Dead By Dawn
In Association with
FilmHouse
31 March to 2 April 2000
Edinburgh
Friday 31st March
8 pm
Mainly based at the Edinburgh Filmhouse but also showing features at the nearby Lumiere this was Dead by Dawn, Scotland's premier Horror Fest. This was my first visit to this festival which unknown to me has now been around for years and although I knew there was an impressive roster of films on show, with a good mix of old new and classic horror, I was reserving Judgment on what the festival as a whole would deliver .
Arriving late for the horror readings by the East Coast Writers Group I decided to give the bar the first of many visits. It was then that I realized that I had almost four hours to kill until the first and only film of the night, so a tour of the local bars ensued. Good start then!
The first film of the weekend, "Lighthouse" was introduced by it's director Simon Hunter and was fantastic, a real high to start with and one of my favorites of the weekend. The question and answer session with the Director, Producer Mark Leake and one of the stars (Pat Kellman ) afterwards only increased my admiration for the film as they spoke about the budget and the parts of the film that had to be left out because of money and time constraints. The crowd really appreciated this one and everyone left on a high looking forward to Saturdays marathon session. The Filmhouse seems to be a great venue with comfortable seating and a 3am late license. A few beers later it was time for some kip.
Saturday 1st April
1pm
Starting at this time allowed for a long lie and a bit of shopping, which got me the recently released uncut version of "Shogun Assassin" on DVD. Star wars The Phantom Menace has just been released on video and is impossible to escape, It's playing on large screens in HMV and seems to take up every available piece of spare floor space. I wouldn't mind if the film was any good! a more perfect example of style over content there has never been.
The opening film is "The Last Broadcast" which although being released a year before and having a similar documentary feel to "The Blair Witch Project" has totally passed me by. However after viewing the film I can understand why nobody made much of a fuss about it. I wasn't impressed, and judging by the crowds response neither were they, although in the bar afterwards someone did remark that they thought it was a more intelligent film than "Blair Witch" ?? Itself a film which people seem to love and hate in equal measures.
A few hours break and it was our first film at "the Lumiere" the screen at the Royal Museum, the world premier of Jean Rollin's new film "La Fiancee de Dracula". Anyone who has seen any of Rollin's other work can vouch for it's weirdness and this one certainly delivers on that front. The last film of his I saw was "Two Orphan Vampires" which I saw at "Eurofest" a few years back and hated. So this film was a welcome return to form and I enjoyed it greatly. Unfortunately Rollin himself was not there due to heart problems, so it was left to three actors from the film to make an appearance and read a letter from Rollin's, saying how much he regretted not being there .
Next up, also at "The Lumiere" was a fantastic double bill of Italian Giallo. Dario Argento's "Bird with the Crystal Plumage" and Mario Bava's "Blood and Black Lace" Introduced by Kier-la Janisse, editor of "Cannibal Culture" fanzine and director of Vancouver's Horror Festival. Both are brilliant examples of a Genre that their directors are masters of. It certainly left me with a interest in seeing more films in a genre which I haven't delved too deeply. In between the films was a trailer for a new release from "Exploited" video's "Killing of America" a brutal look at the USA's gun culture and its implications. I've seen this shockumentary before and it pulls no punches, showing shootings and other violent acts in gruesome detail. This took us up to 22:45 and left us a short break to scamper back to The Filmhouse for the next film starting at 23:40, and the start of the all night showing.
The all Night horror session
I was really looking forward to the UK Premier of "Pitch Black" after reading about it in the programme. A great Sci-Fi Horror with a compelling storyline and another high point to add to the list. Next up was "Angel of the Night" a mix of "From Dusk till Dawn" vampire and John Woo action films which was a real crowd pleaser and received the loudest cheers of gratitude from the crowd, it wasn't my favorite film of the weekend but was hugely entertaining stuff. The director, Shaky Gonzales made a personal appearance to talk about his film and answer any questions afterwards, he came across as a very cool guy, he's obviously a horror film fan himself as he stayed on for the rest of the festival. Next up were two classic horror flix, "An American Werewolf in London " is pure class and a revelation on the big screen compared to my previous viewings of it. "Return of the Living dead" was similarly brilliant and is one of my favorite films ever. At this stage it was time for me to bow out for a sleep, so I missed Michael Soavi's " The Church" and "Phantom of the Opera" by Dario Argento. I'm not a fan of The Church so I didn't feel I was missing anything too vital to my weekend. The time was around 7:30 am and I had to check out of the hotel at 10:30 so some tactical sleeping was essential to my survival.
Sunday 2nd April
1pm
Two hours sleep and a shower later and I was ready to go again. Back to the Filmhouse it is then. The first film on Sunday was the French short "Killer of little fishes" which I found truly outstanding in every department. Next up was the modern Killer b movie "Bats" which was no more than an amusing time filler. A trip back to the Lumiere was to bring an unexpected surprise. The 1921 film "Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages" which I didn't think would be up to much turned out to be a film full of startling imagery and unintentional humor. Next up was the New Zealand short "Crab Boy" which went down like a lead balloon. Weird film! It's safe to say that the next two films drew the largest crowds of the weekend, "The Wickerman" is regarded as a classic by many and is followed fanatically by some. The writer of the new book Inside the Wickerman Allan Brown Introduced the longest version of the film available anywhere and held a question session afterwards which included the question " Are there really heathens living on those islands " which drew laughter from the rest of the audience . Back to the Filmhouse for the finale which was to be the UK Premier of "Scream 3" I'm not a fan of sequels in general, with a few exceptions like the Alien films, but this one did nothing for me. It started off ok but seemed just too samey to pull it off, there were plenty of Scream fans there who would disagree and they lapped it up and enjoyed every minute. All I can say is thank god Craven has stopped at three !! Around 1:30am and it was all over.
Conclusion
Overall then a huge success with some great movies. I missed two films but didn't sleep through any either which I class as a success also. A big thank you must go out to the Festival Director Adele Hartley who was always there to introduce the films, beer in hand and full of energy and has done a great job. See you next year!!!
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