Horrorphile's SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL picks
June 8th 2007 03:09
Okay, so it’s not the New York City Horror Film Festival, but there are several movies in the 54th Sydney Film Festival which opens tonight and runs until June 24th which look very interesting to say the least. Some are horror horror movies and some are films with distinct “horror” overtones or strong “horror” undertones.
Unfortunately only one of my picks was available to preview, the intense, yet dream-like Zoo. I’d seen Night Watch a year or so ago. The rest I’m selecting on the basis of what I’ve read about. I will aim to provide full reviews of my selection during and after the festival.
Black Sheep
Wednesday June 20 8:35pm – GU George St 1
Saturday June 23 7:15pm – GU George St 1
The Violence of the Lambs is what this New Zealand splat-stick horror-comedy has been tagged as. Written and directed by an acquaintance of mine Jonathon King it tells the rather absurd tale of ovine revenge down on the farm. It had to happen. Eventually a Kiwi filmmaker would make a movie about killer sheep. And, of course, Weta Workshop, provided the gloriously cheesy effects, lots of bloodied wool, gore-streaked hooves. And puh-lenty of baaaaad jokes. I’ll be there with gumboots on!
Out of the Blue
Thursday June 14 4.05pm – Dendy Opera Quays
Friday June 15 9:05pm – Dendy Opera Quays
A dramatization of the events which lead to sociopathic loner David Gray going on a murderous rampage in the sleepy hollow settlement Aramoana, south of Dunedin, New Zealand, in November 1990 where he killed 13 people. It shocked the nation. I remember watching the news myself, where police and media helicopters were flying over the township in the early hours of the morning and daylight began revealing all the bodies lying on the streets; the stuff of nightmares. It’s directed by established filmmaker Robert Sarkies.
Night Watch
Saturday June 23 2:00pm – Dendy Opera Quays
Made in 2004, this wild and wacked out sf-fantasy-horror flick from Russia, based on a bestseller, tells the convoluted tale of the forces of Light and Dark which patrol the world in an uneasy truce. The movie pulls references from every cinematic corner and conjures a realm of surrealist vampirism. It’s an existential horror movie for those who don’t care for existentialism. An ex-Communist slap in the face of contemporary mainstream horror flicks.
Day Watch
Saturday June 23 7.30pm – State Theatre
The hugely anticipated sequel to Night Watch, this is like a cross between the visual narrative of Fellini and the mood and feel of Blade Runner. Or maybe the other way round. This is the second part, still based on the same bestseller. Set in a Moscow in a parallel universe. Continuing the struggle between the Light and the Dark and the “others”, Day Watch has been considered a masterpiece in progressive horror, and one of those rare sequels which is better than the already great original.
Inland Empire
Wednesday June 20 8:30pm – GU George St 2
Thursday June 21 9:00pm – State Theatre
So it’s probably not considered a horror movie. In fact, it’s not even considered conventional by any stretch of the imagination. Maverick director David Lynch has made an experimental film which pushes him to the forefront of modern cinema auteurs. Following the similar non-linear narrative space-time continuum ploys which he invested in with such conviction in the movies Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, Lynch delivers a movie about the making of a movie. Laura Dern stars and co-produced. But don’t expect anything ordinary.
Teeth
Sunday June 17 9:30pm – State Theatre
Saturday June 23 9:15pm – GU George St 1
Any movie that has David Cronenberg and Alien mentioned as sourcse of inspiration or influence has my undivided attention. Writer/director Mitchell Lichtenstein (whaddaname!) carves a uproarious parody of B-grade craziness and the classic coming-of-age story. Dawn is in the throes of sexual awakening, and various men around her discover her maturity has deadly consequences, including her weirdo brother. From all reports this is an immediate cult classic (but then aren’t most intelligent or outlandish horror movies?)
Taxidermia
Thursday June 21 8:35pm – GU George St 1
This is a visceral and grotesque, almost unclassifiable, body horror movie which tells the stories of three generations of men, including an obese speed eater, an embalmer of gigantic cats, and a man who shoots fire out of his penis. This is a Hungarian multi-award winning drama with obvious horror over-and-under-and-all-assund er-tones. It covers the gamut of emotion and packs enough bizarre and macabre ideas and images into its 90-odd minutes than you can shake a half-eaten kransky at.
Zoo
Friday June 15 6:45pm – GU George St 1
Saturday June 16 9:30pm – Gu George St 1
Undoubtedly one of the festival’s most controversial and provocative films, this is docu-drama taken to a new level. Made by the director of last year’s dreamily resonant Police Beat, Robinson Devor, it is a powerfully evocative film full of visual poetry and a compelling ethereal soundtrack (echoes of Police Beat abound). The subject matter is the difficult part; tracing the real case of a man who died as a result of a ruptured colon from having sex with a horse. Although it deals with the aberration of bestiality, specifically the thoughts of those who knew the man and the reactions of the media, the movie touches on so much more. Like a strange dream the movie lingers in the mind and on the retina long after the final image fades. It’s not a horror film per se, but Zoo transcends the genre by dealing with such transgressive and disturbing material with sincerity and a quietly ferocious intelligence.
Unfortunately only one of my picks was available to preview, the intense, yet dream-like Zoo. I’d seen Night Watch a year or so ago. The rest I’m selecting on the basis of what I’ve read about. I will aim to provide full reviews of my selection during and after the festival.
Wednesday June 20 8:35pm – GU George St 1
Saturday June 23 7:15pm – GU George St 1
The Violence of the Lambs is what this New Zealand splat-stick horror-comedy has been tagged as. Written and directed by an acquaintance of mine Jonathon King it tells the rather absurd tale of ovine revenge down on the farm. It had to happen. Eventually a Kiwi filmmaker would make a movie about killer sheep. And, of course, Weta Workshop, provided the gloriously cheesy effects, lots of bloodied wool, gore-streaked hooves. And puh-lenty of baaaaad jokes. I’ll be there with gumboots on!
Thursday June 14 4.05pm – Dendy Opera Quays
Friday June 15 9:05pm – Dendy Opera Quays
A dramatization of the events which lead to sociopathic loner David Gray going on a murderous rampage in the sleepy hollow settlement Aramoana, south of Dunedin, New Zealand, in November 1990 where he killed 13 people. It shocked the nation. I remember watching the news myself, where police and media helicopters were flying over the township in the early hours of the morning and daylight began revealing all the bodies lying on the streets; the stuff of nightmares. It’s directed by established filmmaker Robert Sarkies.
Saturday June 23 2:00pm – Dendy Opera Quays
Made in 2004, this wild and wacked out sf-fantasy-horror flick from Russia, based on a bestseller, tells the convoluted tale of the forces of Light and Dark which patrol the world in an uneasy truce. The movie pulls references from every cinematic corner and conjures a realm of surrealist vampirism. It’s an existential horror movie for those who don’t care for existentialism. An ex-Communist slap in the face of contemporary mainstream horror flicks.
Saturday June 23 7.30pm – State Theatre
The hugely anticipated sequel to Night Watch, this is like a cross between the visual narrative of Fellini and the mood and feel of Blade Runner. Or maybe the other way round. This is the second part, still based on the same bestseller. Set in a Moscow in a parallel universe. Continuing the struggle between the Light and the Dark and the “others”, Day Watch has been considered a masterpiece in progressive horror, and one of those rare sequels which is better than the already great original.
Wednesday June 20 8:30pm – GU George St 2
Thursday June 21 9:00pm – State Theatre
So it’s probably not considered a horror movie. In fact, it’s not even considered conventional by any stretch of the imagination. Maverick director David Lynch has made an experimental film which pushes him to the forefront of modern cinema auteurs. Following the similar non-linear narrative space-time continuum ploys which he invested in with such conviction in the movies Lost Highway and Mulholland Drive, Lynch delivers a movie about the making of a movie. Laura Dern stars and co-produced. But don’t expect anything ordinary.
Sunday June 17 9:30pm – State Theatre
Saturday June 23 9:15pm – GU George St 1
Any movie that has David Cronenberg and Alien mentioned as sourcse of inspiration or influence has my undivided attention. Writer/director Mitchell Lichtenstein (whaddaname!) carves a uproarious parody of B-grade craziness and the classic coming-of-age story. Dawn is in the throes of sexual awakening, and various men around her discover her maturity has deadly consequences, including her weirdo brother. From all reports this is an immediate cult classic (but then aren’t most intelligent or outlandish horror movies?)
Thursday June 21 8:35pm – GU George St 1
This is a visceral and grotesque, almost unclassifiable, body horror movie which tells the stories of three generations of men, including an obese speed eater, an embalmer of gigantic cats, and a man who shoots fire out of his penis. This is a Hungarian multi-award winning drama with obvious horror over-and-under-and-all-assund er-tones. It covers the gamut of emotion and packs enough bizarre and macabre ideas and images into its 90-odd minutes than you can shake a half-eaten kransky at.
Friday June 15 6:45pm – GU George St 1
Saturday June 16 9:30pm – Gu George St 1
Undoubtedly one of the festival’s most controversial and provocative films, this is docu-drama taken to a new level. Made by the director of last year’s dreamily resonant Police Beat, Robinson Devor, it is a powerfully evocative film full of visual poetry and a compelling ethereal soundtrack (echoes of Police Beat abound). The subject matter is the difficult part; tracing the real case of a man who died as a result of a ruptured colon from having sex with a horse. Although it deals with the aberration of bestiality, specifically the thoughts of those who knew the man and the reactions of the media, the movie touches on so much more. Like a strange dream the movie lingers in the mind and on the retina long after the final image fades. It’s not a horror film per se, but Zoo transcends the genre by dealing with such transgressive and disturbing material with sincerity and a quietly ferocious intelligence.
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Comment by Damo
I think I will give ZOO a very wide berth.
Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Teeth also sounds like something I wouldn't mind checking out. Zoo sounds......well....interesti ng. I might keep an eye out for it.
I'll be interested to see your reviews after you've seen a few of these films.
Kylie
Comment by katyzzz
Photography Tips
MS Paint Art
I'll hold you to your views, my son would be interested in all of this were he in Australia, instead of Paris.
I see you do come out of your lair at times.
OOOOOoooooooOOOOOhhhhh!
How de doody, my little black sheep. Violence of the lambs, indeed! reporting you to the RSPCA, they pay me commission.
katyzzz
Comment by Nickoftime's Sanity Corner
Black Sheep looks like it might be worth a rent at the video store, but Zoo has me kinda creeped out!
LOL
Teeth also sounds like a good view as well...
I had no idea that they even had a horror festival...might be something to take a look at if I'm ever on the East Coast again...is it an annual thing or just this one time?
Great review as always...
Take care,
Nick
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Black Sheep will have a national release.
Not sure about Teeth, but definitely on DVD in the near future.
Nick, I believe its an annual event, not sure when exactly, or how long its been going, but I'm sure if you google it ... lol
Comment by Optomistic Opportunism
Bohemian Hiphop
Japanese Jazz Funk
Optomystic Opportunism
Catch me reviewing something sugary like Russian Dolls in the near future.
Tudo Beleza?(How's it goin)
Tappin into Brazil this year,
Opto
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
good to throw a beer or two down wid ya ... cheers for the Latino tip.