Saturday 3 May 2014

Dead By Dawn

Jane was in Edinburgh last weekend for the Dead By Dawn Festival at The Filmhouse on Lothian Road. The horror film festival is held annually and kudos to organiser Adele Hartley for a cracking selection of films, some old, some new.

The festival opened at 23.30 on Thursday with an introduction from Adele who outlined her 'no sweet wrapper rustling  policy'; so Marie, you're not alone!  You can, however, take your drinks into the screening which explains why some of the pictures are a little bit blurry.  There was a 40 minute montage of classic horror trailers followed by William Castle's Spooktacular 'House on Haunted Hill' starring the inimitable Vincent Price.  I have seen his cookery shows on You Tube and they are fabulous.


 They also showed William Castle's 'Mr Sardonicous' (complete with punishment poll) which I had never seen before and it is wonderful. The film is not currently available on DVD in the UK so if you get the chance to see this on TV take it!  Guy Rolfe is magnificent.  'Where the Red Fox Lies' (originally a Kickstarter project)  draws a thought provoking analogy with mental illness and was paired up with 'Les Gouffres' which explores similar themes.  'Friday 13th' seems remarkably tame now when you consider the 'moral panic' about video nasties it (along with other 'slasher' films) provoked here in the UK.  Also enjoyed Japanese film 'Greatful Dead' which I'm sure we'll be hearing more of when word gets out. 


Tickets for the weekend were £75 which is amazingly good value. You can also buy tickets for the films individually. It's a marathon, I admit, but well worth it.  Adele is a splendid and erudite hostess and I met some great people there (even the guy next to me whom  I 'cuddled' when I briefly dozed off in my seat just after midnight took it in good humour- sorry about that btw). If you can get to Edinburgh next year, do come along. I'll certainly be there.