Tuesday 18 October 2016

MAYHEM 2016 - FESTIVAL IN REVIEW.



After months awaiting the announcement of what would be screened at MAYHEM 2016 we finally got the line up revealed in September. As usual it was the a brilliant mix of world cinema, Live performance and this year even a Dolph Lundgren movie.
The online chat started straight away as to what you were looking forward most and had anyone heard of some of the titles, All he usual curiosity but one thing is for sure when it came to festival time it certainly didn't disappoint. I will be giving full reviews of my five favourite movies of MAYHEM soon so watch this space!
The Friday started with a performance by the excellent Kino Klubb with Lawrence R Harvey of Human centipede fame reading tales of H.P Lovecraft over John Carpenter inspired live music with an extremely trippy back projection. Next u we had our first film, RAW a film that had created quite a stir in the previous couple of weeks with reports of folks fainting at screenings, I didn't personally see any of the MAYHEM crowd faint but it got a great reaction and it was a brilliant film.



Next up was the UK Premier of Iko Uwais new movie HEADSHOT and even though the showing was 10.30PM the house was pretty full and it certainly kept everyone awake, Non stop fun!
As i mentioned the HEADSHOT late screening was pretty full as was the 1st movie on the Friday, I did notice the same large crowds for nearly all the showings so it seemed that this years festival had attracted a lot of recognition it duly deserves.
We are the flesh was the first film on the Friday and it's pretty much one of those WTF films, Gore, Willys and down right weirdness, Arrow are releasing it this year apparently worth seeing once for me but not sure i would revisit it! Next up we had The Rezort and many people were saying after We are the flesh they were more than happy to have a nice and easy Zombie movie to watch. Jurrasic Park, Westworld meets Zombies is how it is best described, I wasn't sure what to expect from a fairly low budget British Zombie  but it was brilliant!


Then we moved on to for me a festival highlight The Greasy Strangler, Once again Screen One was rammed and a we went in we were all give a goodie bag of a mini poster, A sticker and badge. The film itself for me was hilarious, It had a few jokes that repeated but never got tiresome. Definitely one you need to see as soon as you can! I didn't stay for the last showing Planet of the Vampires but by all accounts the new print is brilliant so i may well be picking that release up.
On to a big line up on saturday. Also we had the ARROW video stand and a stand from new horror streaming site SHUDDER who were very kindly giving away free T-shirts. Saturdays movies started with They call me Jeeg Robot. Best described as an anti super hero movie from Italy, I loved it, Had some great characters, Humour and violence and a high recommendation from me.
Next was PET, Looked like a standard kidnap by a loon keep a girl in a cage movie but it had a great twist and kept you guessing right till the end.
Then The Ghoul, A new British psychological thriller produced by Ben Wheatly, Greatly shot and acted with a very funny Q&A afterwards . Some people loved it but for me it didn't quite work.
The Scary Short Showcase is now a main feature on the Saturday and i have to say that the shorts line up this year was the best i have seen so far, Two hours of shorts but for me it flew by, I'll be doing a full post on all the shorts and one of my next blogs.
9.30 PM brought the screening that a lot of people were waiting for The Devils Candy, From director of The Loved Ones Sean Byrne, It was great, I wont spoil it for you but the killer is very creepy and it is a great return for Byrne and i for one hope he doesn't leave it too long before he returns to the directors chair.


I decided to head home after The Devils Candy so missed the 11.30 showing of the classic Blood Feast but i was knackered, You know its time to call a Taxi when the coffee stops working.
Sunday 11AM and i was back for the showing at 12 of Dolph Lundgren Don't Kill It. I have to admit i wasn't really expecting much but it blew me away, It was a perfect start to the Sunday. Review for that coming soon!
2PM was the showing of CREEPY, New film from director Kiyoshi Kurosawa. I was really looking forward to seeing this one and it did not disappoint, A real slow burn as with many Asian movies the the last forty minutes you get that sense of oh my god! A brilliant movie.
I'm not a serial killer was the last film i got to see as unfortunately i had to go. It was a great film, not what i expected at all, well worth a watch,
I was gutted that i missed The Void but from everything i hear it was fantastic, so i'll be on the hunt for that release date.
So in summing up MAYHEM 2016 was once again a huge hit, The staff are so friendly, The venue is great and the gaps between the films are just right giving you enough time to grab a coffee or beer and have a discussion about the previous film , I spoke to a few people who had travelled quite a distance and have been to a few festivals up and down the country and saying that this is one the best ones, Long may it continue. Thanks again for all involved at Broadway, I have no idea what your stress levels must be but you get it spot on!
Thank You,
Jonny T





No comments:

Post a Comment