Screamfest L.A. is a joyous celebration of the dark side of Hollywood. The scary movie. The stories of darkness and the macabre. And thankfully, many of us at the Truthbringer.com staff had the oppurtunity to enjoy on this night a wide variety of shorts, and for only 1 of us, the oppurtunity to get his film screened at a real live working movie theatre.
Directed By: Massimo Coglitore
In this story Alex, a surgeon, takes his wife Laura into the mountains for the weekend. Alex recieves a phone call telling him the little girl he had operated on slipped into a coma. On the way he and his wife barely avoid a head on collision, but their jeep craps out. A mysterious dark man arrives and offers the two a ride. He takes them to a rundown hotel. The two try to leave when Laura hears the whimpers of a small girl. She saves the girl and leaves, but turns to find that her husband is deffinitly trapped inside the hotel. Laura then wakes up and discovers that they did not avoid the head on collision. Alex is dead, and a message on his voice mail tells him that the girl had woken from her coma.
Shot in Italy and starring Guido Caprino, and Karina Arutyunyan this is one of those rare sorts of movies where you actually have to sit and think about what you just saw. Once you take a time out you actually see that the story is an extremly well thought out idea. Massimo Coglitore does a fine job of keeping you guessing through the entire length and takes great advantage of the Italian country-side. I could easily enjoy this if it were in fact feature length.
Directed By: Carolyn Townsend
The new temp hates her job at a run down POS building where K&M Imports is housing their main affairs. Not only does she have to put up with a snotty cleaning lady with the only key in and out, but her friend has ditched out, leaving her alone for the entire night. All is calm until her friend calls, begging for her help. She tries to calm her friend down. Until she realizes the phone cord has been cut and she's been talking on it all this time. She tries to leave out the back but falls down a flight of basement stairs. As the morning light breaks she finds herself dying beside the already dead body of her friend. Grasping a phone in hand.
Two movies with the same title. But frankly, I'd rather skip this rendition. Not a particularly engrossing story, and the directing was lacking heavily on the scare and suspense factor. Star, Dagney Kerr did have a comic bit when she was sorting through the paperwork and came to realize the phone cord was cut and her friend was still on the phone. Kay D'Arcy had the best part of the film as the Cleaning Lady. Who was both irritable and creepy at the same time. She had a great New Zealand accent and reminded me very much of the mother in Peter Jackson's Dead Alive. This is not to say that Carolyn Townsend is not a promising up and comer. She has a very stylish eye and picked up some very intriguing shots. Especially in the long hallways, and my favorit, the reverse over the shoulder shot of the Cleaning Lady, and the Temp standing behind her on the stairs.
Directed By: Jay Holben
Andrea is pissed at her friend for ditching her. She goes to her apartment and finds her murdered in her bed. Quickly she hides in a closet and tries to quiet herself as the murderer is still in the room. A good long look at his hardened face is enough to stagger her breathing. Unfortunatley, her cell phone, with a distinct ring, goes off in the living room. Quickly the murderer flees leaving Andrea in her hiding space. Six weeks go by and the killer is still loose. On her way out of the building she finds herself riding an elevator to the ground floor with the killer himself. She is tense, and he can't figure out why. He actually seems charming but she is freaking out. And it gets worse when the elevator breaks down. They are now stuck. The bell doesn't work, and the phone is broken. Nothing to do but sit and wait. Her cell phone with the ring goes off and he remembers the tune. He gets up, but she beats him to the draw and stabs him repeatidly in the neck with her pen. The door is open and all is well. Until a cop pulls a gun on her telling her to freeze. She looks in the elevator and it is not the killer at a ll. In fact, the dead guy looks nothing like the killer. She imagined the whole thing and killed an innocent man.
First off, SEEN IT!! This idea, while on this nice big screen, has unfortunatly been told. It was a short experimental film that I can't remember the name of. But a man kills a guy in a suit thinking him to be his attacker from an incident past. Then he walks outside and sees that many men are suits, waiting in line for a Magician Convention. Secondly, everyone in this movie was either acting way to hard, or didn't care all together. April Adamson who plays Andrea is basically your typical damsel in distress, shaking and quivering in her boots while the antagonist enjoys watching it. It might have been more interesting if she were toying with him that she had this knowledge of his fell deeds. If! It actually was the killer. Thirdly, who the hell called the cops? Is it normal procedure for the cops to be called when an elevator gets jammed for a few minutes? If that's the case than the building I work in should be shut down for hazards sake. I've been stuck in my elevator 3 times now and I didn't see 1 cop! The story was not very intriguing and the direction was played so safely it might as well have had PLAYSKOOL slapped on the opening credits.
Directed By: Clayton Cogswell
Frank, of Frank & Sons Garage has inherited his father's business after he passed away. He's irritable and is making his employee's life hell. When a lady calls in asking for his assitance in towing her off of the 213 Highway, he goes out there to find that no one is there. Pissed, he returns to work. And the rest of the week, she continues to call and begs for his help in picking her up. Confessing that if her husband finds her and his car out on the highway, he might actually kill her. He goes back out to the highway and discovers a grim scene of an age before. Something evil arises and chases him down until he can at last get back in his car to safety. The lady was murdered in the 1950's, and had called Frank's father for help. She was denied service because of the inconvenience of the distance and her husband murdered her in the desert.
I am quite partial to this film because it was directed by a man whom I was convinced a long time ago, was a genius. Clayton Cogswell's debut film Falling, was pure brilliance, and his first attempt at suspense is equally successfull. Matt Smith, Noel Carroll, and Heather Cogswell, the cast truly show that they bring their acting chops to the table. And the disembodied, desperate, and emotion tugging portrayal of the lady on the phone pleaing for help is a testament to the acting power housed within Stephanie Ohanesian. A true tribute to the great scare techniques tried and true, mister Cogswell even utilizes the always crowd pleasing Sam Raimi "Shakey-Cam." The entire crew should also be glad to know that they grabbed one of the very few true screams of terror from the audience.
Directed By: David Benullo
Young Kevin is busted in school and must do detention because of his insistance on the legend of someone called Shadow Man. Reluctantly the teacher lets him go home as she gazes at his drawing of a terrible black monster. On his way home on his bike, the shadows appear to be chasing after young Kevin. Pretty soon, even the dry autumn leaves begin to take an identity as they join in the pursuit. Finally he gets home and turns on the porch light, which seem to have effect and halt the leaves in their spot as they dare not enter the light. Kevin is home alone as his mom has to work late. Kevin begins to turn on lights, but even they begin to fail under the growing darknesses power. Soon, the very darkness begins to grow limbs as they reach out for Kevin. Armed with only a flashlight Kevin soon falls victim to the deadly Shadow Man. Who then moves further down the street, towards his next victims.
During this movie, I really, really wish I hadn't sat next to Corona. He jumped so high in this movie he almost took me with him. Also leaving a multitude of bruises on my leg as he kicked me to launch himself higher into the air. Codey Arens plays 10 year old Kevin. And this kid is going to go far. He's the thing America has been looking for to cure the disease known as Haley Joel Osment. The production value on this film was deffinitly top notch. Meaning expensive. But thankfully it pays off. It has almost the same premise as 2003's Darkness Falls, but works about a billion times better. David Benullo NEEDS to make this movie a feature.
Directed By: Victor Garcia
A man in a darkened dank room cocks and loads a shotgun. Next the same man, extremley naked, drops a large sized plastic bag to the bottom of a set of basement stairs. Next he tends to the cleaning of his weapon, and the cleaning of a large blood stain on tiled wall. Afterwards, he settles down in a hot bath and we see a strange looking scar down the middle of his back. He takes a straight razor and brutally slashes his wrists. He finally settles into the warmth and begins screaming in agony. A pain we couldn't possibly ever understand. The scar on his back splits and mucous covered lump of afterbirth plops out onto the floor and begins to whimper and squirm. The man in the tub finally dies. A large plastic bag is dropped to the bottom of a set of basement stairs, and the man is inside. He is laying ontop of a large pile of dead bodies wrapped in plastic bags. At the top of the stairs is a very naked man.
This was one of the best of the show. Made in Spain, Victor Garcia has the directing flair of a young David Fincher. He uses brutal images, quick cuts, and over-exagerated sound effects to weave you into the tale. Which doesn't have a single word of dialouge. Everything is told through the sound and images. In fact, the sound is so well matched that you could close your eyes and still understand the whole story. The actors' names weren't listed, but they sure can act. You never actually see him slash his wrist, but his acting as well as the brilliant sound effects sell it so strong, you can't help but squirm in your seat. And I work in surgery!!!!
Directed By: Mike Williamson
A mom and her son and daughter are on a road trip and check into a seedy side road lodge. There they meet a spooky old lady telling them about her past and how her son loved the train they used to own. Until one day fate claimed his life and the rest of his passangers. That night, the mom and son are quickly stolen away by a mysterious entity. Leaving the daughter to solve the mystery. She finds a steam train outside where there wasn't one before and finds her family, but not before they too are stolen away by the Trainsman. Inside, the lady falls victim to the entity. Evidently in a bargain with it. She provides it victims, and eventually it'll set her free from the bonds he's captured her in.
This movie, while a genius throwback to the 1980's style of horror movies was boooooooring. The lady tells her entire family's life story, with the same chills and thrill of listening to a real old coot. Then she takes a nip of alcohol from her flask, and everyone in the audience is like, "Ooooh big surprise." But while it was deffinitly flawed as a movie it did provide one scare that brought the house down. And once again I really wish I wasn't next to Corona. As the little boy was whisked out of the window at break neck speed, Corona damn nearly kicked out my knee cap as he leapt up in his seat. I almost needed a wheelchair to get back home. The production value was very high, but the trains looked suspiciously like the ones housed at Travel Town here in California. Either way, a nice use of resources, but t he movie itself just failed to interest me.
Directed By: Bruno Philip
Steve and Vanessa move into together and share their first night in their new apartment. Strange noises come from the living room and Steve goes to investigate. He searches the house, once, twice, three times, and with a giant knife. There is nothing. He goes back to bed with Vanessa. Vanessa wakes up the next morning, sees something and screams.
Made in Canada, this is by far the worst entry of the whole festival. There was nothing scary, and didn't have a point to anything. The whole time Steve is checking his apartment for monsters or whatever, he fails to turn on 1 light. That would be fine if it wasn't for the fact that the director already established that their new place had electricity earlier. Fortunatly though, as they were packing their stuff up for the move, Steve made sure to put his giant machette in a convinient box for later use. And then at the grand finale, when we finally were supposed to see what was being chased by Steve all night long the movie ends. Hello? Remember us? The audience. May we see please? Terrible. A movie that thankfully will never be made into a 2 hour film. But unfortunatly was 10 minutes too long.
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After the event the tickets we bought were used to treat us to free margaritas afterwards at a party hosted at Tu Tu Tango. After several hours of movie watching, eating, and drinking, the night was undoubtedly called a success. And I can't wait til next years!!!