Celluloid Diaries: Razor Reel 2013 wrap-up

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Razor Reel 2013 wrap-up

Cinema Liberty

I just spent five days at the Razor Reel Fantastic Film Festival where I hosted several Q&A sessions with filmmakers. Apart from those Q&A sessions, I also had to chance to see thirteen movies. Here's a little overview.

Friday

The Razor Reel Fantastic Film Festival started on Friday with a fun film quiz hosted by Zeno Pictures and RRFFF.

Razor Reel Film Quiz
Razor Reel Film Quiz

Saturday

Cinco De Mayo: La Batalla was first. The film wasn't meant to entertain, touch or innovate. It's all about teaching its audience about the events that led to the battle of Puebla on May 5, 1892. That day, the Mexican army, guided by Zaragoza, defeated the French army, guided by Count Lorencez. The French wanted to install their own emperor in Mexico, but the Mexicans were not pleased and war was inevitable. A good film to watch at school, not at a horror film festival.

The next movie was On Air, a German slasher/torture porn with hints of Saw. A pirate radio show host gets a serial killer as a calling guest in his show. The killer decides to play a game. The stakes: the life or death of his new victim. Fast editing makes On Air entertaining and easy to watch. Many people liked it, saying it was one of the most gripping serial killer movies of recent years. The predictability ruined a lot, though.

The Dead 2: India was way better in comparison. This time, the zombie outbreak takes place in the overpopulated India, with mass zombie attacks as a result. The film is eerie, atmospheric and more touching than the majority of horror films. Only downside: the local actors didn't measure up to the quality of the movie.

After the screening of The Dead 2: India, I hosted a Q&A with its director, Howard J. Ford. He talked about the difficulties he encountered while filming in India (at a certain point children lapidated the crew), about the supposedly haunted filming location where no one had been for over fifty years, and about the possibility of a third installment to the series.

Howard J. Ford

Later in the evening, I watched the humorous zombie flick Stalled. It's New Year's Eve. A janitor has to replace light bulbs when everyone else is having a party. Just when he's trapped in a woman's toilet, the zombie apocalypse takes place. Pretty original and funny but way too talkative.

I ended the day with a midnight screening of Truth Or Dare from Jessica Cameron. While it's not the first movie that mixes the famous game with blood-soaked horror, Truth Or Dare sets itself apart with its high level of goriness and stupidity. A few extra rounds of rewriting would have brought more logic to the script. The participants are being tortured when they respond to a "truth" question with a lie. It's immediately clear that the enquirer already knows the answers to the very strange questions he asks, but the participants keep lying. So when they have all confessed that they are child molesters, drag queens or incest addicts (who knew everyone had secrets like that), they choose "dare," don't mind if that means you have to cut off your nipples or eat glass. Apparently, it's better to be crippled or dead instead of telling a truth that will be revealed anyway. Luckily, the high level of blood and gore matches the level of stupidity. In the end, the dares become quite sickening. If you like your movies gruesome, then Truth Or Dare may be a fun ride. But be prepared to get irritated by the script, overacting, continuity errors, and amateurish photography.

Sunday

My Sunday started with a screening of Vacation Hunter. This British indie was advertised as a combination of Heart Of Darkness and The Shining. The Last Great Wilderness would have been a better comparison. I wasn't a fan of the film, though. Too slow, mainly. But also too many beginners' mistakes.

Later that day, I hosted a Q&A with movie score composer Simon Boswell and filmmakers Richard Stanley and Scarlett Amaris about L'Autre monde (aka The Otherworld). Simon Boswell talked about his multiple collaborations with Richard Stanley and about the process of composing film scores. The filmmakers chatted about their interest in the esoteric and their paranormal experiences that formed the basis for L'Autre monde (they saw a woman in white disappearing through the walls of Montségur, France). The majority of the audience didn't like their documentary because it didn't prove anything and because it left room for different explanations. But, in my opinion, that's the only way the film could have been made. Richard Stanley doesn't know the truth. He has encountered something inexplicable and wanted to share it with others. That in itself is worthwhile.

Simon Boswell and Richard Stanley
Simon Boswell and Richard Stanley
 Simon Boswell and Richard Stanley

After the Q&A, it was time to see I Spit On Your Grave 2. Your typical rape and revenge movie. No new ground is covered here, but the film was lots of fun and pretty nasty at times too.

The best part of the day, however, was when Simon Boswell played his movie scores for Santa Sangre, Hardware and Dust Devil on his guitar for only a handful of people. Considering that he is one of my favorite composers and that he worked with bands such as Blur and The Sex Pistols, this was a real treat.

Simon Boswell
Simon Boswell

Thursday

After having worked a few days from home, I spent my Thursday running from one Halloween activity to the next. When I finally arrived at the Razor Reel Fantastic Film Festival, it was almost midnight. I watched the last thirty minutes of Antisocial, a movie about a virus that kills almost the entire population on New Year's Eve. It looked decent, but the audience hated it.

After Antisocial, it was time for Kink, a documentary about a BDSM porn maker. Whether you like the subject or not, the documentary is excellent as it gives a good idea of what drives these people and how they work. And it's kinky, of course. You see as much in the documentary as you would in the BDSM films they're making. I was constantly looking at it open-mouthed, especially when they started using strange torture devices. Fun fact: Kink was produced by James Franco, the actor from Spider-Man, Date Night, and The Green Hornet.

Razor Reel Fantasic Film Festival

Friday

On Friday afternoon, I watched the indie horror film The Pyramid, an anthology of four short stories that form one lengthy tale. The pyramid from the title is an object reminiscent of the Lament Configuration from Hellraiser. When someone accidentally gets blood on it, demons invade the world. The Pyramid starts with moments of intense eerieness but looses pace pretty quickly. Overall, the film can't hide its meager budget and the lack of experience of many of its crew members.

After The Pyramid, I hosted a Q&A with director Kate Shenton about her documentary On Tender Hooks. Just like Kink, On Tender Hooks explores the act of submitting the human body to extreme pain, in this case through human suspension. But whereas Kink focuses on sexual arousal through pain, Kate Shenton explores the beauty of human suspension and the process of becoming mentally stronger through the pain. Though On Tender Hooks didn't work as well for me as Kink did, the audience was definitely fascinated and they bombarded Kate with questions.

Kate Shenton
On Tender Hooks

The last movie I saw at the Razor Reel Fantastic Film Festival was The Battery. For several months, friends had been telling me that this was the best zombie movie they'd seen in years. Well, it's not good to have such high expectations, because I ended up being disappointed, even though it's definitely different and funny. The Battery won the Young Blood Award at the Razor Reel Fantastic Film Festival.

Have you seen some of the Razor Reel movies? Which are your favorites?
zombies horror movie fans

16 comments:

  1. The Dead 2 sounds good.
    I wonder if any of those who practice the art of being suspended by hooks are from the American Indian tribe who really do it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. that's some interesting crowd in the audience :) Sounds like you had fun, Vanessa.
    Love that hunk in Hadley's Hope sweat shirt, don't know who he is? :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. that is really a neat week, simon boswell plays solo... of my that would have been the coolest. i think "the dead 2" is going to be very interesting. side note the label i work promotions for released the score for the first film "the dead" and composer Imran Ahmad worked on both... maybe the score will be in our future.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sounds like you had heaps of fun!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I haven't seen any of those. I like the premise of Truth or Dare. Too bad they messed it up with stupidity.

    You look gorgeous, by the way. (I'm assuming you're the glamorous lady on the right of one of the pics, and not a bloody zombie.)

    Cheers.
    xoRobyn

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you for visiting my blog and being so kind! I would love to be featured in traveling cats, but for some reason we're unable to view your blog. It freezes every time we try :(
    ♥Pasha

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh my… what an amazing experience….

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love it when you post stuff like this. It takes me out of my comfort zone. So. Awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  9. ❀ ✿ Bonjour Vanessa ! MERCI pour cette belle publication !
    Merci aussi d'ĂȘtre venue sur mon petit blog.

    J'aime ton univers.

    Je t'envoie plein de bises d'Asie ✿ ❀

    ReplyDelete
  10. I am sure that this information will be useful for college students. Here you can read more about using your SAT score

    ReplyDelete
  11. Premature ejaculation (“PE” for short) is an issue that affects nearly one out of every three men at some point in their lives. While it can be embarrassing and frustrating, it is highly treatable. Contact our premature ejaculation doctors in Ohio to learn more about possible treatments.doctors treating premature ejaculation in Cleveland

    ReplyDelete
  12. The first movie I saw at the festival #1: The Best of Gits - this is a foreign film from Japan and it had funny! And action. A sriginstroysomethingboy watches rugby in his school, on which he's captain, with three other guys named "Gajeel" (Giuseppe Sannibali), Yukichi(Sergio Resendes) and Tsujikita (He ubert F. Leurquin). Two guys bully him every game, but Gajeel is his friend and seems to be against this kind of bullies as well. When one day Help With Coursework he turns up at their place with a new girlfriend (Kirsten Prager), the bullying got worse than ever - until Yukichi's father tries to solve it in an unorthodox way: blowing themselves up.

    ReplyDelete
  13. UK assignment writing services are highly demanded by students because of their expertise and experience. They offer 100% original papers written by expert writers. They also ensure that all the students receive an A+ grade in their assignments.

    ReplyDelete
  14. You must have had a great time being there. I wish I could be at such events as well but my busy schedule doesn’t allow me to. I didn’t even have time to proofread my project so for that I had to buy dissertation proofreading services from an online platform. I’m glad there are online academic helping sites now.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Cow squishmallow is a natural healing remedy that helps to treat various medical conditions. It is made from the pulp of the cow's stomach and can be used to treat cuts, burns, bruises, wounds, sprains, arthritis, muscle aches, and more.

    ReplyDelete