Review: Dundead 2018

The Dundead 2018 festival at Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) was four days of fun, laughter (some perhaps unintentional!), horror, blood, violence and everything else a cult film fan would need. Curated as always by Chris O'Neil, the DCA event is in its eighth year and it cintained its usual mix of preview screenings and some classic films, this year including a four film retrospective of the work of  horror film director Tobe Hooper. Each film was introduced by Chris himself, offering up, as always some fascinating details he'd uncovered researching each film.

But before the first night's film, the event kicked off with it's film quiz. I can never say no to free pizza and the quiz was great fun as always. Without sounding too boastful, the team of The Undead Samurais won the event, making it the third year in a row I've won. As is always the case, I promptly announced my retirement from film quizzes...well until next year no doubt!

But anyway, onto the films.

DAY ONE

The Endless (2017)

The opening film was a preview screening of The Endless. It was made by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, whose previous film together, Spring, was shown at a previous Dundead festival and a film I had really liked. 

This film, about two brothers who return to the cult they had fled years before, to try and get closure on those events and also to find out why they had been sent a video tape, is a sci-fi film that draws you in slowly, as the members of the cult prepare for an event, one the brothers realise they have to escape before it's too late. 

If the film never chooses to fully reveal the cause of the events that are happening, adds to the overall mystery, though one that might infuriate some. Personally I like the fact that it doesn't.

The cast, including Benson and Moorhead and also Callie Hernandez (who was in La La Land and Alien: Covenant) give good performances and it's well directed by Benson and Moorhead.

Well worth checking out.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

The first of the retrospective Tobe Hooper films is without doubt a horror classic. I think anyone who enjoys and loves horror films, knows of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and its reputation. It is one of the most raw, visceral and intense films in the genre. It gets in your face and stays there, especially in it's second half. Personally, I don't think Hooper ever hit these heights again. Certainly it was a debate among some at Dundead how good/poor a director was Hooper but even allowing for that, there's no denying that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre still holds its power.

The person sitting next to me during the screening said at the end, 'that was intense.'

He was not wrong.

(If interested, I wrote this piece about the film after seeing it at Dundead. Click here)

DAY TWO

The Cured (2017)

The zombie or infected genre is one that has become over saturated over the years. It's without doubt getting harder for filmmakers to come up with an new or original take on the genre. David Freyne making his debut here does come up with a take, that I don't recall seeing before, as it asks the question, what if you could cure those infected?

It's Freyne's debut film and one he handles from a directional point of view very well indeed. I doubt he had a big budget to make his film, but he makes up for it with some good character development, especially with regards to how they and society react to each other. Those who are cured are haunted by what they did under the infection they were suffering from while those who weren't don't fully trust them, especially when they are released back into the public. Because the film is set in Ireland, Dublin in this case, Freyne attempts to deal with the cured and the public and their suspicions no doubt have a background in the Irish violence of the past forty years. Horror can sometimes explore these types of themes better than other genres, though I'm not sure Freyne fully succeeds there. But when the film erupts into carnage and violence he direct those aspects very well indeed.

Although Ellen Page is the star here and is as good as always (she is also credited as one of the producers), the two characters, Senan, played by Sam Keeley and Conor played Tom Vaughn-Taylor are the real focus of the film. both have been cured of the infection, but both deal with that in different ways. Conor leading a group that feel the cured and also those they cannot cure deserve better and Senan, who has guilt for what he did. Both actors are good in their roles.

I was quite impressed with this film, which as I said is a different take on the genre and I look forward to what Freyne comes up with next.

M.F.A. (2017)

If there is one sub genre more than any other that, perhaps, men get totally wrong is the revenge film, especially when it is a woman getting the revenge. It's not always the case, but I do feel women do handle this type of story much better. M.F.A. is a very compelling film, one that definitely needed a woman's touch. 

The story is of Noelle, brilliantly played by Francesca Eastwood, an art student who is raped by a classmate. When she confronts him he dies in an accident. After this and of hearing about other sexual assaults on women where their attackers were either unpunished or let off lightly, she hunts them down and kills them. 

The film is written by Leah McKendrick and directed by Natalia Leite. Both in its writing and directing it never sensationalises anything, which I feel in the hands of some of their male counterparts it may have been. Noelle's rape is shown for what it is, her classmate, assserting his power to get what he wants from her. Leite focuses on Noelle's face as she is assaulted in a scene that is never gratuitous. Her reaction, to it, is very well done, as she goes from victim to a woman first wanting to confront her attacker and then her hunting of others who did the same thing is all done very compellingly. Like the initial rape, the violence in the rest of the film is never gratuitous, as the film is more interested, I feel, in showing glimpses of how women are treated when they do report being assaulted or raped. There's scenes of Noelle attending a group meeting where they discuss ways and ideas to avoid being raped or attacked and Noelle brings up the point, of teaching men not to do it. 

Francesca Eastwood is the daughter of Clint Eastwood and is very good in the role. The films writer, Leah McKendrick also plays her best friend Skye, who as a secret of her own. The film is very well directed by Natalia Leite. 

M.F.A. is a very compelling drams/thriller, one that by focusing more or certainly as much on what women have to face as well as Noelle's revenge is well worth seeing.

Eaten Alive (1976)

The second film in the Tobe Hooper retrospective was Eaten Alive. It's also known as Death Trap though Chris O'Neill in his introduction stated it had several other titles too. It's a film that can best be summed up in one word, Blimey!

This tale of a hotel owner who kills then feeds his guests to a crocodile right next to it, opens with perhaps a nod to Pyscho or to 1975's The Ghoul of a woman who ends up somewhere..then is killed. It then follows that story, partly, as well as introducing other characters that may end up as croc food.

The film's lead, Neville Brand who plays Judd was, according to Chris in the introduction, drunk for most of the first half of the film. I'm pretty much sure, having seen it now, he and others were drunk all the way through. The rest of the cast including Mel Ferrer in a small role, Stuart Whitman as the local sheriff and Carolyn Jones in another small role, as well as Marilyn Burns from Hooper's Texas Chain Saw Massacre, who suffers here too. I gotta wonder what she did to Hooper for him to make her suffer like that!

The use of colours and the studio set gives the film an odd setting, the film is surprisingly tame for the most part in the violence, the croc eaten people mostly offscreen, only a few scythe related deaths and wounds only shown.

It's a film that was banned in the UK at one point. Looked at now, it's a film all over the place, one where I'm sure Hooper and his writers had something in mind. Instead what results is a mess of a film, one I think people need to see...if only to disbelieve what they are seeing!

I can't call it good, but it is entertaining (this will come up again later with another Hooper film!).

DAY THREE

The Dark Crystal (1982)

As is often the case with Dundead, Chris O'Neill often puts on more family orientated films in the afternoon often ones that many may not have had the chance to see on a cinema screen. 

The Dark Crystal, the story of a Gelfling called Jen and his quest to restore a shard to the crystal and in doing so will restore the world, is one I had not seen before. In truth I'm not sure why. It's a film made by Jim Henson and Frank Oz, and as a fan of Henson's The Muppets it's a film that I should have seen by now. Certainly a couple of friends enjoyed making fun of a film they had seen that I hadn't.

It's a pretty good fantasy film, one that perhaps may be a little too dark for younger children but older ones would enjoy. The creatures in the film are imaginative, the story moves at a good pace and the ending pretty good.

There really is a lot to enjoy here, in a film I would certainly suggest if you are a fan of Henson's work, or fantasy films in general.

Fashionista (2016)

Fashionista is a film I'd actually seen before, at FrightFest Glasgow last year. I had enjoyed it, but if I'm honest, I couldn't say fully why. Before I'd seen it this time, the films writer and director, Simon Rumley had responded to a tweet I'd posted, saying that the film comes over even better second time round. Now you might expect a director of a film to say that, to encourage people to rewatch something he has made, but in truth he's not wrong.

Chris O'Neill in his introduction stated that one of the reasons he had wanted to show the film, a film he said was inspired as a credit at the end states to the works of Nicolas Roeg, in part as it seemed to have been dumped onto streaming services rather than giving a proper cinema, or even limited cinema run. I believe it played a few festivals, including as I said, FrightFest but then seemed to disappear after that. But Chris felt the film deserved to be seen on a cinema screen and he's not wrong. Rumley has a very good cinema style and the way the film tells it's story, of using editing of t film to have it play in a non linear fashion does make it a bit jarring at first, but one that suits the material well. There is a moment late on that I think threw some of the audience late on, but one I think works well. Featuring a fantastic lead performance from Amanda Fuller, Fashionista is one that if you can, you should take a look at.

Vampire Clay (2017)

The trailer for Vampire Clay was used as an observation round as part of the Dundead film quiz. In truth though, the trailer was such bonkers I think people stopped paying attention to the trailer in detail and just enjoyed it!

As a film however, this story of a group of art students being attacked by clay that wants their blood is a fun idea needing a better film. It does have a couple of surprises in there, it's actually quite funny in parts, but it's clear Soichi Umezawa didn't know how to end the story. Personally I know where it should have ended, but instead it continues for longer than it needed too. The running time is given as 80 minutes, but I think there is an hours worth of material in the film.

That being said, I did enjoy the film but it would have worked, as others did say, as a film short.

A Prayer Before Dawn (2017)

A Prayer Before Dawn tells the story of an English boxer by the name of Billy Moore who ends up in a prison in Thailand. A drug addict, he struggles to survive in a prison where no-one speaks English, he can't understand anyone and the threat of violence is always there. But once he gets the chance to join the prison Mauy Thai team he sees a chance to sort himself out.

This film is based on a true story, There was a Billy Moore who ended up in a Thai prison, an experience he wrote about after. The film is written by Jonathan Hirschbein and Nick Saltrese and directed by Jean-Stephane Sauvaire. Most of the cast are non actors, a number of them being former prisoners. Joe Cole, who plays Moore is one of the few proper actors in the film. There is also a small role for Vithaya Pansringarm, who was also in Only God Forgives.

One of the best things about this film is the decision not to use subtitles for when the Thai characters are speaking. We, the audience, like Moore have no idea what they are saying, so you can never really be sure what will happen from scene to scene. Cole's performance is pretty good, showing his confusion and fear at moments as he struggles to adapt to live in the prison. 

The only downside in the film is that when he joins the Mauy Thai team, there are moments there that follow the usual sporting cliches for a film of this kind. 

Sauvaire doesn't hold back on the violence, the fights in the ring are brutal, which they should be for a sport of this kind. It's perhaps a little overlong at nearly two hours though.

However, it is a compelling drama, one well worth seeing if you get the chance.

The Funhouse (1981)

The third Tobe Hooper film was The Funhouse. It was released in 1981, part of a double bill with My Bloody Valentine and arrived when slasher horror films were everywhere. Based on the poster and that tagline, you might expect a slasher film, but you would be wrong.

It does open with a homage to both Halloween and Psycho as we see a girl getting ready for a shower as a figure in a mask (we see through the masks eyes) approaches the bathroom. This turns out to be her brother, which is one of the issues I had with the film, mainly that the characters are so damn annoying. It's clear the brother, Joey, is somewhat disturbed in his own way, following his sister Amy to the carnival where the story is set, to spy on her and yet when she seems to have vanished in the Funhouse, he says nothing. 

As for Amy, her date and her friends, they have a another problem to overcome..they are so damn annoying! Slasher films or films that are similar have to create characters you care about, otherwise you cannot wait for the killer to turn up and slaughter them. Here, once they are being hunted after witnessing a murder, because of their behaviour earlier in the film you cannot care enough about them that you want them to survive. 

That'snot the fault of the actors, Kevin Conway plays three different roles as the Barker's for several stalls in the carnival and Elizabeth Berridge as Amy is pretty good too but they are let down by the cliched writing. 

It's well directed by Hooper, who keeps the deaths relatively blood free. He does create a tense atmosphere in the Funhouse itself and leads to a pretty good finale.

It's no masterpiece by any means, but is among Hooper's best work, I feel.

DAY FOUR

The Old Dark House (1932)

A group of strangers arrive at a house in the middle of a storm...

One of my favourite features of Dundead is how often they play classic films. Over the years they've shown 1953's House Of Wax in its original 3D version as well as the 1927 version of The Cat And The Canary. This year it was The Old Dark House in a new 4K restoration version. It looked absolutely gorgeous on the screen.

As for the film itself it was great fun. Director James Whale was known for having a sense of humour and the film really is funny. The film was written by Benn W. Levy, based on a novel by J.B. Priestley and the exchanges between the characters  are a delight. Who knew the simple line of "Have A Potato" could be so funny.

Boris Karloff gets top billing, but, perhaps surprisingly, gets no dialogue as a mute servant. But the other actors, including Gloria Stuart, Charles Laughton, Melvyn Douglas and Raymond Massey to name a few are superb.

With Whale bringing the humour out throughout, even as the film gets a bit more serious towards the end, the tone is light and the film, at only 72 minutes long is a delight and certainly one of the standout screenings of the festival.

Lifeforce (1985)

A mission to explore Halley's comet uncovers a space craft, with space vampires on board...

In the introduction to Lifeforce, Chris O'Neill stated that what Hooper wanted to make was a homage to Hammer horror with this film. He's sort of right in that regard. If anything it's a homage to the Hammer (and BBC TV series) versions of Nigel Kneale's Quatermass stories. But there is one key difference at play here.

Lifeforce is what you get if you rip out the intelligence of Kneale's work out, then get Michael Bay to direct. It's a total mess of a film.

It's based on a novel called Space Vampires by Colin Wilson and has among its scriptwriters Dan O'Bannon who co-wrote Alien. And yet the film just doesn't work.

There was clearly a big budget for the film, or a big budget by Canon production standards, but if anything it shows Hooper's inexperience with big budgets. The visuals are good at times but the last act while having moments makes you laugh more than build tension. In fact at this packed screening, it was being laughed at way more than it perhaps should have been, the dialogue certainly not helping. I think the person in front of me wasn't impressed as they had stated beforehand they really liked the film!

The lead actor, Steve Railsback is made of wood. Mathilda May spends most of the film naked and get little to do really. Peter Firth plays the whole thing with a straight face, which makes it even funnier and Patrick Stewart turns up in role that brings up the question, did he ever have hair?!

This film was poorly received at the box office. While Hooper made a couple more films for Canon, in truth his career never really recovered from this film I feel.

I've never been a fan of Lifeforce in truth, I think it's a mess of a film. But this is the first time I've seen it with a cinema audience and I have to say, with an audience like this, it turned into an entertaining mess!

My Friend Dahmer (2017)

Making a film based on a real serial killer can be tricky. Get it wrong you could end up with something like 2002's Ted Bundy which tonally is all wrong and a mess of a film. Get it right and you get something powerful and disturbing like 1986's Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer.

My Friend Dahmer takes a different look at serial killer Jeffery Dahmer by being in effect a coming of age type of story, that is also shows how Dahmer became a serial killer, who was convicted of murdering 17 men and boys.

Anchored by a tremendous performance from Ross Lynch as Dahmer, we see him struggle through high school, making few friends, not really standing out until a moment where he fakes a 'spasm' like attack which brings some laughs, At the same time, we see his home life falling apart as his parents bicker and also his fascination with dead animals, the road kill he picks up.

The film is based on a graphic novel by Derf Backderf, one of his few friends and shows over time the murderous compulsion building within Dahmer. The film never shows his crimes, instead only showing a few dead animals, ending when he picks up what would be his first victim.

Lynch does a tremendous job as Dahmer, keeping the rage and frustration within as he descends into darkness. Alex Wolff plays Derf and is pretty good too as one of Dahmer's few friends, who's friendship crumbles as graduation gets closer. Anne Heche does fine work too as Dahmer's mother, who clearly has issues of her own.

Director Marc Meyers portrays Dahmer in the film as a troubled teen that didn't know how to ask for help, even if he had wanted to. It perhaps means you do have a little sympathy for Dahmer at times, but then he undercuts that too with moments such as abandoning his prom date at the dance. 

It's a great film, one I would highly recommend watching if you get the chance.

The Lodgers (2017)

The Lodgers is the story of a brother and sisters who are seemingly trapped (or cursed) by events in the families past. As long as they follow long established rules they will be fine...for awhile at least...

I love ghost stories, they are my favourite subgenre of horror. But there possibly the hardest films to make successfully. They need atmosphere, they need to build a growing sense of unease and terror as the film builds to its conclusion. Jump scares can work, but they need more than that. The Lodgers doesn't quite work in that regard. It does have its moments, but not enough to fully work as a ghost story, instead it works more as a gothic romantic drama/tragedy.

It's written by David Turpin and directed by Brian O'Malley. For Turpin this is his first script and it's the second film from O'Malley. His first, Let Us Prey, which screened at the DCA a few years before is a film I really enjoyed. This film isn't as good as that, but I did enjoy it, helped by a good performance from Charlotte Vega as Rachel, the sister in the film.

And that was it. The Lodgers was the final film of a good festival. Added into the mix too were some old ads and trailers before the screening of older films, the trailer for The Exorcist III being a standout as well as a short (90 second) film that also played at FrightFest which I think was called T-Vod, which was fun too.

I always enjoy the Dundead festival and I think this was one of their best line-ups to date. Credit has to go to Chris O'Neill for his choices as well as the DCA.  I'm sure planning for next year's event is already underway. 

Personally I cannot wait.