Rock star turned director Rob Zombie’s (The Devil’s Rejects) reboot of slasher classic Halloween fell flat back in 2007, and his follow-up doesn’t fare any better. It doesn’t bear much of a resemblance to the 1981 original sequel – and there are some who may think that’s no bad thing – and with its bizarre mix of torture porn and some ill-advised delving into the psyche of serial killer icon Michael Myers it’s a real horror for all the wrong reasons.
Surely any horror movie that employs the use of Nazi zombies, two of the most evil things imaginable, is going to be a truly terrifying viewing experience. Not when the director – in this case Norwegian Tommy Wirkola, who co-wrote the screenplay but Stig Frode Henriksen – decides to go down the black comedy route, a narrative choice that may waste some of the nightmarish potential of its premise but results in a hugely entertaining, hugely bloody romp.
The fifth and final day of FrightFest 2009 was the most exciting of the whole weekend, with so many great films to choose from showing across both screens that it proved very difficult to come up with a plan of viewing action. We decided to start the day in the Discovery Screen with Colin, the much-hyped debut from British newcomer Marc Price and were glad we did. Although we very much doubt that the movie cost just £45, a figure that’s been bandied around by the press, it was still an effective foray into low-budget horror film-making.
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