If
you’re a genre movie freak and still haven’t heard about UK’s
FRIGHTFEST yet, you must’ve been out to lunch over the past few
years, as it’s fast becoming one of the top kickass fests around.
This year’s event will take place from August 26-29th, and you can
get more info about it on their OFFICIAL
SITE right now. I met some of the boys running the fest at
this year’s Cannes shtick, and let me tell you, not only are they a
bunch of cool blokes, but they were actually able to drink the Arrow
and myself under several tables…now that’s impressive!!
Below
is an introductory report by ‘UK Bradley‘, who was able to
attend the Fest’s early “one-day special” most recently.
Check out his reviews below and pick up a number of cool British
sayings to impress your friends, like “That guy is all kinds of
frozen gravy!!”. Sweet. By the way, for anyone who cares, I
(JoBlo) will be in London today until Sunday, June 5th, so drop me
an email and maybe we can hook up for a pint or two. Cheers!
#####
Hey
Hey Hey!
Once
again I return from the depths of south eastern England to give you
a triple-deckered helping of English tripey goodness. Last time I
wrote to you, was for a report on the London Frightfest last August,
and in keeping up the trend I will be attending the one this August
and will let you all know how it goes. In the meantime however, the
kind fellows at the FRIGHTFEST, organised a one-day special, and
seeing as I have finished the first year of my Uni course, and had
the day free, (well to be honest I had the whole week free) I went
along for the final 3 films of the day. So in Order of Appearance:
1)
5.45pm – “Surprise Film”
Well
the revelation of the surprise film itself was a bit of a letdown.
After hyping the film as being a “big, summer genre movie, with
big stars and cult icons” everyone held their breath in
anticipation, hoping to see LAND OF THE DEAD or BATMAN BEGINS
unspooled in front of us. Now of course this was wishful thinking,
as if Land of the Dead was finished they surely would have shown the
whole thing at Cannes, and although Nolan presented both INSOMNIA
and MEMENTO at Frightfest, there was no way Warner’s was gonna let
their cashcow out early. What we got was SIN CITY, and as much as I
have been dying to see the film (I know you got it a few months
ago… bite me), it is released this Thursday, and I had tickets to
see it anyway, so while the choice was disappointing, I can’t deny
the film kicked my ass up and down Leicester Square, until I shat
hard boiled eggs at random intervals. I won’t go into too much depth
seeing as you’ve already seen it, but although it lacked depth, I’m
sure I’ll be seeing the film many times over the next few weeks, if
only to see Elijah Wood scare seven shades of shit out of me over
and over again. And man, Mickey Rourke should work more… He was
interviewed on Jonathan Ross on Friday night and he’s all kinds of
frozen gravy. The man is the badger, and we shall all bow down.
2)
8.30pm – “The League of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse”
This
was the highlight for me on going in, and after the film (and a Q +
A from the League themselves) I’m rest assured I won’t see anything
else like it ever again! Now before I review the film, Many of you
may be unfamiliar with the League unless you live in the U.K. And
before i go anywhere else, get the notion of The League of
Extraordinary Gentleman out of your head, RIGHT NOW! The League of
Gentlemen consist of Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss (who wrote an
episode of the new Dr. Who, which you have to check out when it
shows Stateside) Reece Shearsmith and the unseen member Jeremy Dyson
(played in the film by Michael Sheen).
Now
the TV show which ran from 1999-2002 focuses on a small northen town
called Royston Vasey. The town is like every provincial northen
english town, but the inhabitants (all of which played by Pemberton,
Shearsmith and Gatiss, men and women (and the ones in between) are
all kinds of Crazy. Edward And Tubbs, the brother and sister/husband
and wife who own the local shop for local people, hate strangers and
kill anyone who isn’t local. As the sign outside the town reads
“Royston Vasey.. You’ll Never Leave!”. Barbera the pre-op
transexual cab driver, waiting to have her dick lopped off. The
hygiene and toad obessesed Dentons with their Twin daughters
reminiscent of The Shining, who have a visitor named Ben who they
won’t let leave. Pauline, the psychotic Restart officer who is prone
to fits of rage, and whose best friends are her pens and her
mentally challenged friend Mickey. Dr Chinnery, the local Vet who
accidentally kills all his patients. Geoff, the angry business man,
who dreams of being a stand up comic. Herr Lipp, the german tour
guide, with a penchant for double entendres and little boys. Hilary
Briss, the demon butcher who sells his “special stuff”
which promptle kills people in the town and Papa Lazarou, the most
quotable member of the show, a travelling circus, gypsy ringleader
with a painted face who steal people wives and calls everyone
Dave…. (“You’re mmmyyyyy wife now Dave!”).
There
are dozens more characters all played by the League and over three
series and a christmas special, which leaned more towards horror and
provided the best hour of british television ever, these grotesque
characters became beloved by a nation. The League have their roots
in old Hammer Horror films, with Reece formally working in make-up
such as Merrick in The Elephant Man, and this is evident in the
movie in which the inhabitants of Royston Vasey find their town
being destroyed by an ancient prophecy, including a giraffe spunking
over old ladies, and flaming rocks falling from the sky. Three
inhabitants from the town, Geoff (Shearsmith), Hilary briss (Gatiss)
and Herr Lipp (Pemberton) venture into “our world” the
town of.. LUNDUN! (London) Here they track down their creators, the
real Shearsmith, Pemberton and Gatiss and kidnap them (while Papa
Lazarou, Edward and Tubbs kill the 4th member Jeremy Dyson), as they
discover, the destruction of their world is due to the League
abandoning the show and working on new projects. All the while they
discover the League have been working on a new film, a 17th century
epic called “The King’s Evil” in which they would all
star, so Geoff (from the show) writes himself into their new project
and comes face to face with other characters played by the league
(and David Warner) in a plot to over throw the protestant king.
Other highlights of this 17th century world, include Ray Harryhausen
style three headed dragons (with the league’s heads), Simon Pegg’s
arse, and a masturbating devil in a jar.
Eventually,
the characters from the 17th century, the real league of gentlemen,
and the characters from the show all meet in Royston vasey for an
apocalyptic showdown. As you can tell it seems confusing as hell,
but it really isn’t, and it is truly the funniest and most exciting
spin-off from a british television show, as the passion is evident
in every frame. Although the choice to go with lesser known
characters from the show as the leads (and relegating fan favourites
such as Edward, Tubbs and Papa Lazarou to one or two scenes) the
League have developed these characters, and make them self aware in
the film, acknowledging they are one-joke characters (such as Herr
Lipp’s puns “I just came over a little queer!”) And making
these characters want to change and adapt to the real world.
Surprisingly they allow the characters to become more humanised, and
in the end result it pays off drastically. The film is accessible to
fans and non-fans alike, coming off as Adaptation’s bastard british
cousin, as the mate i went with loved the film, having never seen
the show. All that’s left for me to do, is to recommend you all buy
the show, coming to region 1 dvd on June 14th, in a complete
collection boxset, containing all three seasons and the christmas
special. The show is the closest thing British comedy has had to
Monty Python since they left screens (albeit it much darker) and is
Huge over here, a true cult classic. To see the first 5 minutes of
the film, and an inspired ringtone gag go to www.rulocal.co.uk.
See
the trailer HERE
and visit the OFFICIAL
SITE. Also, to catch up on the show visit here http://www.lofg.com/.
3)
11pm – “The Devil’s Rejects”
With
House of 1000 Corpses, I appreciated what Rob Zombie was trying to
achieve, yet believe the film itself to be flawed… not so with
“Rejects”. I fell in love with this film from the opening,
just happy to see the Firefly family once more. They were the
strongest element of the first film, and by focusing primarily on
the three most interesting (Otis, Baby and Spaulding) Zombie really
makes you root for the killers, and chooses to make them the
victims.. a bold move but a successful one. Sheri Moon is as psychotically
cute as ever, and Moseley is all kinds of Charles Manson as Otis,
and I dug it immensely. It was nice and nasty, especially with
making one woman wear her husbands face, and the music was almost
dreamy. I’m so buying that soundtrack (or downloading it… shhhh…
don’t tell anyone).
What
won me over most of all though was the look of the film, a film that
if I didn’t know better was made in the 70’s. It made me wish I was
in the 70’s again, which as I wasn’t born till 1986, is quite an
achievement! Overall, the vibe I got, was that this was the
road/revenge/horror movie Tarantino never made, and with the
exception of a Groucho Marx/Elvis joke in the middle, and the
appearance of a certain character in the finale which felt as if it
belonged back in Corpses the film was superb. I really am completely
bummed, that the wait to see it again is still 2 months away. Special
props to William Forsythe for making the Sheriff, so utterly
unlikeable that you feel sorry for the Firefly family… that man
was all kinds of evil. That’s what organised religion does to you I
guess. I would elaborate further, but most of what I could say is
already summed up in your man Arrow’s
review of the film, which kinda hits the nail on the head.
It may
seem I’m being too fair on these films, and maybe I’m going soft in
my old age (I mean heck I even enjoyed HOUSE OF WAX a lot more that
I thought I would!) but I honestly feel the festival was a fluke,
where each film exceeded my expectations. As rare as that it, I
think it happened. Maybe on second viewings (and there will be
second viewings) the films will diminish in their quality but for
now, I can safely say they are three of the best films I’ve seen all
year. And once again I heartily recommend The League of Gentlemen’s
Apocalypse! Seek it out!
On a
side note, Neil Marshall, the director of the criminally underseen
DOG SOLDIERS was there to promote his new film THE DESCENT. Before I
get into that, a funny anecdote… I was standing outside the
festival with my friend, and I pointed out that the bald guy next to
us was the guy who ran the Frightfest. My friend then asked if I
meant the guy with the goatee and I said “No, I have no clue
who that guy is, the one next to him!”. Upon entering the
cinema, I sat down a few rows behind the guy with the Goatee
and realised he was Neil Marshall! I felt like such a fool when he
got on stage to introduce himself and looked straight at me…
Whoops. Anyway, he showed the new trailer for the film which has the
honor of being the only film to scare the CRAP! out of me. Never
happens! As far as I could gather the film is a balls to the wall
horror, about 6 girls who descend into a cave and get killed by
‘creatures’. The extent to which these creatures are I do not know,
but from the glimpse of them in the trailer, I’m certain they are
scary as fuck. The film comes out in the U.K. on July 8th, and I
have myself two tickets to the premiere (where hopefully I can
apologise to the man Marshall), and he has promised an 18
certificate, nasty as hell horror film with plenty of claret. Check
it out. You won’t be disappointed. OFFICIAL
SITE here.
And
finally, as a thank you for all the hours of entertainment your
website gives me daily, here’s the source of hours of entertainment
me and my housemates at uni have: www.4q.cc/vin.
The Random Vin Diesel Fact generator. Trust me it’s superb. My
personal fave being “If a Tree Falls in the Woods and No-One’s
around to hear it, Vin Diesel hears it”!
Thanx
again, and I hope this was of some use to you!
Bradley!
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