So FrightFest proved that they can turn heads and cause some controversy with the selection of Their 2018 closing film from director Gasper Noé ‘Climax.

In 1996 a group of dancers are spending the night at a Lock in at a building in the middle of nowhere that has its own seedy history. After a while the dancing gets a little out of control and the dancers themselves start going out of their minds and start viciously attacking one another.

This has to be one of the most difficult films I’ve ever had to review as CLIMAX is a movie that has not only divided the FrightFest audience down the middle but has put me on the fence in between loving this movie and wondering why it played at Frightfest let alone closed the festival.

It’s incredible to see the comments from The FrightFest Community on social media from those who praise Gasper Noé for his crazy, out of control decent into madness and those who slated CLIMAX saying it shouldn’t have closed FrightFest.

After much consideration I’ve decided to give this a 3/5 and Here’s Why….It’s Just about good as I do respect Gasper Noé for going where he went with his one crazy super long take and for the performances of the amazing dancers who make all those Britains Got Talent Dancers look amateur by comparison…..But I also don’t think it should’ve closed the festival. This years FrightFest had a lot of contenders that could’ve better closed the festival. CLIMAX is the 1st Gasper Noé film I’ve seen and it won’t be my last.

At FrightFest 2018 we were treated to The World Premiere of The Paz Brothers latest feature that shines a light on The Jewish myth known as ‘The Golem’.

Hannah lives in a small Jewish village when it is attacked by outlaws who blame the village for a recent plague outbreak that is threatening the life of the lead outlaws Daughter. The villagers have only days to heal the daughter or they all die. Hannah wants to protect the village so she decides to (in secret) create a Golem to fight back against the outlaws. Only the Golem bares a resemblance to her dead son Joseph. Eventually Hannah refuses to let go of the creature and eventually loses control of a creature that threatens to destroy the village itself.

The Golem definitely had a western vibe with the outlaws threatening to destroy a peaceful village and the few who wanted to fight back against them. The story of the mother refusing to let go of The Creature is very deep and tragic. The score was great also and The vibe of the movie was oldschool and dark throughout. Another great film from the brothers who gave us Jeruzalem. 4/5

International Horror has certainly made its mark at FrightFest 2018 and Director Jerome Pikwane’s South African chiller ‘The Tokoloshe’ is certainly no exception.

Busi is a depressed cleaning lady working in a hospital in Johannesburg whilst saving up to one day see her sister again. She also has to deal with a sleazy manager doing all he can to get his perverted hands on her… But that’s not the only monster that Busi has to face. She eventually runs foul of demonic South African myth known as ‘The Tokoloshe’. From there she is forced to protect herself and a young girl from The Creature and confront her troubled past.

The Tokoloshe is a scary and intense chiller that has a dark and unsettling tone throughout. The creature itself is terrifying also when you (Eventually) see it and they do a Great job with teasing the creature throughout the movie. This is South Africas’ way of saying ‘This is how we do things where we come from’ and I’m 100% with South African Horror and excited to see what comes next. 4/5

Christmas time is where families come together to celebrate. Which sometimes can be awkward when you don’t particularly like certain members of your Family and you then wish you beat their asses all over the dinner table. Director Adam Marcus brings this twisted fantasy to Life in Secret Santa.

A family with both private and outrageous public issues come together for Christmas dinner where they open up on how they really feel about one another. But as the truth spills out so too does the carnage as they unleash their hatred towards one another in a series of violent outburts. But are they really in control of what they say or do?

This is one of The most clever ideas for a Christmas horror movie since ‘Once upon a Time at Christmas’ with the most obnoxious assholes in one room who just let it all out. Secret Santa is Brilliantly Scripted and has some great kills and that reference from ‘The Thing. So if you want an offensive, Laugh your ass off, Violent Christmas movie then Adam Marcus & Debra Sullivan have the movie for you. 5/5 One of The most entertaining films of The Festival.

FrightFest is The amazing film festival that it has been for almost 20 years due to its selections of unique films that in a film festival of horror/genre films stand out and have their own message and style. The hit high school musical horror masterpiece Anna and The Apocalypse is certainly no exception to this.

Anna is a young high school student who wishes to travel the world when she lives school much to the dissaprovel of her protective but loving father…..but first she and her high school friends just have to survive a Zombie Apocalypse…With a little singing and dancing in between the mayhem and carnage all around them….No big deal.

Some of the best songs you may find in a musical EVER features in John McPhail’s lyrical emotional rollocoaster which has an upbeat but also brutally honest truths about the times we currently live in. The kills are amazing. The performances from the Entire Cast are FANTASTIC. Gotta give a shout out to Anna Herself (Ella Hunt) and Paul Kate as the sadistic Vice Principal Savage who loses his sanity in his attempt to maintain order of his school.

Anna and The Apocalypse is THE Film we all need RIGHT NOW and will be out in Cinemas November so I Highly recommend you all check it out then. 5/5 all singing, all dancing, all slashing sensation.

Usually at Frightfest you can find some hidden gems hiding away in The discovery screens at The Prince Charles Cinema. Sadly Piercing is not entirely one of them.

A Husband with a loving wife and baby goes away to a hotel on ‘Business’ when really he intends to spend a night with a Prostitute…and kill her. But in his attempt to fulfill his darkest desires he finds that he has chosen the wrong girl to mess with and eventually the tables are turned.

Piercing was based on a book from Ryu Murakami (who wrote the screen play for Audition) so I was expecting a lot more then I got in the The film. It certainly has a one or maybe 2 twisted WTF Moments that I believed were just the appetizer for the meal to come but sadly the film in my opinion ended way too early and despite its twisted and at times interesting carachters this could’ve worked better as a short with its Anti-Climax. 2.5/5

3rd film of the day saw a decent Home invasion Movie about a mother who is put in a difficult situation where she needs to protect her scared and sick children from a psycho killer.

‘He’s Out There’ Follow a mother and her 2 daughters (with Daddy a few hours behind on the road) take a break at a Lake House in the middle of the woods. The 2 Girls follow a trail that lead to a tea party and cupcakes. But who set up the tea party? Later on one of the girls is sick and from there the terror begins as mommy and her 2 Daughters are tormented by a maniac in a mask who comes and goes as he pleases to further frighten the family with a sadistic game of Cat and Mouse.

This is a typical by the numbers slasher with a sadistic killer seamingly playing with his food however the atmosphere is chilling and the mask he wears is quite scary. But it has that ‘We’ve seen this before’ vibe. 2.5/5

Day 4 of Frightfest rolled on with The European Premiere of one of Thus years most unique titles ‘The Man Who Killed Hitler and then Bigfoot’.

Calvin Barr (Sam Elliot/Adian Turner) is a War veteran who is sick of being old until the United States Government gives him one last chance at battle when he is sent on a mission to kill The Bigfoot in The Mountains as The Creature Bigfoot is a walking Biological plague that could potentially infect and wipe out The human race if left unchecked. Through the movie you see his Journey in World War 2 assasinating Adolf Hitler including his missed opportunities to marry the woman he loved.

An amazing score in this movie along with Sam Elliot’s performance makes ‘The Man Who Killed Hitler and then The Bigfoot’ one of the most emotional of This years FrightFest that focuses on a man who lives for battle and has trouble letting go of the man he was during his time as a soldier.

4.5/5

Day 4 of FrightFest 2018 began with a terrifying home invasion nightmare from director Orson Oblowitz ‘Hell is Where The Home is’.

Two young couples rent out a house in the middle of nowhere to for a weekend retreat when a strange woman comes knocking at the door asking to use the phone. But when her actions seem suspicious the group attempts to throw her out of the house which causes a tragic mistake. From there on the group paranoid and freaking out make more fatal mistakes that fall foul of some sadistic home invaders and a desperate fight for survival rages on.

Hell is where the home is has some brutal, kills that had the Audience gasping in shock throughout. This movie certainly delivered on Tension and a decent score with carachters that are not entirely innocent of any wrong doing.

3.5/5

Day 3 of Frightfest 2018 would end ironically with a film Entitled Fright Fest. Before the film began Ian Rattery was gonna offer a prize to whomever could correctly count how many times ‘Fright Fest’ was said throughout the movie.

Fright Fest is an event set up by a mayor in a small town on Halloween night where people go to get jump scared to death through a terrifying maze….The patrons nor the staff however were not expecting a deranged psychopath who just escaped a crashed prison van to be cutting them down one at a time. But that’s the unfortunate situation that awaits all who visit Fright Fest.

This film has a great plot idea that sadly wasn’t executed too well. It was very sloppy in places but what it lacked in storytelling they made up for (at times) in actual Exicutions of The psychopaths victims. It has the generic line up of those you would suspect to see in such peril including the selfish asshole who is obviously looking out for No.1. The killer himself certainly makes his presence felt throughout and lays waste to all within his path of destruction which I thoroughly enjoyed. To be honest I think the crowd were pretty exhausted from the previous film (Upgrade) that they just couldn’t fully commit to a film that despite its madness sadly didn’t deliver as well as it could’ve. 3/5