Two days into the festival and I was already glad I’d come and the best was still ahead!
Day 3
If there was nothing really exceptional on the third day at least there were no real duds either. What we did get was psycho killers, creepy kids and inbred cannibals, and the festival's biggest helping of gore.
First on the agenda was Cold Prey, a slasher flick from Norway, breathing a bit of life into the tired horror staple by having some really likable characters who were much more than merely victims and some spectacular snowbound locations. The supposedly surprise revelation of the killer's identity at the end was a bit pointless (if you've seen this kind of film before you’ll know who it is right from the start) and the film did feel a bit like Friday the 13th: Jason Takes a Holiday but at least it tried and the actors in particular are to be commended.
There have been more than a few Bad Seed-style movies over the years and Joshua is the latest. When Joshua’s sister is born the previously idyllic life of his parents gets turned upside down. As Josh’s mum, Vera Farmiga gives a strong performance; she is slowly driven nuts with a new baby that won’t stop crying (we know Joshua has a hand in this, we just don’t know how) and a son playing constant mind games. Sam Rockwell starts the film a little too lightly, almost like a comedy, but gets better as the film progresses, and in the final confrontation with Joshua he really excels. Jacob Cogan is the real star though; as Joshua he has to play everything deadpan. Playing the part with so little emotion can’t have been easy, particularly with the histrionics of the other actors but he never falters throughout. This wasn’t one of the films I’d been looking forward to but it came as a pleasant surprise.
A showcase for some genre shorts followed. Only one really impressed, Little Brats, a comedy about killing kids. I know that may sound sick but it was very funny and the kids did get revenge in the end.
I’d been looking forward to the next film as it came from the pen of Everett De Roche, veteran writer of such classic Australian horror flicks as Patrick, Roadgames, and Long Weekend. While the film starts out slowly and might lead you to expect a man versus nature theme similar to Long Weekend, this turns into a bit of a gore fest at the end. The over-the-top deaths met with applause from the gore-starved crown and set the scene nicely for the film that followed.
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