Friday 28 October 2016
This is no dream! This is really happening!
Frightarama arose once more. The all-night horror movie marathon returned to Phoenix Leicester on to bring participants five of the most terrifying, bizarre, hilarious and wondrous pieces of horror cinema known to man or devil. Not only that but we had an audience designed poster gallery , horror gaming and an audience compiled music playlist in our café, as well the return of The Short Cinema curated Frightarama Horror Shorts competition. There was a specially created menu of food and cocktails, raffles throughout the night and prizes for best fancy dress as well as a breakfast cob at dawn.
Film Lineup
Rosemary’s Baby
We kicked off this year’s Frightarama proceedings with Roman Polanski’s eerie and unsettling masterpiece Rosemary’s Baby. Oozing unease, paranoia and dread, Rosemary’s Baby is (nearly 50 years since its first release) still a disturbing and at time shocking piece of horror cinema. Is it really happening or is it all a dream?
The Descent
Hey, there’s something down here…
For our second slab of terror we brought you The Descent, the story of six friends who discover that their secluded caving adventure may not be as secluded as they thought. Neil Marshall’s (Dog Soldiers, Game of Throne) 2005 horror gems has hovered around the peripheries of the horror world, but with its claustrophobic atmosphere and bloody action The Descent is downright terrifying, and thoroughly deserving of a place in the classics canon.
Screened in glorious 35mm!
Hausu
Seeking to get away from her new stepmother, Angel and her five friends escape to her aunt’s country house. At the house a series of ever more bloody and bizarre events occur as the girls are dispatched one by one.
But Nobuhiko Ôbayashi’s film is so much more than this simple premise. With its bizarre visuals, off-kilter score, rooms literally flooded with blood and some of the most innovative death scenes in cinema, Hausu is a psychedelic wonder.
Tremors
Can you fly you sucker? Can you fly?
The fourth film in our all night horror marathon was the glorious schlock classic Tremors. Handymen Val and Earl take on one job they really weren’t prepared for when a mysterious underground creature starts killing the residents of an isolated desert town. Take one-part Bacon, one-part Ward and a whole lot of worm and you get a true comedic horror gem.
Also screened in glorious 35mm!
The Pit and the Pendulum
You are about to enter Hell, Bartolome, HELL!… The netherworld. The infernal region, The Abode of the Damned… The place of torment.
The final film in our Frightarama lineup was a tomb-cold classic. Delirious, psychedelic, eerie and elegant The Pit and the Pendulum marked Roger Corman’s second and arguably best foray into the gothic horror of Edgar Allan Poe. With the incomparable Vincent Price at the height of his scene chewing powers, this is b-movie horror cinema of the highest order.
The Social Cinema 