LoveHorror at FrightFest 2010 – Day 2 / Part 2

Up next was a movie I had been looking forward to the world premiere of F written and directed by Johannes Roberts who admitted in his nervous introduction that there were “more people here than have watched all of my other movies.”

A movie from the heart Roberts also said he aimed to get back to something that he thought was missing in horror with an emotional character driven piece which keeps the killings off screen and the tension high.

World weary English teacher David Schofield (TV favourite Robert Anderson) hates his job and hates the pupils he has to teach even more. Traumatised by an incident involving a kid attacking him in class after receiving an F he is now a paranoid alcoholic desperately try to reconnect with his daughter the only way he can by giving her detention just so she will spend time with him.

However Schofield’s obsession with teenage hoodlums is about to become a reality as the closed college comes under attack by a faceless army of hoodies who are viciously murdering anyone unfortunate enough to still be in the school. Under siege Schofield must face his demons and the bloodthirsty gang which has him, his co-workers and his daughter trapped and terrified if he has any chance of escaping alive.

Roberts more than delivers on all fronts and F is an amazing movie with a spooky soundtrack full of chilling moments, and well timed jumps which slowly builds to its emotionally devastating climax. Taping into the contemporary media obsession with hoodies it manages to avoid the yob cliché’s of other teen focused horror movies coming across as an intelligent horror guaranteed to put anyone watching it on edge.

As the credits rolled to claps and cheers Johannes Roberts and cast members David Schofield, Eliza Bennett, Roxanne McKee, Finlay Robertson, Tina Barnes, Chris Adamson and Alex Ellis took to the stage for some audience questions.

Comments came in about the soundtrack which Johannes said was inspired by John Carpenter and Dario Argento both of whom did their own music. As a big Carpenter fan he wanted F to be an homage of sorts to Assault on Precinct 13 in the style of the modern Asian horrors and avoid comparisons with movies like Eden Lake all of which meant that the script itself took 2 years to perfect before he could start shooting.

Interestingly he told the crowd that he tried various things for the silent gang of black hole hoodies including bunny ears but finally ended up with some 16 year old free runners his friend found on the streets who gave the killers a abstract animalistic edge.

Lead actor Robert Anderson was congratulated for finally getting centre stage in a commercial movie and on answering why he took F on as an actor and producer described how he believed it was fundamentally a movie all about control and our relationship to authority.

The final question caused fits of laughter for the younger cast members as someone asked if it was part of their fantasies to kill of their teachers. Finding it difficult to answer Eliza Bennett said she hadn’t had those thoughts and the guy asking the question replied it had been his fantasy to which she quickly retorted “perhaps you should see someone about that.”

After F it was time for something completely different in the form of Australian horror western Red Hill. Coming from Momentum Pictures it was preceded by a trailer reel of upcoming movies including Spanish thriller Agnosia, alien invasion movie Skyline and the wonderfully titled Rutger Hauer vehicle Hobo with a Shotgun based on the fake trailer made for Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez Grindhouse.

Red Hill itself was a brilliant blend of traditional Western motifs and themes with a modern day setting and a good dose blood and guts in many ways evoking No Country For Old Men.

When city cop Shane Cooper (True Blood star Ryan Kwanten) moves to the sleepy town of Red Hill with his pregnant wife he has no idea of the storm which is coming. That storm is Jimmy Conway, a convicted murderer serving life in jail who has escaped and is now heading to Red Hill. An expert tracker and killer he works his way through the people gathered to stop him by police chief Old Bill (Steve Bisley) seeking bloody revenge on the men who imprisoned him.

Kwanten is great along with the rest of the cast and the movie combines badass action and violence with a solid story keeping horror fans and Western fans happy throughout.

FrightFest day two ended with another genre mash-up in the form of Alien vs. Ninja which followed in the tradition of Tokyo Gore Police and Rob-Geisha offering up chop-sockey splatter, gratuitous violence and extreme action. A fun filled wacky wild end to an amazing day.

Roll on Day 3 and read all about it here on LoveHorror.

F Trailer:

Red Hill Trailer:

Alien vs Ninja Trailer:

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Alex Humphrey

Alex studied film at the University of Kent and went on to work for Universal Pictures in their Post Room gaining an inside look at the movie industry from the very bottom. Constantly writing reviews in everything from local magazines to Hip Hop sites Alex honed his critical skills even spending a brief period as a restaurant critic. Read more

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