FrightFest
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FrightFest 2011: ‘Fright Night’ review
★★★☆☆ Craig Gillespie’s Fright Night (2011) follows the recent Hollywood fascination for re-imaginings with this remake of Tom Holland’s original 1985 cult favourite. Starring Colin Farrell as a libidinous vampire, David Tennant (best know to UK audiences as the former Doctor Who) and Anton Yelchin, this stereoscopic reboot attempts to add a little more bite…
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FrightFest 2011: ‘Panic Button’ review
★★★☆☆ UK director Chris Crow follows up his debut feature Devil’s Bridge (2010) with Panic Button (2011), which screened at this year’s Film4 FrightFest. When four strangers meet for the first time at an airport, they all seem very familiar with each other. Having each won a free trip to New York through their membership…
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FrightFest 2011: ‘Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark’ review
★★★☆☆ Apparently, Guillermo del Toro has been itching to make this one for years. In his youth, John Newland’s 1973 haunted house tale became a by-word for ‘creepy’ between himself and friends. Having secured the rights to produce his own version of Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (2010) over a decade since, del Toro’s…
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FrightFest 2011: ‘Rabies’ review
★★★★☆ In Latin, the word rabies translates literally as ‘madness’; something the pretty girls and boys visiting this deserted woodland could never have imagined. Aharon Keshales’ Rabies (Kalevet, 2010) violently breaks all the conventions of the slasher genre whilst simultaneously executing all the most successful scare techniques from every critically-revered horror film of the last century.…
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FrightFest 2011: ‘Troll Hunter’ review
★★☆☆☆ In the run-up to its Saturday screening at this year’s Film4 FrightFest, I can exclusively reveal that Norwegian mockumentary Troll Hunter (2010) revolves around the act of…troll hunting. It really is that simple – and one of the most striking examples of one dimensional, vacuous cinema seen in recent years (with the exception of…