Frightfest 2014: Overview
So Frightfest was a emotional weekend for me. After I lost my job in 2008 Vic and I stopped going as full weekend pass holders. When I got a job again I felt I wasn't earning enough to justify the price until now.
But since 2008 I've always gone to see a few individual films. For the past few years Vic has been going to the Insomnia gaming event this weekend and I felt my Frightfest full weekend just wasn't the same without sharing it with her.
The festival has moved a short distance from the Empire to the Vue on Leicester square. I'm not sure about the reason but I suspect it is scale. The new setup has three 'main' screens showing the core films. These are mostly staggered/mixed so special guests can talk after their film with each audience. Not perfect for the guests but allows a lot more weekend pass tickets I guess. It also has a good bar area for socialising, although the tiny toilets were overwhelmed.
There were two 'Discovery Screens' showing other films. We could get free tickets to these using the weekend pass. I did it once as I did not fancy the new Eli Roth film but frankly there were lots of films I wanted to catch. At least I didn't 'waste' a timeslot missing a film I didn't want to see.
I had some nice neighbours in the Arrow Video Screen I was in. Frightfest prides itself on the community. It's still mostly male but there was a mix of people and in the festival guide there was a great essay extolling the need for more women to be making films.
I missed all of the late night films to avoid the nightbus home. Which is a pity but I think it gave me the energy to last all 4 days. The weather was mostly nice right up to the Monday where it chucked it down. Which was a pity as I was enjoying little walks in the West End between films.
One small bonus of the weekend: Gosh! Comics were giving a 10% discount. Guess who had 6 weeks of comics on his pull list? Plus I picked up a graphic novel too.
Funniest story of the weekend was when a cute girl in PVC came up to me and asked me if I was a director or producer. My Hollywood moment of the Festival.
Film reviews to follow.