Frightfest 2020 — selected reviews. Two’s a virtual charm
By: Matt Goddard
Tags: Halloween, Horror Films, Review, Frightfest, Horror

In October, we dipped into this Arrow’s Frightfest, the second digital edition of the year thanks to the horror of you-know-what. Of all the film festivals, horror probably suffers most from losing the shared experience that is cinema. It’s painful to watch many of these films not already snaffled by VoD, knowing many will be denied a full release. Gamely, most films were accompanied by remote Q&As, showing the community remains strong, just as the horror does. We have a feeling the horrific trend will continue after 2020.

With only the slightest of spoilers, a splattering of sub-genres confronted us at Frightfest’ Autumn 2020 edition:

The haunted house of… The Banishing

Christopher Smith returned with a new horror film, hurrah! There are spectacular and captivating turns from a solid cast as Smith dials down the jumps in favour of some freakish surrealism. As the director pointed out, the budget was less than his debut Creep. The Banishing proves that three outstanding actors at the centre of a story can sort out most things. What they can’t quite do is tie together the different periods that connect the supernatural and the living. Setting it pre-war works brilliantly for the most part. The need to tie it fully into the war at the coda is a bit distracting, but it does help to elevate the material, and justifies the effort the script puts into reminding us. There are some marvellous moments of horror. One early, mesmerising scene that has a hooded monk striding through the grounds, see from an upper floor window, is chilling.

Those scenes don’t quite cut through the convolution or red herrings before a slightly too predictable third act wraps things up. A reliable and captivating take on haunting and possession then, but might have benefitted from the mysterious house taking on more scenes and ramping up the claustrophobia.

The witch trial of… The Reckoning

You can’t keep Neil Marshall down. He’s been vocal about the Hellboy experience that panned out badly for everybody. He’s returned refreshed, now writing a flurry of scripts with Charlotte Kirk. She takes the centre of this as the unfortunate Grace in this new spin on witchfinder-era horror. It downplays the general horror a fair bit, concentrating more on the human aspect as Grace is put through a hellscape of punishment. You begin to suspect early on that there’s no heavy-hitting supernatural denouement is going to arrive. Yes, the ending is a little weak, almost too sudden, and the script could have been a little more progressive. But there aren’t enough revenge witch hunter dramas. While this marks a reunion for Marshall and the ever watchable Sean Pertwee, for all the callbacks to Dog Soldiers and the healthy female-perspective Marshall’s pursued since The Descent, this is more in line with Doomsday.

The possession of… Relic

Relic arrived on the back of strong word of mouth from Sundance, and it doesn’t disappoint. From the opening scenes, hovering and atmospheric shots of a house quietly humming with menace, it’s confident and captivating. It reminded me a bit of Alex Garland’s Annihilation, particularly when it arrives at its ambiguous, menacing, but gentle ending. Horror’s growth into the mainstream depends on increasing maturity and an injection of sentimentality. It’s a treat to see talented film-makers work this into their films, as Natalie Erika James does here. It’s no coincidence that many modern horror films that are making critical and box-office waves put family relationships at their centre. Unlike Annihilation, this is a domestic affair, and a startling and compelling examination of three generations of women. Brilliant acting, a superb twist, nods to the history of horror, and fine tension, make this a film to watch.

The dystopia of… Scavenger

Schlock fun from Argentina, and when I say fun — I mean grim. It’s a film determined to cross lines and refuse to shy away from moments of distaste, even wrapping them in as crucial plot points (one will make you double-take). A film thought out then, but never quite overcoming its budget. While it welds things together, the sparsity of locations and a notably missing sense of humour means we’re never fully immersed in this apocalypse. There are shocks and moments of horror, but it needs a bit more. Unfortunately, some mistakes in the English subtitles provided most of the laughs.

The Slasher of… Lucky

This came with a bit of buzz too. Who knows what post-post-post phase of slasher we’re in now. Lucky sits in the post-Happy Death Day temporal sub-genre, and it’s incredibly watchable. Slickly produced, it benefits most when the creeping menace of mundanity settles in. When the protagonist’s husband describes their predicament matter-of-factly, and later when she knowingly does the same. Neatly post-modern, it’s lean, clean and features great piano plinking and plonking on the score. Slash satire for the modern age, as clear as the mask the killer wears. Natasha Kermani and collaborators are safe hands, and Shudder could do with picking up more films like this.

The Vampires of… Origin Unknown

One of the most polished films in this collection. A simple, jolly tale of a drugs cartel, a dedicated swat team of dedicated fanatics and a creepy girl. Oh, and a man who just wants to get out! It’s a siege story, and it suffers from comparison to others, with a premise that doesn’t quite hold water. The characters breaking down under siege aren’t quite well-formed enough. But director Rigoberto Castañeda is more confident with the gore, supremely so. And never more than in framing a small vampire unleashed. Elements like the hovering drones (which the avenging cult use to attack) show the unsettling promise of combining the ancient with the modern. And if drones aren’t good updates of vampire bats, I don’t know what are. The score, tipping into Elgar-like cello, is effective and some fine split-screen and camera trickery also show what might have been. In the end, it pulls in a heft of emotion in its stark, if oddly uplifting, ending.

The hack ’em up of… The Nights Before Christmas

“Look, I had to do what I had to do back then; you’re psychopath, you’ll understand that”

What’re the chances of two films in this shortlist featuring some bloke’s old chap being lopped off? Christmas has hardly been neglected by horror — ghost stories are bedded in the tradition — but high profile examples have fallen toward slashers. No change here, with a succession of sketch-like slash kills supplemented by revenge and the old trope of some escapees from a lunatic asylum. Not so original then. But it’s saved by a bizarrely effective and dedicated use of the Christmas theme.

It’s easy to distort In Dulci Jubilo and cover the ground in snow, but this — and I’m not exaggerating — comes close using the snowy wastelands as the Coen Brothers did in Fargo. It’s all pretty effective, even the puns, “I wrote a list, and you’re on it”. Interesting to have an antagonist with an English accent. Less odd — and a sign of the times — that his Mrs Claus is so Harley Quinn. An impressive little horror in its way, capped off by a bizarre ending.