Frightfest 2009: Day 3

'Smash Cut' featured cult horror actors David Hess and Michael Berryman and Herschell Gordon Lewis, the director, with Sasha Grey, a recent porn star in a ridiculously bad film that was a complete waste of time.
'Hierro' is the southernmost tip of the southernmost of the Canary islands where the heroine has taken her son on holiday
only for him to vanish from the ferry taking them there. Six months later, a child's body is found and she returns with her
sister to find out if it is her son. She stays on her own awaiting the DNA test result even though it is obviously the body of
her son that has been found. The location adds to the psychological drama and a fine central performance of a woman toppling over into madness made this a better than usual film.
'Millenium: The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' is in some ways not a Frightfest film as it is a relatively straightforward mystery
from the book which I reviewed recently. Sticking fairly closely to the book but leaving out a lot of background and some of the twists, the film is very well made and acted. Some differences were understandable - finding a lead actress to fit the book's description would have been well-nigh impossible - but the changed ending added nothing. Definitely the film of the weekend.
'Giallo' is the latest Dario Argento offering and it is a great disappointment. There are some touches of Argento's visual
brilliance but the central performance by Adrien Brody made one wish that Oscar awards could be taken back. Emmanuelle
Seigner was not much better though adequate in a part that did not demand much. The oddities were the complete breaching of basic police procedure and the odd reaction of Elsa Pataky when she was rescued - though had she not been
recaught by the killer the film would have been much shorter.
'Trick or Treat' is set at Halloween in a community, which celebrates it seriously, with four interlocking stories. Some of these work better than others but the overall impression is good - a generous mixture of scares and laughs, a nicely judged performance from Brian Cox and a smattering of glamour.
Reports have it that mssing the late film 'Vampire Girl vs Frankenstein Girl' was a sound move.