FILM4 FRIGHTFEST - 13th Edition - Pt. 3

On Sunday all the expectations were for the solo project of Jaume Balagueró, Sleep Tight (Mientras Duermes). The translation of the original title does not prepare the audience to the extreme intensity and creepiness of the story, thanks to the talent of Spanish director Jaume Balagueró who managed to hook the audience to the screen with a beautifully crafted plot and visuals, where tension is always palpable and fear always there. César is a concierge in a building in Barcelona, but under his mild manners and humble gestures, he hides a creepy stalker and a Machiavellian identity that silently hit and affect his target, Clara, the beautiful girl who lives upstairs. It takes a while to understand what César’s plan is and it takes the whole movie to fully unfold his scheme, but when the final credits roll you cannot believe what you just saw. Luis Tosar delivers an excellent subtle performance, never overacting and at the same time never failing in adding suspense to the story. His depressed, indolent and wily character finds reasons to live in other people’s misfortunes, but the interesting fact is that we end up cheering for him, hoping he does not get caught and feeling sorry for his miserable life.
After the REC experience Jaume Balagueró created a movie that not only adds value to his already established status of talented director, but also makes him one of the most admired and renown names in the horror industry. Can’t wait for REC 4, and from what he said, it’s going to latch on to the second one, but with more gore and scares than ever.

Sinister took the prime time slot and after watching the trailer many people had mixed feelings about it, not knowing exactly what to expect. The usual house where someone died in some time before, the usual found footage, the usual supernatural twist and so on. But an unexpected great performance by Ethan Hawke and a plot that slowly builds up suspense without giving away too much too soon are the key elements to an otherwise ordinary script. Also the usual tricks – a score that makes you jump on your seat, creepy super8 footage, an otherworldly monster, blood-soaked scenes and a twisted ending – help Sinister to elevate itself from the shuffling crowd.

On the last day the final night slots were booked for The Possession and for the closing movie Tower Block.

The Possession is a modern copy of The Exorcist, but with a Jewish rabbi who performs an exorcism on a possessed girl. When the little Em finds a mysterious box at a yard sale, her behaviour starts to change until her divorced parents realize she is possessed. Nothing new on the screen, but Danish director Ole Bornedal changes a bit the rules of possession. Apart from the usual contour of characters around Em – a righteous mum, a father nobody can trust, an older sister who is disappointed by her dad’s actions, mum’s new boyfriend – what really strikes is the crescendo of the possession itself. Em becomes scarier and scarier until the very end when the exorcism takes place and surprises arise. You won’t take look inside your throat ever again.

The closing film of the festival was Tower Block, another British movie written by James Moran and directed by duo James Nunn and Ronnie Thompson.
Residents of the top floor of Tower Block 31 are the last ones remained in the impressive old building, and one day a sniper decides to kill them off one by one to finally free the ugly site. Booby traps and a rifle that kills with deadly precision do not leave many options to the heterogeneous group of residents who try to escape and stay alive. An interesting idea by James Moran and a conspicuous budget help Tower Block look good and some sequences are well done, like the unexpected start of the shooting. But the pace sometimes loses some beats and the central part tends to be a little static, especially when the group of survivors is stuck in the corridor at the top floor and they are just waiting to die while trying to figure out what to do. The funny character (Kurtis) helps keeping the irony and the attention alive, and it is just a matter of time until they find a way out and discover who the sniper is. And lacking many characters choices are limited, so guess who? Not as much adrenaline as expected, and not as much suspense as hyped, but Tower Block remains a good example of suspense British movie nonetheless.