I waited for this for months. How excited was I to spend my entire weekend watching horror films? Let me tell you – very. I was already a tad bummed that the festival was taking place post-Halloween. But I started looking for tickets anyway.

Two of the places that were listed on the website as participating theaters, The Palladium in Birmingham and AMC 30 in Sterling Heights, turned out not to be. Now I was starting to get nervous. But I continued my search and eventually claimed my tickets from Emagine Novi Editors Note: Emagine is a highly recommended and interesting venue. Check it out.

Disappointment occurred again when I was told that no all shows passes, or even per day passes, were available. I shelled out an average of $8 per show (some were $9; some were $7) for a grand total of $64 for 8 films: 3 Friday, 3 Saturday and 2 Sunday.

This was two weeks before the Horrorfest weekend, November 17, 18 and 19. So I started to see who could go with me. Once again, disappointment reared its ugly head. Everyone was either working or poor, and I had no firm commitments for accompaniment. Nervousness and excitement followed. I thought it would be fun to see horror films alone – scarier. But the films wouldn't let out until 1am on Friday and Saturday. What if some creepy horror fan noticed I was alone and tried to reenact some classic horror film moment?

I ended up accompanied Friday and Saturday by one and two friends respectively – three different friends total. I went alone Sunday, but to daytime screenings, and made a few friends while there. I also learned that free tee shirts were being given out to anyone who saw all 8 movies. I wouldn’t have learned that if anyone was with me since I wouldn’t have been making new friends with old friends nearby. I was also able to give a spare ticket to a new friend who was lacking one ticket so she could get a free tee shirt, too.

Okay. So, now that you have my personal experience with the festival, here’s a synopsis of the films.

Reincarnation: A Japanese horror film from the creator of Grudge 1 & 2; an actress discovers she may be the reincarnation of one of the victims of a mass murder that she happens to be recreating on film.

A bit convoluted, but that is, after all, the draw of Japanese horror. It doesn’t explain and spoon-feed every detail to the audience. But that, and the fact that it was subtitled and also not gory, was the main complaint of lesser horror fans. I, however, found it to be sufficiently creepy. It’s not something I’d watch again, but I did enjoy it overall.
Grade: B

Unrest: A medical student decides her cadaver’s death was unnatural and tries to find out exactly what happened. (Known actor alert: Joshua Alba; yes, the brother of THAT Jessica).

A lot of repetitive dialogue and scenarios with mediocre gore and scares, but it makes up for the bland with unintentional hilarity. Near the end of the film, the med student and a pal go swimming in a tank full of corpses and formaldehyde, half-naked, as part of what was needed to put the cadaver’s soul to rest. Two scenes later, they arrive at a cave to scatter ashes and state, “I’m not going in there.” What? You’ll swim half-naked in a tank full of formaldehyde and corpses, but you draw the line at caves?
Horror Grade: C
Comedy Grade: A+

Dark Ride: A serial killer who killed two young girls years earlier returns to the scene of the crime – an old carnival ride – just as 6 college kids venture there to spend the night as a part of a dare on a stop during a road trip. (Known actor alert: Jamie Lynn Sigler, of Sopranos fame)

Ah, if only someone had killed me before I wasted an hour and a half watching this film. Typical film mistakes occurred, in rapid succession: Too much dialogue, not enough action; story told when it could have been shown; gore attempting to make up for lack of story; introducing new characters in the third act – and for the sole purpose of one cheap gore trick and a bad pun; highly predictable. Nothing happened for most of the film, and by the time it did, I had ceased to care.

Also, the characters lacked any depth or personality, so I was not vested in whether or not they lived or died. The story was weak; the gore was weak; and the actors were ugly and boring. At least if the actors would have been attractive, that might have made up for the rest. But they weren’t. Dark Ride blows.
Grade: F

The Grave Dancers: A trio of friends unleashes a trio of ghosts when they gather for the death of a friend. (Known actor alert: Dominic Purcell, of John Doe, Blade Trinity and Prison Break)

More comedy than horror; very campy; fairly likeable. The filmmakers would have faired better going all the way campy, however. It seemed like they half-committed to making the film funny, but still tried to get it to be scary. The ghosts looked a lot like the ones from Ghostbusters and they had to have known that. But it came off as attempting to be scary in acts one and two and then turned campy in act 3. A better blend would have made a better film. I also think Dominic Purcell was too serious to pull off campy horror. Was Bruce Campbell busy?
Grade: B-

The Abandoned: An adopted woman returns to Russia to find her biological family and uncovers some disturbing family secrets.

I have to go for the obvious slam here: Someone should have abandoned making this film. I was hoping that is was a Russian horror film, but it wasn’t. It was set in Russia, but probably filmed in Spain since most of the crew names were Spanish. But it could have been set anywhere. Why the filmmakers chose Russia, I don’t know. It bore no relevance to the story whatsoever. Nothing really happened, and what did happen was senseless and boring.
Grade: F

Penny Dreadful: A young woman and her therapist return to the scene of an accident that killed the woman’s parents when she was young. They attempt to confront her fears but encounter new ones when a hitchhiker stalks them. (Known actor alert: Mimi Rogers (Mrs. Kensington from Austin Powers 1) as the therapist; Michael Berryman (Hills Have Eyes- the original; Weird Science, Devil’s Rejects) as the gas station attendant for two minutes; guess they couldn’t afford him for the rest of the film)

Note to any future filmmakers: Do not pick a title that can so easily be turned against you.

Penny Dreadful: yep – dreadful, indeed. The film was a little slow and uneventful and characters were obviously introduced just to contribute to a body count. They could have been an attempt to give hope to the audience hope that young Penny might escape from the car she was trapped in, but the former purpose seems more likely. The filmmakers were obviously trying to go for irony: Facing fears about cars and being trapped in a car. They would have done better focusing solely on her fears, foregoing the stalking by hitchhiker. Or perhaps it was all in her mind. But the ending doesn’t indicate that. Maybe that’s too cliché, anyway.
SPOILER ALERT: Penny does not end up saving herself by facing her fears, as she should. That might seem cliché, but it would have given the film a purpose, at least. The film ends with her in a position where she might escape still if she does face her fears, but given her previous lack of actions, probably won’t. This might be seen as an open ending, generated to let the audience decide what happens. But I think open endings are the tool of lazy screenwriters who can’t decide what their film is supposed to be saying or who just made a movie in hopes of making money and don’t have anything to say. Enough said?
Grade: F

Wicked Little Things: A widow and her two daughters move into an old family home and are haunted by the ghosts of children who were killed years earlier in a mining accident.

Salvation for the festival! I LOVED THIS MOVIE!!!

The back-story was shown, not told. The characters were well-developed and likeable enough that I was vested in them living or dying. There was some wicked gore. But most of all: there are over a dozen kids all under 10 years old who come back as zombie-ghosts wielding pick axes and shovels. And they aren’t afraid to use them – liberally!

They move deftly, still wearing the clothes they worked the mines in. They have pasty skin and black eyes. Another note to future filmmakers: White contacts = goofy; black contacts = creepy. The story line flowed smoothly, with appropriate rising action.

All the characters served a purpose within the story as more than just a body count. And the kids were killing to avenge their own deaths, caused by the town’s most money-hungry family. A lot of the films elements are atypical, but the presentation is awesome: empty woods, dark shadows and creepy kids. Does it get any better than this?
Grade: A+++

The Hamiltons: A family with a major secret moves to a new neighborhood.

I thought the pacing of this film could have been better, but overall, I found it to be pretty well done. The family secret is never spelled out, but if you don’t get it, you were sleeping. And without good reason. The film is ultimately a coming of age story for one character who is in his teens. He has two older brothers and a sister in their twenties and a young brother around age 7 or 8. The eldest brother has watched over his younger siblings since their parents have died.

The film follows the teen sibling as he struggles to decide between exposing his family or joining them. The film does a good job presenting both sides and keeps you guessing until the end as to which way the teen will go. Very inventive, unique.
Grade: B

So, out of 8 films, I would watch 1 again. Not very good statistics, but I still had fun, got a free tee shirt and sat in a movie theater all weekend. Hopefully Horrorfest will return next year, before Halloween and with an all-shows pass available. Whenever and however it does return, though, I’ll be there.

Festival Grade: B-