Monsters of film 2013

 

Monsters of film is a fairly new institution in Stockholm, having only had a couple of one day engagements but now it is finally growing into something bigger. I for one welcome our new insect overlords, watching horror at the big screen isn't something you get to do that often and here is a report of the movies I managed to catch (as of writing it isn't over, only my part in it).

The Monsters of film festival is over for me now and I did manage to catch a couple of really cool flicks, and a couple not so cool.

Return to Nuke em high
It's Troma, what the hell would you expect other than a lot of cheap, gross jokes and lots of boobs and gore. Which we got. Can't really hate it.

Fresh meat
A black comedy about a girl coming home from boarding school only to find out that... her family has embraced cannibalism. And then a group of incompetent criminals take them hostage. Not so clever and funny as it thinks it is but still quite entertaining. Temuera Morrison is always fun to watch as he turns on the ham

Dark touch
Strange movie this one, gives the impression that it wants to make a statement about child abuse and fuses it with a Carrie-ish plot but never quite manages to create a good mix. Well made and well acted though and stays with you long after the movie is finished.

Evangeline
Girl is raped and killed, but returns from the dead to wreak vengeance upon everyone who has wronged her - told way too slow and a bit too arthouse. Well shot though and not without merit, just not my cup of tea. Director Karen Lam was there for a QA afterwards and came off as a really warm person with a lot of interesting stuff to say about low budget filmmaking in Canada

I declare war
Kids playing war and we see the guns as the kids see them through their imagination. Very interesting and well visualized with a group of excellent childactors, though not really horror, instead giving us an excellent picture of how it is to be a child. Really liked it.

We are what we are
Jim Mickles remake of a Mexican movie was the best movie of the festival, a meticously crafted drama about a family of cannibals. Another movie that wasn't really drama per se, but a really dark and incredibly well acted drama about a family that has some rather odd religious traditions. The only thing that keeps this from being a bona fide masterpiece is the ending which doesn't sit right with me, especially after all the goodness that lead up to it. Not a bad ending in any way, just slightly dissapointing. Do not let this stop you from seeing it though.

Here comes the devil
Adrian Garcia Bolognias latest movie after the excellent Penumbra was quite a letdown, mostly due to the fact that it felt like it was rushed together on the cheap in maybe a week or so, which is a shame as the story is really interesting. Two children vanish for 24 hours after going up a mountain and come back changed. The script has the guts to go places that most movies would never dare to, but when the whole thing looks like a telenovella it doesn't really matter. An interesting but wasted opportunity.

And that was it for me, other than a lot of technical problems during I declare war the whole Monsters of film enterprise was a hit and I really hope that it continues

But what was up with all the cock-biting? There was penis-chewing in every movie I saw on friday and I was told there was in the one I missed as well, Tulpa. (and in the movie I watched on the bus on the way home, 1975 Hong kong horror Magic curse. Can't really blame that one on the festival though, I guess it just was one of those day...).

Until next year.