Abertoir 2012

As you’ve seen from the videos posted direct from the festival I had an awesome time at Abertoir 2012, but I still felt like there was room for a further write-up on it now that I’ve had some time to reflect on the whole thing.

What is wonderful about Abertoir is the fact that you don’t have to choose between screenings as you might with some larger festivals so its easier to take a chance on films that you’re not sure about or would probably not normally make the effort to see.  As a result, you can stumble upon some real gems and in some cases, even change your mind about certain sub-genres.  This was certainly true for me this year as before attending I had it set in my head that I was not a fan of body horror – however the cold and heartbreaking Errors of the Human Body and Brandon Cronenberg’s stunning debut Antiviral have changed my mind about that and I definitely want to find more films like them.  Suggestions via Twitter always welcomed.

There is truly something for everyone at Abertoir and that was certainly highlighted this year through the wide selection of classic and newly restored films showing alongside new projects from experienced and up and coming directors.  This is without even mentioning the wide range of sub-genres on offer, including musicals, thrillers and monster movies, as well as short films.

Another thing that Abertoir has is an incredible sense of community.  The organisers are incredibly welcoming and this obviously extends to the guests they are able to secure for Q&As.  Even those who are unable to attend send videos (some hilarious introductions like the directors of Resolution) and are usually well-received by the audience.  I would challenge anyone to find such a selection of films, talks and special events for as little as Abertoir charges.

So with all that said, I’ll discuss my personal favourites from the festival.  I had several favourites throughout the festival that changed in order throughout the week, but all remain very strong contenders and certainly future additions to my DVD collection.  Ultimately American Mary was my favourite film, closely followed by Sightseers (which was shown with wickedly funny short Him Indoors) with Errors of the Human Body, Antiviral, Resolution and Citadel close behind.  An honorable mention has to go to Sleep Tight, which actually had me checking under the bed after I saw it!  I’m hoping to have some full reviews of some up pretty soon.

Abertoir Day Three Intro

A short introduction to day three’s events and activities. A further round up of the day is to be filmed soon.

Resolution

A message to directors of Resolution Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson following on from their hilarious pre-taped introduction to the film shown at #Abertoir2012

Abertoir Day Two Update

Some further stuff on how things are progressing at #Abertoir2012 Day Two.

Abertoir Day Two Introduction

An introduction to day two of #Abertoir2012 plus a little discussion of Danger 5 and Manborg (chanting optional).

Abertoir 2012 Intro

A quick message from Hayley and myself about what you can expect from our #Abertoir2012 coverage.

Abertoir is Looming

Tomorrow I am off to Aberystwyth for a jam-packed six days of horror goodness.  I am also lucky enough to be involved in covering the festival with fellow horror blogger Hayley with coverage set to range from footage of talks and a Rocky Horror themed party to on-the-ground video reviews and reactions from festival-goers.  Very excited (and truth be told, a little nervous) about all this and hope that people will be interested in what we produce.  At the moment it is likely that I will be reblogging from Hayley’s blog, that can be accessed via this link to save on time spent uploading videos to two different computers.  Should also have some written reviews following the festival after I’ve recovered too.  Keep an eye on my twitter account (@caitlynmdowns) for bite-size morsels of what’s currently happening.

All in all I can’t wait for the festival and to share the experience with readers. I hope you’ll enjoy it.  Check out Abertoir for a full list of films, talks and stage shows that will be covered.

Abertoir Takes Cardiff

With my pass already purchased for Abertoir in Aberystwyth from the 6th to the 11th of November I’ve been impatiently counting down the days.  Luckily, Abertoir are a great bunch of people who believe in horror all year around and for the first time are venturing outside Aberystwyth for a few horror-filled days to Cardiff Chapter Arts Centre from October 26th to the 31st. Full details are available from the Abertoir site.  One of the most exciting things for me personally though is the chance to see The Evil Dead on the big screen at Halloween.

My reaction is pretty much summed up by a simple gif:

 

Survivalismo Review

 

‘Survivalismo’ is a short film by Jose Pedro Lopes of Anexo 82 Productions (follow him on Twitter @zecopeco) shown at the Abertoir Horror Festival this year.  Short films are a relatively new medium for me to review so bear with me.

 

The film confronts the viewer with a man in a hellish situation – he is perched on a chair, a bag around his head and a noose around his neck.  He is alone in what appears to be an abandoned warehouse and throughout the course of the film must come to terms with why he is there and perhaps more importantly, does he deserve it?

The concept of the film largely concerns the man coming to terms with his situation and much of the inspiration of this is taken from the Kubler-Ross school of thought of stages of grief.  The stages include denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance and all certainly play out in the film.  What is really remarkable about this is that even with the short 9 minute timescale none of these stages feel rushed and all add to the intensity.  The performance of the lead enhances this further and even without seeing his face you do feel a connection to him.

What begins as an individual facing his own inevitable death becomes a larger metaphor for all loss and grief.  There are many times in life where we ask ‘Why me?’ and this film deals with those feelings of judgement that arise when those things happen.  I won’t reveal all about this film as it is a much more interesting and shocking experience.

 

I am very excited about the next project from Anexo 82 Productions and you should definitely look them up and see ‘Survivalismo’ however you can.  Thank you to Jose Pedro Lopes for the opportunity to review this wonderful bite-size piece of intensity.

 

Abertoir Day Six

The last day of Abertoir featured the film I was most looking forward to – Robin Hardy’s ‘The Wicker Tree’.  One film from each day will form a full review and ‘The Wicker Tree’ is the one I’ve chosen for day six.  For this reason I won’t mention a great deal about it here.  What I will talk about though is the selection of short films in the second collection.  I sadly missed the first due to having had too good a night the night before, so really wanted to catch these.  Overall I was very impressed with the quality and variety of the films and how they were all enjoyable in their own ways.  I think my personal favorite was ‘Nursery Crimes’ which I’d love to see again, but on the other hand ‘Brutal Relax’ was the most batshit insane and fun 15 minutes of my film-viewing life.  The fact that it won the Abertoir Short Film Audience Award says a lot, both for the quality of the short and the insanity of the Abertoir audience.  The selection also featured ‘Survivalismo’ which I will review very soon.

 

‘The Wicker Tree’ was next, but as already stated, that will be in a bigger review so I won’t go into that here.  What I will talk about though is ‘The Perfect Host’, featuring David Hyde Pierce.  The film was a massive hit with the audience and won the Abertoir Audience Award, knocking previous top-scoring film ‘Some Guy Who Kills People’ off the top spot on the last day.  While I still think ‘Some Guy Who Kills People’ was the better film for me personally, there were moments where I was almost crying with laughter at ‘The Perfect Host’.  The standard of films was so high that I’ve found myself struggling to put together a coherent top 5, which is no bad thing.

 

Next up was ‘House of Usher’ with a live piano accompaniment.  This was a really interesting way to view a silent film and definitely an experience I’d like to try again.  The screening was really full which suggests that its an idea that a lot more people are interested in than you might expect.  The last part of the festival was a talk given by Victoria Price about her father Vincent and was one of the most engaging and touching things I’ve ever witnessed.  From the talk it was made clear what an exceptional man Vincent Price was in terms of his dedication to visual arts and living his life without limits on his interests.  A very inspiring talk that was a lovely way to end the festival.

 

All that remains is to say that I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Abertoir and highly recommend attending to everyone with an interest in horror.  Roll on next year!