Today was the last day of the festival and I am knackered. I arrived just before noon and the start of the Human Killers & Psychological Terrors short film block. This is a sub-genre of horror that usually doesn’t speak that much to me, even though I have a fascination with the real life examples, and I nearly skipped the starting block because of that. However there were some of the shorts that stood out me and that I enjoyed.

Surgery – is the story of a man being tortured by an older man apparently without rhyme or reason. The film’s resolutions provides reason and context and what the story is rather used, a plot that I have seen a few times before, the execution was well-done and satisfying. This movie was a good example of the power of restrain in creating a sensation of horror, terror, and revulsion for the audience.

Little Boy Blue– another great entry from down under this movie is about a little boy being raised as a girl on a chicken ranch in the 1950. She discovers a terrible truth about the neighboring form and in the end resolves the terror. graphic and disturbing this film works on several levels and I hope to see more from these talent people.

Bunker Game – an entry from France this would play as an excellent short before the feature 10 Cloverfield Lane. The set up is simple a man keep and starves a woman in his bunker forcing her to playing endless games of Connect 4. This film turns on the woman’s performance and she delivers.

The last block I attended was the Supernatural Horrors short film block. Many of these movies did not work as well for me, though several had a lyrical quality that bordered on dreamlike. For me there was one stand out short in this section.

Leshy – from Slovenia is the story of a young girl, her forest ranger father, and the power that lives in the deep dark woods. This film rides on the back of its young actress who pulled it off beautifully. The style and story were very much like Guillermo del Toro and fans of his work would almost certainly enjoy this piece.

There was more to the festival, two more feature films and the awards, but my energy flagged and I surrendered to the inevitable returning home for the evening. I regret nothing save not taking Thursday off from my day job in addition to the Friday. The Wednesday night reception looked lovely and the food appealing but an early rise forced me home that night as well

All in all I had a wonderful time. I looked forward to next year with anticipation.

#HIFFSD

San Diego’s Premier horror film festival continued yesterday with more short and feature films. I put in a full day at the festival and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

The block of shirt films started us off with Science-Fiction and creature horror. Again the overall quality of the films was high but I am only going to speak about a few of the movies that stood out to me. This is not to say that those unmentioned were sub-par in any way. So far the ratio of hits to misses has been extremely high.

A Matter Of Trust – This is the classic dilemma seen often in SF shows and movies. There’s an imposter who is perfectly mimicking a loved one and the principle character must work out who is his real love and who is the imposter. This film is well made, well acted, and well written. I kept expecting a standard twist for the ending and the film surprised be with a novel and satisfying turn about of events.

Genghis Khan Conquers the Moon — not truly a horror film but a fun and whimsical fantasy piece they takes its concept and runs with it. Bonus points for the well turned performance from Hollywood veteran James Hong.

The Disappearance of Willie Bingham – oh, this may be the most powerful short of the festival. It come to us from the land down under, Australia and is top notch social science-fiction. The film deals with the difficult concepts of justice versus Vengeance and never flinches from its core conceit.

After a short break we continued with another block of short films this time the theme was LGBT movies.

The Black Bear – from Canada this movie featured LGBT characters but the central thrust of the film is an absurd encounter with a bear. It is comedy and works perfectly prompting plenty of laughs.

Next we watched a Feature film with LGBT theme.

Alena – from Sweden and produced by the director of a short mentioned earlier in my series, First to Like First to Die, this is psychological horror film set amid the teenager of an all girl high school. The film may or may not be a ghost story. (I love ghost stories so I will lean on the interpretation that the ghost was real not a product of a broken mind.) The script works, the movie is well made and well acted, and the real horror comes not from supernatural forces from beyond but the bullying and hazing people engage in so easily.

After the diner break – supplied by festival Sponsor Bread and Cie — we were treated to more short films and the final feature of the day.

Bionic Girl – from France gave us an SF musical film about a scientist and her perfect android creations.

Beyond the Gates – a feature film that paid tribute to the horror films of the 1980s, this story concern three people trapped by a demonic videocassette game that threatens their lives. Well made and acted the cast and crew were in attendance allowing for a lively and fun Q & A afterwards.

#HIFFSD