Penny Dreadful
SFX's high priestess of horror
Running down the highlights from this year’s FrightFest weekend
PRAISE B
FrightFest is upon us – or it’s upon me, at least. As I write these words, five days of horror heaven are about to begin. Luckily, I’ve seen a few corkers in advance. One of the best this year is bound to be Upgrade, Leigh Whannell’s sci-fi actioner that sees a paralysed man (Logan Marshall-Green) implanted with a chip that takes over his body and messes with his mind. A high-concept techno-terror cautionary tale with some awesome choreographed fight scenes and a good dollop of gore, this is unashamed B-movie territory, and none the worse for it. A bit like last month’s The Meg, in fact. What with the weather and the World Cup, it’s been a bit of a weird summer for movies, and after the sophisticated scares of Hereditary and A Quiet Place, retro schlock seems to be owning the season. Perhaps the onslaught of expanded universes and never-ending sequels has worn us all down and made us long for a simpler time when going to a movie didn’t require revision homework. Upgrade feels a bit like a really good Twilight Zone, or a slightly crap Black Mirror, and I’m in.
A DARK PLACE
On the opposite end of the spectrum is another FrightFest curio, Possum. This comes from Matthew Holness of Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, and it is well weird. Sean Harris plays Philip, a super-troubled loner lugging round an ominous-looking holdall that contains Possum, a giant spider-legged puppet with a human(ish) face that he just can’t get rid of. A slow burn two-hander (Alun Armstrong is his disgusting uncle), Possum heads to some pretty dark places indeed, though don’t expect any Marenghi-style humour. This one really split the critics I spoke to, some finding its oppressive and rather meandering style a bit, well, boring, with others revelling in its deeply unsettling atmosphere and visuals. And that bloody puppet… brrrr.
ONCE MORE WITH SQUEALING
Introducing your new favourite Christmas movie that is also a zombie movie, a highschool musical movie and a horror movie: Anna And The Apocalypse,from director John McPhail, is a slightly odd creature that works wonderfully. Anna and her mates are just ordinary school kids prepping for the Christmas show and avoiding their domineering headmaster (played by Paul Kaye) when the undead end of days descends upon their small town. Banging tunes, a great sense of humour and top performances from the young cast make this a future holiday favourite. It’s super good-natured too, and is crying out for a stage production. It’s on general release at the end of November. Take your mum!
REST OF THE FEST
Hold the press! Quite literally on SFX press date, I’m reporting in the deranged aftermath of FrightFest about what else I’ve seen – more in-depth musings in future columns. Here are the highlights: Argentinian movie Terrified brought home the most pure scares with a supernatural tale of multiple dimensions that was unconventional and effective, if slightly confusing. Genre films that aren’t actually horror also somewhat ruled the fest with The Man Who Killed Hitler, And Then The Bigfoot turning out to be a gorgeous pondering on getting old and what a life well lived looks like, rap battle movie Bodied from Detention director Joseph Kahn blowing audiences away, and Gaspar Noé’s drug-fuelled nightmare Climax charting a club-night descent into hell. Indident In A Ghostland, from the director of Martyrs, divided crowds, The Dark drew Let The Right One In comparisons, and a special mention goes to Ravers, which was silly fun, but had some seriously spectacular gross-out effects. As usual, it was a glorious weekend that was over all too soon.