After Dark Films Horror Fest

Anyone else planning on going to this? My brother and I pre-ordered tickets to all 8 films (I think we can live w/o the Snoop Dogg special bonus film, thanks) over the course of the 3 days. It's gonna be a ROYAL bitch staying up for the midnight showing we were forced to partake in on 11/17 (there's no way in hell we could make it there for this film's earlier 4:30 PM showing from our jobs), as I have a 4 month old and uninterrupted sleep is not a thing I get a lot of, but dammit, we're gonna try! If the ushers have to poke us w/ their flashlights to wake us up after the lights come up, we're gonna try.

Maybe it's just 'cuz 11/17 happens to be my birthday, and my wife has been exceptionally cool about shouldering the lion's share of the child care responsibilities all weekend so I can do this, but I am SOooooooo looking forward to this. Is anyone else going? Are you all as psyched as I am? Do any of you know anything about any of these films, the filmmakers or the stars? Are we in for a fun ride?

I was talking about this to a friend of mine a few days ago, and he is definitely NOT a horror fan, but even he knew what I was talking about ("Oh, you mean that thing w/ the 8 films?"). They did a great job promoting this thing, but a piss poor job in its execution as far as the website goes. I hope the films are at least close to as tantalizingly good as the ad makes them out to be ("too graphic to be shown to the general public. . . " I don't know what's cooler; the content itself, or that fact that, as one of the privileged few that gets to see these films, I'm not "the general public". >:-)

As I had hoped, I saw all 3 films on 11/17 w/ my brother. Actually made it thru (most) of the last one mostly conscious!

My impressiosn are that 'Unrest" sucked big time. HUGE gaps in logic and tha narrative, nothing is satisfactorily explained, no gore to speak of. . . . just an all around bad job.

Dark Ride was the best of the 3. Even though it is. . . shall we say. . . extremely derivative of Tobe Hooper's "Funhouse", the setting for the film (the carnival ride) was much better than the one Tobe had to work with; if he had the film to make over again and this set & props to work with, Gunther would have been even scarier, I think. Decent (but could've been better) gore, and a cohesive - if somewhat cliched - plot. The acting wasn't bad, although Jamie lynn Sigler obviously saves her best work for "The Sopranos". being a Jersey boy, the New Jersey Boardwalk setting helped a bit, too.

Reincarnation actually wasn't bad. Some of the unwashed heathen that were in the theatre in Elizabeth where I saw these films walked out as soon as they realized the film was subtitled. I guess reading is too much work for them. but I thought the film was atmospheric and creepy. I haven't seen too many of the original Japanese horror films (like the original versions of The Ring or The Grudge), but if this is a weak example, I can't wait to see a strong one. It's hard to judge acting in another language, but no one appeared to be obviously overacting, and the imagery was well used (the doll, the kids, esp. in the final scene, etc.). I also agree w/ an earlier comment that restraint on the violence made its use more effective.

We're going back for all 3 tonight, and both tomorrow. To all those who will be joining us, enjoy!

I saw all 3 last night. I thought "Gravedancers" was OK. I agree the ending was a little out of place and over the top, but the premise was pretty good, and the rest of it was executed fairly well. The acting was pretty good, except for the French paranormal expert and the friend that worked at kinko's (I forgot the characters' names already; isn't that sad?). Decently expensive-looking effects, but I agree w/ the earlier post that says it seemed too tame for what the fest was touted as being. So far, I haven't been bombarded by disturbing imagery in any of these films.

I liked "The Abandoned", but not as much as "Gravedancers". The pacing was a bit slow, and the explanation of why things were happening was a little incomplete and illogical. But There were some really good gotcha moments (like when she's shining the flashlight around the room, and sweeps it over the bed? Lulled me into such a false sense of security I was victimized by the jump scare as well, which never happens to me, either). And the imagery of what Dad did to the kids that gets revealed toward the end could very well be the most disturbing images we've seen thus far in the entire fest, and they're not all that gory, even. Maybe it's just cuz I'm a sort of new dad, but the fact that they involved infants is pretty disturbing.

I note that going much further than this film did with this idea is something I've never seen a film do. Not that I particularly WANT to (I mean, what kind of sicko do you think I am?), but maybe this is fodder for discussion; can anyone recall a film where they broke this taboo? None spring to my mind, unless you count the scene in "Candyman" with the retarded kid in the bathroom (which disturbed my sleep for weeks; never go see a horror movie stoned out of your gourd, dammit!); but that kid wasn't an infant. It seems that one thing at least is still off limits.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I really liked "Penny Dreadful". Pick of the Litter so far, IMO. A really well executed slasher flick. Not much gore again, but gives you the creeps by degrees really effectively. This is the only film Ive seen at the fest that I'd consider buying, so far. The films seem to be getting better as you go; today's last 2 installments could, if my theory holds true, be very good indeed.

Enjoy the show!

At long last, my brother and I have completed our horror odyssey, and saw all 8 films (it was his birthday gift to me; best one I've gotten in years. Thanks again, Mike). It got to be kind of an endurance contest toeward the end, but it was well worth it.

As for today's films, my theory that they were saving the best for last ALMOST held true. I really liked "Wicked Little Things." I am a sucker for a good zombie movie, and this take on it (little kids armed with mining implements) was pretty cool. Most gore of any film at the fest. The part where the plumber gets his brains smashed in was possibly the coolest gore scene in the fest). I'd consider buying this one as well, but I think "Penny Dreadful" edges it out by a hair for Best of the Fest.

[As an aside, the projector started having problems during our screening, and the theatre sent a young female assistant manager in to announce they were working on the problem, and that all attendees for this show would be given free passes at the end of the show. Someone at the back of the theatre yelled: "Get 'er!" and there was much laughter from the crowd. The manager only smiled nervously. They put the projector back on, and the image was off; the tops of every frame were being projected above the screen; a guy was in frame carrying a sack over his shoulder and someone yelled: "Where's his head?" Someone next to me answered: "It's in the bag!" More laughter. It was just amusing enough to make the interruption worth it. Well, almost.]

Last but not least ("Unrest" gets that dubious distinction) was "The Hamiltons". Not a bad, if not a terribly original idea, but the pacing just CRAWLED. I kept waiting for something to happen, and I was getting sick of hearing the girl in the basement talk and hoping they'd just kill her already. Disappointingly lacking in gore, and poorly acted for the most part (although the twins were pretty good). You can kind of see where it's going pretty early on, and the clumsy efforts to keep us guessing anyway were unnecessary. Hey Francis! Anne Rice called, she wants the character of Louis back!

Overall, though, I had a great time, and the theatres for every show I went to were sold out; the line for "The Hamiltons, especially, was huge. If the sales in most of the other theatres that participated were as good as these, I'd guess it was a financial succes for After Dark, and we can look forward to more of these. And I will gladly attend, time & family responsibilities permitting.

If anyone saw the Snoop Dogg film (or "The Trippers", for which I saw A blurb on the Horrorfest site yesterday), let us know how they were. And I hope you all enjoyed the show.

I'm totally with that. Nothing I saw blew me away, but I just had such a good time, being in a theatre full of like-minded maniacs for that much time that weekend. And some of the movies were pretty good. They're at least as good as some of the obscure Netflix me and the guys sometimes rent and watch while drinking beer in someone's basement or rec room. I'd love to make this an annual event, too.

$2.5 Mil? That's all? I would've expected more than that. Every show I went to was sold out. Someone also said at least some of the NYC shows were sold out, too. If that trend continued in most of the 500 theatres where it was shown, I would've expected a biger return. Still, I guess that really isn't bad for movies that otherwise never would have seen the inside of a theatre.

Oh, I am SO there. Thanks again Al, our never failing eyes and ears.