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I was very lucky

to be able to attend every day ofManchester’s Premier Horror FestivalGrimm Up North which spanned the entireHalloween weekend from the GalaOpening on Thursday 28th through toHalloween night on Sunday 31st October2010.

The Dancehouse Theatre located on busyOxford Road in Manchester was afantastic location for the festival, oozingthat old cinema charm. Built as a cinemain the 1940’s it currently is owned by adance school, it’s nice and close to thecity centre for transport with plenty of localpubs and bars for drinks after a long dayof film viewing.

It’s not a new crisp, glitzy, neon Odeon orCineworld which the world has becomefilled with, homogenized and built fromtemplate across the country. TheDancehouse had a real charm andcharacter, outside the iron gates of thetheatre, which gave it just the hint ofentering a crypt, they had a few zombies,who throughout the festival lurked up anddown the block scaring passers-by. Insidethere was a small foyer with a massivelyhigh ceiling in which they had set up Xbox360’s with their pre-release exclusive gameSplatterhouse for people to play.

One thing I couldn’t believe about theDancehouse was how big it was on theinside. It had almost TARDIS likedimensions as it just seemed to keepgoing and going with windy halls, one ofwhich led to the Breakout Room high upabove the buzz of the busy Oxford Road, Icouldn’t fathom where this room wasactually located in the building.

The main theatre was another floor abovethe cafeteria. It had an old art deco decoreand dim lighting which lent the room asuitably gloomy feel during the filmscreenings and was a truly satisfyinglocation for a horror film which becamesuitably creepy for the later screenings.Just outside the main theatre was a smallbar where you could grab a glass of wineor beer.

Over the course of the 4 days they aired 25films, 2 documentaries and ran 3 seminarsbetween the main theatre and breakoutroom, more than enough to satisfy anyhorror film lover, what I found mostrefreshing was the great variety ofcountries being represented on the festivalscreens, films from Canada, Australia,France, Greece, Hong Kong, Korea,Mexico and Denmark which really gaveGrimm an International flavour.

Here are the films which were a highlightof my festival experience, many of themnot released until 2011:

The Last Man on Earth (1964, USA & ITA)Directors: Ubaldo Ragona & SidneySalkowNow even if you haven’t seen the The LastMan on Earth you should be aware of thisfilm starring horror icon Vincent Pricewhich is based upon one of my favouritenovels I Am Legend by Richard Matheson.What made this particular screening unlikeany other was that the film wasaccompanied by live music from electronicduo Animat. On the whole I thought theirperformance was quite good and added adreamlike quality to the film that isn’tpresent in its original format. Not all theirmusic choices worked for me, such asMichael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ playing whenwe first see the undead appear on screen.It did get a chuckle from the audience so Ithink they achieved the effect they werelooking for, but personally I feel they let thesong drag on a little too long. On thewhole it was a unique experience and ifyou have an opportunity to catch Animat Iwould encourage you to take the time tosee an old classic in a new light.

Outcast (UK)Director: Colm McCarthyJames Nesbitt plays Cathal, (in a roleunlike any other you are likely to have seenhim in) a man determined to track downhis former lover Mary to kill their sonFergal who he feels is borne of evil andneeds to be destroyed. Cathal is aided byMary’s brother Liam. Mary grew up ininsular Irish community where the beliefsand traditions of the Celtic people are veryreal and demand fear and respect. Maryflees to Edinburgh with her son and hideson a rundown council estate where shetries to protect Fergal using a mixture ofmagic and intimidation. I really enjoyedthis film with its fresh perspective on oldthemes. Outcast has a bleak and realisticfeel even though it deals with an unsualand not often seen world. It feels like youare glimpsing behind the curtain into a

world which could actually exist on thebackstreets of our urban landscape. I can’thelp but feel that this is the sort of film thatdirectors like Mike Leigh would have madeif he’d decided to make genre films. TomMcCarthy who co-wrote the film with hisbrother Colm was at the festival and saidthat they did find influences in films likeThe War Zone or Nil By Mouth.

Reel Zombies (CAN)Director: by David J. FrancisI found this Canadian mockmentaryextremely cheap, poorly cut, badly actedand yet still thoroughly enjoyable. It’s ahorror comedy done on a shoestringbudget (which shows) but there are somegenuine laughs to be found in this film.The basic premise is that Producer MikeMasters has a brainstorm for a newchapter in their z grade horror franchise‘Zombie Night’ using the currentpredicament to their advantage, thepredicament being that there has been anactual zombie apocalypse! Mike gets theold team back together (or what remains ofthem) to make Zombie Night 3 using realzombies to save on special effects costs.He and Director David J Francis can’t helpbut see the potential gains for making thefirst horror film to be released once theirworld gets back on its feet.

The comic nature comes from the standardbehind-the-scenes filmmaking stereotypesportrayed in this somewhat tryingsituation. A costume department stealingoutfits off the bodies of the living dead,craft services scrounging for food only tobe met with a leading lady who complainsabout the menu being too ‘carb heavy’ anda hillbilly team of zombie wranglers whodevise a hockey stick and ropecombination for keeping the ‘extras’ incheck. Of course it’s clear from the outsetthat things are going to end badly for thecrew, but the journey of them getting thereis amusing enough to keep your attention.

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Evil in the Time of Heroes (GRE)Directed by Yorgos NoussiasThis is the sequel/prequel to Evil or ToKako (noteable as the first Greek zombiefilm). It picks up where the original film leftoff and if you’ve seen the original you’ll bewondering how in the hell do they get outof that?! Well you’ll either be sorelydisappointed or have a chuckle as the filmuses a throwaway line that echoes thatsame sentiment without explaining in theleast. Evil in the Time of Heroes is a funfilm with loads of shocky-splatter andquirky characters but it may be a bit crazyfor some audiences, the plot doesn’t makea whole lot of sense and it continuallyjumps between different characters andtimelines from the present day (or 5 yearsin the past if you do the maths) to 2800years ago. The ancient sub-plot is highlyunderused and is really only there toexplain the later appearance of actor BillyZane (yes, Billy Zane!) in an odd role asimmortal zombie killing mentor as itdoesn’t really resolve the origin of theplague other than a few vague referencesto the never ending battle between goodand evil repeating itself through time.There is a good film in here somewhereand perhaps with more time in the editingroom it may have emerged on screen.There is a lot of experimentation from thedirector as well, and on the whole the filmis an enjoyable mess.

Amer (BEL/FRA)Directors: Hélène Cattet & Bruno ForzaniWidely touted as a hommage to the filmsof Dario Argento and Mario Bava meant Ithought this film would be a bitdisappointing to me as the Italianhorror/thrillers aren’t usually my sort ofthing, Lucio Fulci being an exception. So Iwas very surprised when I really loved thisstrange and beautiful exploration of awoman’s life glimpsed through threevignettes, each with its own uniquetexture.

You can see the influences of Argento,Bava and other giallo films, but Amer iseven more exotic and strips away all butthe barest of plots, taking you on anabstract visual and auditory journey, thefocus is on the detail; tight almost macroshots of skin, hair, eyes and sweatpredominate through the film giving theoverall experience an intimate and veryhighly sexual piece of filmmaking.

The first chapter of the film is for me themost successful, and is perhaps the onemost directly influenced by Argento. Itexamines Ana’s loss of her grandfather, herblack lace clad and hugely creepygrandmother who terrifies Ana with hercoarse and rasping breath, and hershocking and violent first experience ofspying on her parents having sex.

In the second chapter we find Ana as ateenager walking into town with hermother to do the shopping. The camera isalmost obsessive in the way it followsAna’s blushing bosom, the light cottondress which is strikingly translucent in thesummer sun and the way Ana routinelychews on her long dark hair. Her mother’sjealousy is palpable as Ana turns headsfrom every man within her vicinity.

In the third and final chapter Ana is anadult returning to the derelict and immensehouse she grew up in, the house being soreminiscent of the one featured inArgento’s Deep Red (also shown at GrimmUp North) that I wondered whether it wasthe same building.

The vast majority of the tension ispresented through the merest suggestionof sexual violence which oozes from themen who surround Ana. This is not yourordinary horror film, more art housecinema, but I urge any true horroraficionados to seek it out especially if theyenjoy the Italian films in the genre.

Bedevilled (KOR)Director: Jang Cheol-SuBedevilled was I think my favourite film ofthe festival and is an expertly craftedSouth Korean revenge tale. It opens inSeoul where a young woman Hye-Wonfails to identify three men she sees rapinga local woman, at work in a bank she hasoutbursts of anger which eventually leadsto a forced vacation. Hye-Won decides totravel to the island home of her deceasedgrandfather for a much needed rest. Youthink the film will focus on her but onceshe arrives on the island the films focuschanges to that of her childhood friendand island resident Kim Bok-Nam. Theisland is populated by only nine peoplewho include Kim Bok-Nam’s husband, hisbrother, mother, father and aunt’s. Nam istreated as the lowest level of servant byalmost everyone on the island and thedomestic violence suffered by her at thehands of the islanders is treated as aneveryday occurrence and downplayed assomething which is simply to be enduredor perhaps even deserved by Nam.

She dreams of running away to Seoul withher classy and city-bred friend but iscontinually rebutted when she brings upthe topic with Hye-Won. Nam’s history onthe island is barely mentioned and onlyalluded to in flashbacks we see of Namand Won’s childhoods but it’s left to us todraw our own conclusions about what mayor may not have happened.

The whole film shifts gear after a failedescape attempt by Kim Bok-Nam and therepercussions for her and the rest of theislanders are immense.

I loved this film and its initially subtle butthen increasingly intense depictions ofisland life gone wrong, In recent years wehave seen Asian horror rise to popularitywith the likes of Ringu, Ju-on and The Eyebeing remade as competent but lackingAmerican imitations. Bedevilled ranks upthere with these original films and bettersthem in many ways, so don’t be surprisedif you see it being reimagined by DavidFincher or Guillermo Del Toro in a fewyears time for a Western audience whowould rather not strain their eyes to readthe subtitles.

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Grimm Up North was an immenselyenjoyable way to spend the Halloweenweekend and I would urge anyone wholoves Horror or film in general to add thisto their festival schedule for next year andbecome a regular while it’s still a relativelyintimate experience compared to otherfestivals.

Grimm is still a fledgling and independentfestival and it truly deserves greatersupport to gain a foothold in the Britishand European scene.

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EDITORSRECOMMENDATIONS:Armed with his press pass lanyard,Scream editor Richard Cooper gives histhoughts and memories on the recentGrimm Up North Horror Film Festival.

Over the four days I was in Manchester forfestival & film director Simeon Halligan’snow famous Grimm Up North it was acombination of watching films andattending seminars. I’ll come on to thefilms later, but to first focus on theseminars first. I attended two seminarsduring the festival and to me, the locationsfor them seemed somewhat reminiscent ofbeing back at secondary school but withthe feeling that you very much wanted tobe there.

The room was set out with a hugeoverhead projector for film trailers andrelated footage and the chairs were all putout in lines either side to seat 50-oddpeople. It made it extremely personal, aone-on-one with the special invited guests.

The first seminar I attended was withwriter and director Paul Andrew Williams(London To Brighton, The Cottage, CherryTree Lane) Williams was very well receivedby attendees and given high praise forattending the festival even with his foot inplaster after a recent break.

Many of the seminar attendees wereobviously film students and very much intomaking a career in filmmaking, so Williamswas constantly bombarded with questionsand people asking for advice. The whole90 minutes or so was immensely enjoyablewith Williams running off numerous funnystories and anecdotes.

The other seminar I attended was aptlynamed ‘Adaptations’ and featured wellknown British authors Ramsey Campbell,Christopher Priest, Christopher Nolan andDavid Moody discussing their ownexperiences and careers on getting a bookadapted for the big screen. The highlightfor me was meeting and chatting withDavid Moody, such a lovely talented guy.

Now onto the film screenings. Film-wise, Isaw many, some good, some great, somebad, some forgettable and one awful. Inthis case, I am going to just feature thegreat.

The film I was most eager to watchthroughout the festival was Primal.Combining survivalist horror with thecreature-feature, Primal promised to be anintriguing blend of some of my favouritesub-genres.

The brainchild of writer-director Josh Reedand writer-producer Nigel Christensen,Primal is the latest in the recent wave of

Australian horror thrillers, and showswhat happens when a band of hard-partying young Aussies encounter a deadlyaboriginal legend. If you love your bloodand gore along with several fast pacedaction and chase sequences that rank upthere with some of Hollywood’s big budgetprojects then look out for it in on DVD in2011.

The other film worth a watch is 13 Hrs. Thefilm is directed by talented newcomerJonathan Glendening combined with theproducers of the action-gore-fest DogSoldiers. The film tells the story of SarahTyler (Isabella Calthorpe) who returns toher troubled family home in the isolatedcountryside, for a much put-off visit. As astorm rages, Sarah, along with her familyand friends hole up for the night, cut offfrom the outside world. But somethingemerges from the driving rain and

darkness. Something that holds a darksecret so devastating that, in one night, itcould wipe out the entire family.

The film impressed me with its pace, thespecial effects where we see plenty ofgore and guts as well as a birds-eye viewfrom the creature itself and also how thefilm only uses one or two locationsthroughout but does a fine job in doing sowithout getting overly familiar. Anotherhighlight was the films director and severalcast members from 13 Hrs came onto thestage and took part in an audience Q&A.Great stuff! 13 Hrs is already out on DVDnow … If you like monster movies, lots ofteens screaming with plenty of blood andgore then you’ll surely enjoy it.

All in all I have to say that Grimm Up Northwas such fun and enjoyment, thank youGrimm Up North! See you next year!

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