Frightfest 2019

We limited ourselves to only four films this year.   On the opening night we saw 'Come to Daddy'
which stars Elijah Wood with Stephen McHattie and Martin Donovan in supporting roles, the latter
two being the reason for our choice.  Wood plays a failed actor visiting an isolated coastal house
where his father has unexpectedly invited him.   He lies about his achievement though it becomes
obvious that his father knows that he is not at all a success and relations between them become more
and mor violent.   Various twists in the narrative (you have to accept that Wood cannot recognise his
father) result in killings before a downbeat ending.   Could have been a lot better.
The next day we saw 'Dachra' mainly because it is a Tunisian film.   College friends go off into the
wilds to complete an assignment, helping a trader to fix his vehicle on the way.   However, he turns
up at the settlement in the wood that they are visiting and seems to be the leader there.   They find that their vehicle is also in need of repair but this requires a part which is promised but does not
arrive.   There is an attempt to set a scary atmosphere which does not quite work until one of the students goes for help but is attacked and killed by a fellow student leaving the only female alone
and in danger.  My recollection after over two months is somewhat more positive than the first impression I had: I did not find it at all scary or particularly well made but I now can see it was an
attempt at low-key horror.   The same day we saw "'Cut Off', a German thriller with the lead actor
playing acoroner who finds a capsule in a badly mutilated corpse which has inside it a phone number
and his daughter's name.   The action moves from the German mainland to Heligoland and there are
several twists in what is perhaps not quite a Frightfest film - it would be equally at home at the       London Film Festival.   Quite enjoyable without really ringing any bells.   Leaving the weekend films
alone, we went on Bank Holiday Monday to see 'Satanic Panic' which was a silly bit of nonsense.   A
girl recovering from cancer ekes out a living by delivering pizzas and takes a late order to an isolated
mansion in the hope of getting well-tipped.   The problem is that a Satanic sect is looking for a
virgin to sacrifice and she fits the bill.   The film does descend into somewhat farcical and bloody mayhem which puts it in the guilty pleasure not to be repeated file.