Horrorfest 2006: Part One
Penny Dreadful
Dark Ride
Gravedancers
The Hamiltons
I was a bit skeptical picking up this one. I had read an article about, but I still wasn’t convinced that the concept could be as well-done as they were making it out to be. A girl trapped in a car for a whole movie? Woo-hoo, am I right? As such, this is the last of the Horrorfest movies that I watched. Simplicity ended up working – and not working – for this film in the end.
Directed by one of the writers of Devil in the Flesh, Richard Brandes, Penny Dreadful is about a girl named Penny Deerborn who has a phobia of cars. She was in a car accident as a small child and is now afraid to be in them for long periods of time. I was pleasantly surprised that they mixed in the past memory in a haunting way (when she watches her mom die, there’s a creepy tone to the scene), in lue of making a cheesy emotional scene. Basically, Penny is undergoing treatment from a psychiatrist named Orianna (who, incidentally, is Agent Fowler from X-Files), and they are heading on a road trip as part of the treatment. They hit someone with the car, pick him up, and the story unfolds from there. Also, to be noted: the film features Michael Berryman of The Hills Have Eyes as a gas station attendant – always a very fun cameo.
The film Penny Dreadful made use of the enclosed and helpless feeling and long pauses, which caused suspense. Because of that, I think I would put this one in more of a thriller/suspense sub-genre. Actually, the movie was good until the stint before the ending, (I would say at least 30 minutes or so of film). There were so many long pauses in-between jumpy moments that they lost their tension and became more of a bore than anything; this caused any potential scares to be ruined.
The film styling of this movie is very impressive, however. Camera angles are clean and simply done, yet they seem to be in great angles for each shot. The majority of the coloring in the film is consistent with the theme: that Penny is cold and alone. The film takes on a blue feel because of the coloring. There was an inconsistent scene that stood out, however; the car was driving off and the film took on a reddish-brown lighten effect, something I didn’t notice reused anywhere else in the film. It made the scene seem out of place.
What really stood out about this movie, had to have been the acting done by Rachel Miner, who played Penny. She was acting by herself for the majority of the movie, so you can see why it would be vital to pick a good actress for the part. I was convinced that she really was afraid to be in cars, Miner really delivered on the part. I’m sure this movie will be getting her more genre spots in the future.
As for the movie, Penny Dreadful was definitely worth watching and features a refreshing plot, top-notch acting, clean camera work, and interesting characters.
Dark Ride is about a boardwalk attraction where people were murdered. The ride was closed after it was found out. The story picks up with a typical group of nameless young adult characters going on spring break. They decide to spend the night in the ride instead of paying for a hotel. However, they don’t know that the killer of the past murders escaped from the mental institution and has returned to kill again. Sorry if that description makes the movie sound exciting, because it’s not.
Like a fair amount of the other Horrorfest movies, this one does begin with another flashback. Basically, two twin sisters get on the ride and end up meeting their demise by the hands of the killer. I actually really enjoyed this part of the film. The different camera angles were well used; there were angles that showed the view from where the girls were sitting, which really impressed me. The way that the camera moved around the cart made the scenes seem very claustrophobic, actually. It was a very nice effect.
I also really loved the styling of the credits afterward, as well. They featured childish carnival music, newspaper clippings, and really nice text effects. It all made great use of color and lights and really gave a twisted carnival feeling to the movie from the get-go. However, right after the credits end, the movie becomes very bland (that is, until the film returns to the ride).
There really wasn’t a lot of color-editing that was apparent outside of the ride itself. It sort of gave the film a very unpolished look. It would have been interesting if there was more of a contrast created between the colorful atmosphere inside the ride compared to what was going on outside of it.
Inside the ride, however, everything was very thematic; it was very fun to experience. The colors stood out, the music was very playful, and the lighting was right-on. Also, the camera angles made more use of the claustrophobia that was evident in the opening death sequence. The movie takes on a very dark, child-like feeling once inside the ride. The killer even playfully recreates the attractions inside the ride with the dead bodies. It all comes together to create a solid theme.
Because the film-work was done so fun and the music was well included, you would think that this movie has vast potential, right? Well, not really. The characters are very poorly created. Very. Poorly. They are cliché and predictable: they’re just typical kids who like to party. It doesn’t even seem like their names are really important and it becomes irrelevant who lives and who dies. Even the killer and his accomplice are very boring and unthreatening (although his accomplice is Ronnie from the Bad Blood episode of X-Files). But really, another escaped mental patient? C’mon. Generally, the acting was boring and unexciting; I guess they only had so much to work with though, judging by the scripting.
This movie had potential, what with the entertaining theme park ideas and all. But, I don’t think that it went in the proper direction due to poorly created, scripted, and cast characters. The death/chase scenes are unexciting and uninspired. This movie is not as fun as Killer Klowns from Outer Space and not scary either. Dark Ride does more disappointing than anything and it’s one “ride” that definitely won’t have you on the edge of your seat. If you missed this one, don’t worry because you’re not missing much.
Directed by Mike Mendez and written by two newbies, Brad Keene and Chris Skinner, Gravedancers is one of the creepier Horrorfest films. The film breaks typical “ghost movie” stereotypes and brings some surprises to the screen in a stylish way.
The movie starts out with a typical “opening death” sequence. A girl is hung by a ghost (we assume) and she drops what looks like an invitation – how she held onto the card while being tossed around is anybody’s guess, though. The scene is mood-setting and gives a feel for what the ghosts in the movie are capable of, including the grim fact that they actually do murder people in this movie, (not just creep them out). The rest of the movie picks up one year after the events, yet have nothing to do with the character of the dead girl.
The story of the movie is that a group of three friends (Harris, Kira, and Sid) go to a funeral that is being held for one of their friends who died recently. They hadn’t seen each other in a while, got to drinking, and ended up in the cemetery. There, Sid finds a card (the same type from the opening sequence) with a small chant inviting them to dance in the cemetery, over the graves. They end up actually going along with the idea and, the next day, weird things begin to happen to them.
The hauntings start out as just being creepy elements, somewhat expected. Some of the things that happen include phone static, piano playing, lights flickering, and the spooking of the household cat. Sounds cliché enough, but the way that the scenes are included in the movie is very fluid and they actually have sinister undertones. The haunting progresses, with good use of tension, until the end; that’s when the movie turns into an all-out ghost-chase. What’s interesting and cool (for lack of better word) is that the ghosts follow the main characters and sort of relate to them; it serves to make both the people and the ghosts more interesting and realistic.
Stylish elements of this film include the opening credits, the excellent color-editing, the mood-setting music, and the way the actual “ghosts” look. For starters, the credits feature artistic pans of a cemetery with nice, clean lettering and piano music. Also, the ghosts in this movie have a sort of skeleton look to them, without being cheesy; the look comes complete with bulging eyes, a wide-mouthed “smiling” look, skinny features, and ghoulish hair. The color of the movie was peachy and greenish-blue with brown shadows and high contrast. Along with the coloring, the music served to create an atmospheric environment for the characters; it was really eerie and undertone-y.
One other important thing to mention is the CGI effects in the movie. They were really well-included and subtle throughout most of the film with little things like the title in the credits (etched into a tombstone), and blood spreading on a white sheet in the hospital. Then, at the very end of the film, it goes Dark Castle on us – complete with a giant disembodied head chasing the main characters. The ending seems a little bit overboard and really takes away from the rest of the movie.
Aside from the ending, this turned out to be a good ghost movie. It didn’t use a lot of jump-out boogeyman tactics to scare people, but instead went the surreal route with weird events and imagery that stick with you after the movie. It actually surprised me, because the description of the plot sounds really silly; however, the way that the ghosts interact with the characters, coupled with the styling of the film, makes it scarier and more interesting.
The Hamiltons is a movie about a family of children with a cliché “all too normal” appearance whose parents are dead through some “tragic accident”. The movie was focused more on the characters than answering questions that arose.
After reading the description on the DVD case and putting it in, from the opening family history sequence (after the obligatory opening murder scene) you being to assume that the movie will be told from the perspectives of unsuspecting neighbours being preyed upon by the supposed killers. As if perhaps the people described were moving in next door to the killers. However, as the movie unfolds, you find out that that’s not what the movie is about at all.
After the movie really starts up, viewers find out that the Hamiltons really are the ‘bad guys’ after all. However, it doesn’t really seem as though that is of importance to the storytelling. The movie seems to focus more on telling events and showing the characters react to their environments. There is no “this is how the story goes” and you’re left to wonder what is really going on with the characters. It’s obvious that there is something wrong with them, described as being a “disease”. The only facts known are that they a.) kill people, and b.) possibly feed them to a monster in the basement named Lenny. The full story of what’s wrong with the characters isn’t found out until the end of the movie when they begin to lose their control with the calm of family life.
The characters’ backstory and disease isn’t really the main focus of the movie, it turns into more of story-telling time than anything. It has an artsy classical horror-feel to it and brings life to characters and tension on the screen, leaving behind excessive explanation and other elements that generally serve to dumb-down horror audiences.
While the movie doesn’t really present any actual scary elements, it is a refreshing change of pace for the genre. It’s a story about the lives of children living without their parents and how they deal with their surroundings. Murder, though a part of the movie, is only one small element of the whole film. It’s an especially surprising treat from a pair of fresh directors who call themselves the “Butcher Brothers”; you’d almost have expected an all-out gore-fest.
This is a genre fan’s movie. Someone who watches an occasional slasher movie will not enjoy this movie. It doesn’t bring scares to the screen and it doesn’t feature overly gorey death scenes. The Hamiltons is for the fans of films like Danse Macabre, although obviously not as timeless.