‘The South African HorrorFest’ Halloween event strikes 12
THIS year The South African HorrorFest celebrates its 12th edition at cinema landmark The Labia Theatre. For 10 days from today until November 4, this all-encompassing Halloween event which includes movies and short films, a live movie soundtrack performance, literature, a dress-up competition and a mini-night-market.
The 20 screenings of movies and short films will include vampyres, spirits from the other side, five intersecting tales of terror, an unexpected gory night out, a found footage shoot gone wrong, plus a documentary on the long lost and most dangerous film ever made (from the dawn of cinema). There’ll also be a zombie ambushed strip club, Frankenstein’s daughter, a swinging ‘60s slasher, a haunted bed, giant leeches, a lesbian couple on the rampage, a backpacker’s Thailand nightmare, Dr. Frank’n’furter, Brad & Janet, and a multitude of incredible short films with a wide range of genre sub-divisions.
The opening today includes a free Bloody Parchment literary evening, including local authors reading from their works.
The majority of the movies will be making their African premieres, including many award winners, indie rarities, classics and brand new releases, like a pre-release premiere screening of new anticipated prequel Ouija: Origin Of Evil, and a DVD launch screening of another new scary film, Lights Out.
It will be audience dress-up and participation time with the Rocky Horror Picture Show on Friday. For those who don’t have time to accumulate participation accessories, The Lovecraft Experiment will be on hand with a stall outside the cinema where you can purchase kits with everything you may need to join in, plus HorrorFest T-shirts.
The Makabra Ensemble’s live soundtrack performance will be for the 1932 French-German classic Vampyr on Saturday, also linked with a Halloween dress-up competition and mini-market outside the cinema. Audience giveaways include a range of chilling books from Penguin Random House and DVD titles from Next Entertainment and Ster Kinekor. For the bearded Horrorfesters, Dark Waters has some smooth beard product prizes up for grabs.
The rest of the movie line-up will include Southbound with five interlocking tales of terror following the fates of a group of weary travellers. A small town strip club’s owner has to defend her bar, strippers and patrons when her establishment is attacked by a horde of zombies in Peelers.
Fury Of The Demon is a captivating investigation looking at a long lost film from the dawn of cinema (believed to have been made by French cineaste Georges Méliès). Viewing of this rare film has led to violent riots throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Here journalists, film-makers, historians and psychologists, pull back the veil on the most cursed and disturbing movie ever made.
Texas Chain Saw Massacre co-creator Kim Henkel produced Found Footage 3D, which has a group of film-makers travel to a cabin in a remote part of Texas to film the first ever 3D found footage movie. A young backpacker is lured through Thailand in Land Of Smiles, searching for her kidnapped best friend and unknowingly she becomes the object of a sociopath’s obsession. In Bed Of The Dead an ancient evil is entwined in the wood of an antique bed. In Let Her Out a woman discovers that she has a benign growth, remnants of a “vanishing twin”, that is threatening to come out and take over.
There’s also vintage classics from the late ’50s to early ’70s. Staff writer
Book online at www.quicket. co.za, or at the Labia: 021 424 5927