Lionsgate UK Horrothon

On Saturday I was invited to a one day horror film festival at the Soho Screening Rooms in London.  It was all part of an elaborate plan for Lionsgate UK to promote the upcoming release of Silent Hill: Revelation.  Unfortunately I've got precisely zero interest in that film so am not the best person to help them with promotion.  They showed us a couple of clips between the film screenings.  It looks like more of the same to me.  Strange creepy monster things tormenting a girl in some weird alternative reality.  And this time it's got Sean Bean in it.

I guess fans of the first film and fans of the game will be interested.  I'm not sure many other people will be queuing up for this one.  I got a Silent Hill t-shirt and poster and some The Cabin in the Woods goodies like a keyring to take away so that was nice too.

The programme of films was extensive.  They had three running at one time and I'd seen a lot of them.  I sat through four films between 10am and 5pm.

To start with I had the choice of Blair Witch or Jeepers Creepers.  I went for Jeepers Creepers as I'd just watched Blair Witch for this post last week.  Jeepers Creepers is so frustrating.  There is so much to like about it; the opening stuff with the truck, Justin Long, the old-school vibe and the tantalising early glimpses of the monster.  It then gets farcical and can be quite amusing but overall it's a bit boring, a bit too silly and definitely flounders in the final police station climax.

Then it was straight into Sam Raimi's return to horror with Drag Me To Hell.  This was fun but far from vintage Raimi.  He still knows how to bring the gross-out moments, wild bits of cinematography and the script revels in the suffering of the heroine played by Alison Lohman.  Strangely this turned out to be a Justin Long double bill so I was pleased to be rid of him by the end.

After a ten minute break for lunch, it was into The Cabin in the Woods.  I chose this over The Possession which I hadn't seen but thought was old.  Turns out it's a new film so I wish I'd gone for that.  Nothing against The Cabin in the Woods, I've just seen it already and reviewed it here.  Great film, one of the best of the year.  Really fun, funny and clever.  See it if you haven't already!

Starting to tire of the darkness now, I headed into the final film of the day.  Out of the three choices, the only one I hadn't seen was My Bloody Valentine 3D.  There was a good reason I hadn't watched it.  It didn't look very good.  And it wasn't very good.  It's notable for having one of the longest and most gratuitous nude scenes ever!  The 3D is rubbish and the killer isn't anywhere near as cool as the great slashers.  It did manage to spring a last minute surprise as to the identity of the killer though!

So four horror films in one day!  Not bad for the price of a train ticket!

In other news, Saw is my must-see horror movie of the day over at Filmoria. Check out other must-see horror movies here from Carrie to Scream to Evil Dead!

Thanks to Lionsgate UK.  It was a fun day out.  A whole day of horror!  It doesn't get much better than that.  Silent Hill: Revelation is out Wednesday 31st October.  The trailer is below.  Will you be seeing it?

The Blair Witch Project and Top 10 Found Footage Horror

Day 6 of Filmoria's 10 Days of Halloween saw me getting all emotional about my own personal horror passion.  I'm going to come right out and say it before we go any further.  I kind of love found footage horror movies.  Not all of them but when they get it right, I really do love the techniques, the immediacy and the identification they create.

That's why I chose to write about The Blair Witch Project as another of my Halloween must-see movies.  It's the film that introduced me and many others to the found footage trend and since then I've begun a PhD thesis on found footage horror.  I try to see every example but that is becoming increasingly difficult with the sheer amount that get released every year.  Blame the success of Paranormal Activity for really bringing back the trend recently.

Anyway as much as people hate the found footage fad, I think there are some absolutely fantastic examples which is why over at Filmoria I decided to share my top 10 (plus a few more worth catching).

Back in July I defended found footage from its critics over at Boolean Flix which you can read here.

Yesterday at Filmoria I argued The Blair Witch Project is a must-see Halloween movie.

And is that isn't enough shaky-cam action and you want to find some other examples that you may or may not have heard of, then please check out my top 10 found footage horror movies over at Filmoria.

Poor Heather

In other horror-ific news, I spent the day yesterday at the Lionsgate UK horrorthon in London.  In order to promote the upcoming Silent Hill sequel, they were screening loads of their back catalogue at the Soho Screening Rooms.  I sat and watched four horror films back to back between 10am and 5pm.  Starting with Jeepers Creepers and ending with the pretty bloody awful My Bloody Valentine 3D.  In between I checked out Drag Me to Hell and The Cabin in the Woods (again) and we were treated to some frankly bizarre clips from Silent Hill: Revelation.  Spending a whole day in a darkened theatre watching horror was pretty much a perfect day for me.  The quality of the movies wasn't the best but they were all entertaining enough to stop me falling asleep!  I also got a The Cabin in the Woods keyring and Silent Hill poster so thanks to Lionsgate UK for a fun day!

Forget Christmas, Halloween is definitely this horror fans favourite time of the year!

What do you think of found footage?  I'm always curious to hear people's reactions to the sub-genre so whether you love it or hate it, please check out the articles above and let me know your thoughts!