shop busts, VHS burnings and people going to prison for distributing horror movies.
Featuring interviews with all of the key people from politicians to film historians including British horror directors Neil Marshal and Christopher Smith as well as FrightFest’s own Alan Jones it exposed a shocking erosion of civil liberties and cinematic suppression the likes of which is surprisingly still happening this very day as shown in the removal of A Serbian Film from the festival line up.
A must for all horror fans and anyone interested in censorship and British film history the film will be released in a 3 DVD box set called Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide coming out in October which features every single trailer to the films that fell foul of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
After the screening there was a panel including director Jake West and the producer Marc Morris along with Allan Bryce, Martin Barker and a seemingly slightly out of it Tobe Hooper. West spoke in detail about making the movie and Hooper admitted he was completely unaware of the whole event but honoured of the controversy his movies had inspired.
Also present was David Hyman representing the BBFC who had several angry questions aimed at him from the audience eager to know why these draconian censorship measures where implemented before and why people where still being prevented from seeing what they wanted to today, a question he struggled to answer.
Next up was the world premier of The Dead an undead movie set in Africa which harked back to classic zombie movies of Romero and Fulci. Directed by Howard and Jon Ford the brothers said in their intro that it had been a “hell of a journey for the cast and crew” and that “it was amazing no one died making this movie” after the insane shoot which lead to the lead getting malaria and took them to parts of Africa “no one has ever gone to or have ever been seen”.
The film itself is set in a world where a unholy virus has destroyed nearly all of civilisation and ravaged Africa leaving the living dead to roam across the barren and harsh landscape pillaging villages and eating their inhabitants as they go, spreading the disease and ever adding to their undead numbers.
Two soldiers one American and one African team together to try and find a way to escape the infection whilst battling against zombies and the uncaring environment as they go in a desperate journey to reunite with their families.
Mixing a good dose of action and suspense and chock full of relentless, shuffling, flesh hungry meat sacks this is an old school zombie movie with a spectacular and interesting setting which will appeal to all zombie fans and features some great make up and effects considering its low budget.
As the Ford brothers described in their audience Q and A afterwards they chose slow zombies because of their love of Romero and also as they find them inherently creepy and great for creating suspense and shocks. With the blazing sun and the inhospitable landscape you can’t rest or stop because if you do they will get you and that is a horrible thought.
The brothers along with main cast members Rob Freeman and Prince David Osei also talked about what a labour of love The Dead was and how it had been 20 years in the making. Shot in Burkina Faso in West Africa a place unheard of to many people they used real villages and real people to play the zombies and although they where making a movie not trying to save the world they where happy they could bring money into a country which desperately needs it.
More zombies stumbled onto the screen as we where treated to a special preview of the new FX series The Walking Dead introduced by lead actor Andrew Lincoln. Adapted from successful comic created by writer Robert Kirkman who also penned the Marvel Zombies series it has been converted to TV by Frank Darabont director of The Mist and The Shawshank Redemption.
Coming onto our screens in November the series follows police officer Rick Grimes played by Lincoln, who leads a group of survivors in a world overrun by zombies. Having shot 6 episodes so far Lincoln said the experience had been “pretty intense and pretty gory” including a day of shooting where he had 12 dead squirrels thrown at him. The footage looked amazing and The Walking Dead was definitely a series for all horror fans to look out for.
Read Day 5 / Part 2 Here.
Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape Trailer:
The Dead Trailer:
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