After Dark Horrorfest 2007

[LivingDeadGirl]

From Cinematical.com:

Last year was somewhat of a rough start for the After Dark Horrorfest, and I'm basing that statement solely on the movies the event had to offer. The eight "official" titles were The Abandoned, Dark Ride, The Gravedancers, The Hamiltons, Penny Dreadful, Reincarnation, Unrest and Wicked Little Things. I've seen 'em all and I'd call The Gravedancers the best of the bunch, with the dry-but-passable The Abandoned a close second. The rest ... meh.

So it is with much geeky excitement that I share a new opinion: Horrorfest 2007 is guaranteed to be an improvement over last year -- and I can say that with some confidence because I've already seen three of the chosen flicks, and all three of 'em are worth seeing. Regarding the other five, I heard good things about some and really negative things about others ... but here's what the overall slate looks like for this year. (Synopses are taken from the official Horrorfest website.)

Borderland -- "When three Texas University students travel to a Mexican border town on the eve of their graduation, the last thing they expect is to face their own deaths. Without warning, they fall prey to an ancient blood cult hellbent on finding candidates for human sacrifice. Based on true events, Borderland tells a story which blends the raw fear of Texas Chainsaw Massacre with the stark reality of In Cold Blood, evoking a world soaked in paranoia, fear, and dread." (Starring Rider Strong, Jake Muxworthy, Brian Presley and Sean Astin, directed by Zev Berman) ** I saw this one last March at SXSW. It's southern-fried survival horror with a splash of satanism mixed in. Full review here.

The Deaths of Ian Stone -- "On an otherwise ordinary night, the young Ian Stone encounters a mysterious creature and is forced into the path of an oncoming train. Rather than facing certain death, Ian finds himself reborn into a new life that feels strangely familiar. After his second death, it becomes apparent that Ian is being hunted by an evil presence, and will be forced to die every day until he can solve the mystery of his own life." (Starring Mike Vogel and Christina Cole, directed by Dario Piana) ** I know next to nothing about this one.

Frontier(s) -- "When a small gang of criminals takes refuge in an isolated country inn, their welcome is less than warm. As the evening wears on, the young outlaws are subjected to a macabre nightmare where blood flows and screams flood the night." (Starring Karina Testa and Sameul Le Bihan, directed by Xavier Gens) ** Caught this last month at Toronto. Full review here.


Lake Dead -- "Three beautiful sisters learn of a long-lost grandfather, but only make this discovery upon the news of his grisly death. Enticed to visit grandpa's old home after hearing of an inheritance, the sisters take a trip to the back country with some friends. We quickly follow the group of friends through the gates of a redneck-infested hell. The psychotic family occupying the inherited property goes on a long-awaited and much-enjoyed killing spree." (Starring Alex Quinn and Tara Gerard, directed by George Bessudo) ** Thanks to BD.com for the plot synopsis on this one. Sounds interesting enough.

Mulberry Street -- "The city that never sleeps may shut its eyes for good when a deadly infection turns its residents to savage creatures. There is only hope for a small few, including six recently evicted tenants who must protect their crumbling apartment complex as the city around them is thrown into chaos..." (Starring Nick Damici and Kim Blair, directed by Jim Mickle) ** Also caught this one at SXSW '07, but for some reason I didn't review it. Suffice to say it's indie all the way, but definitely worthy of a look.

Nightmare Man -- "After receiving a mysterious mask, Ellen Morris believes she was attacked by an evil being she calls 'Nightmare Man'. Her husband, Bill, believes she is crazy. On their way to the mental hospital their car breaks down and Bill goes to get gas, leaving Ellen alone. When Nightmare Man appears, Ellen takes off into the woods, unsure whether she is hallucinating or not. She stumbles upon a cabin filled with friends who unknowingly becoming prey the moment Ellen steps inside." (Starring Blythe Metz, Tiffany Shepis, Robert Donovan and Richard Moll, directed by Rolfe Kanefsky) ** Tiffany Shepis AND Richard Moll? I'm in.

Tooth & Nail -- "A small group of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world take refuge in an empty hospital with plans on re-building society. They rescue a young girl who is the victim of a brutal attack, but soon discover that they were followed by a savage band of cannibals known as Rovers. The Rovers begin to kill them one by one, and the trapped survivors must find a way to outwit their stalkers." (Starring Michael Madsen, Rider Strong, Vinnie Jones, Robert Carradine and Rachel Miner, directed by Mark Young) ** This one I gotta see!

Unearthed -- "A vicious creature that's been trapped for 900 years, gets unearthed during an archeological dig in the middle of a desolate town. As the carnage escalates, the local sheriff and a group of stranded civilians must find a way to destroy the creature that only has one mission – complete annihilation." (Starring Emmanuelle Vaugier, Luke Goss and Beau Garrett, directed by Matthew Leutwyler) ** Well, I liked the director's first flick!

So there you go: From November 9 to 18 you can check out any or all of the above titles. Check the official site for trailers, theaters and assorted what-not. (And to those of you who feel a little jealous that I've already seen three of the eight movies, well, I'll be out of the country when these movies screen, so I'll have to wait for DVD on the remaining five! Wah!)

Sounds pretty cool...and Madsen to boot!

[Bartwald]

Looks like most of these are now available. I'll start getting to know them with Borderland - heard some good things on it.

[slayrrr666]

Nightmare Man is the one everyone seems to agree on as the best one. I'd start there if I were you, man.

[Bartwald]

Alright then, I'll see if I can find this one, too.

[LivingDeadGirl]

I'll have to start looking for them on Netflix. I know that Michael Madsen is in one of the movies this round but I can't remember which one.

[slayrrr666]

You have it listed as Tooth and Nail from your original post, LDG.

[LivingDeadGirl]

Yeahhh, that's it. I put Nightmare Man & Borderland on my Netflix list.

[slayrrr666]

Would've been Tooth and Nail had you remembered it before you sent your list in, right?

[Bartwald]

Saw Borderland - not bad, but not very good, either. At the beginning it feels like a Hostel rehash, but then nothing happens for a LONG time. The ending is again a bit more suspenseful, but without any real shocks or surprises. Good to see Sean Astin in an atypical role, though. 5/10

[slayrrr666]

Sounds like absolute crap then, since I hate Hostel with a passion and then it's dull and boring for an extended period of time. Not at all looking forward to this one.

[LivingDeadGirl]

Apr 30, 2008 10:11:58 GMT -5 slayrrr666 said:

Would've been Tooth and Nail had you remembered it before you sent your list in, right?

Exactly!

[slayrrr666]

Oh well, round 2 I guess, then.

[slayrrr666]

Seen these, time for thoughts:

Borderland-Passable, but not overly recommended. Brutal and gory, but just not enough action, as it focuses more on their adventures together, which take up way too much time and isn't that interesting, and then we don't really feel that threatened by the cult at all. What we see of them isn't enough for us to feel like we should be afraid of them, so it really peters out. It plays like Hostel and its ilk, though, so if you liked those you should eat this up. I don't so I didn't.

The Deaths of Ian Stone-Quite possibly the single most confusing and utterly hard to get-into film ever made, as there's a great storyline here but it just doesn't know how to make it easy to understand for the viewer. This is a film that should have spelled itself out, but because it doesn't, we're left wondering why all the action is going on, and while it's fun action, if you have to draw a plotline for how this one works, you come away quite irritated.

Lake Dead-This was a lot more like it, good old solid backwoods slasher effort. Good kills, great stalking, tons of suspenseful encounters and a real mean-streak. Tries to get a little too fancy with the introduction of a plot late in the film that doesn't need to be there, as it was a lot better when it was just about the mindless mayhem it featured earlier. Pretty enjoyable.

Mulberry Street-Quite simply, this one sucked. Just way too dull and uninteresting, with hardly anything at all worthwhile for a horror fan to be invested in. Mixed with a shaking action camera that forces every single action scene into a state of disarray and nothing resembling an explanation, and this one just has a lot of problems. While the finale does get some redemption for a spectacular amount of action and gore, as well as the creativity of doing something new, its too little too late.

Nightmare Man-Quite simply, this was a blast. Cheesy 80s horror with a modern sheen, tons of good, messy gore effects, lots of nudity, a plot so simplistic and energetic a five-year old won't get lost, a touch of suspense and not a lot of faults. It even manages to get some exploitation involved with Shepis as a bisexual going to town on both sexes, and the finale features her brandishing a crossbow fighting off demons in her underwear. Suffice to say, this was entertaining all the way around.

Tooth & Nail-A lot of fun, even with a few minor faults, but overall this one works. Quite possibly the most brutal of the films, with just a ton of sickening kills and pools of bloodshed all around, in true Apocalyptic fashion, and the dirty, grimy feel of everything works to it's advantage. Somewhat slow-going in the middle, but the centerpiece are the two massive, swarming attacks by the cannibal group and they are everything that makes it worthwhile to be a horror fan. Tons of stalking, encounters and escapes, trap-dodging and more are thrown into extended and protracted sequences, which makes this one of the better films.

Unearthed-A good solid creature feature, just with a slightly lower on-screen body count than expected considering we get to see a large cast in here. The creature looks good, what little we see of it since there's just absolutely no end to the irritating shaking action camera again, and it just is plain annoying that it pops up in the scenes you want to watch. With some good action scenes and a fantastic finale, this is somewhat redeemable, but it does have a few flaws.

So, overall:
1. Nightmare Man
2. Tooth and Nail
3. Unearthed
4. Lake Dead
5. Borderland
6. The Deaths of Ian Stone
7. Mulberry Street