Knoxville Horror Film Fest 2014: Feature Reviews

By Jeffery X Martin

The Editor

Most of the movies screened at the Knoxville Horror Film Fest are now available for either VOD rental or disc purchase. They weren’t at the time, though; technology moves quickly, and so does consumable product. Here’s a quick rundown of what was shown, with a humbly presented opinion on each.

Suburban Gothic: This horror/comedy is more cloying than funny, more shrill than scary. Kat Dennings wears almost enough black eye makeup, but isn’t given a lot to do. Matthew Gray Gubler is given too much to do, and his neurotic character quickly wears out his welcome. Thank the gods for Ray Wise, who saves the movie from being a complete seizure with his well-tuned, grounded performance. He’s the only treasure in this chest.

V/H/S Viral: The third part to this anthology series turns to the Internet for its wraparound, so it is more digital than analog, but it doesn’t matter. It’s the next logical step, and this movie brings some serious chills and gore. The best sequences are Nacho Vigalondo’s spiritual sequel to Timecrimes, a tale of parallel universes that gets real weird, real fast, and Bonestorm, a fantastic mash-up of homemade skateboard videos and hardcore Santeria, from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Resolution). While this installment may be the weakest of the series, it’s such a strong series that this movie is still pretty darned good.

Bloody Knuckles: Horror movies that try to make a point usually end up being more preachy than they are fun. Remember when they tried to make you feel bad for Leatherface because he was just “different?” Yeah, balls to that. Bloody Knuckles takes a strong stand for art; its main character gets his hand cut off for drawing a comic that exposes a local businessman as an environmental terrorist. His hand survives and becomes an autonomous crawling tool of vengeance. This movie deftly mixes arterial spray with inspiration, and serves as a great reminder that art doesn’t have to match the couch. A paean to subversion, Bloody Knuckles is a must-see.

The Editor: I don’t often see movies that make me angry immediately, but The Editor pissed me off. I was mad that it ended. I was frustrated that it wasn’t available for me to own, on Blu-ray, so I could watch it again right away. The Canadian collective known as Astron-6 has constructed an homage to Italian gialli films so clever and so concise, it could stand as a true giallo itself. All the tropes are there (the casual violence against women, the black-gloved killer, and the utter lack of logic) but The Editor doesn’t use them in a ham-handed way. This isn’t a Zucker Brothers movie. There’s love in this flick. There’s also Paz de la Huerta, with the scariest eyebrows since Anne Hathaway in The Princess Diaries. Horror fans will get the biggest kick out of The Editor, but even if you don’t get the references, the jokes still hit home. As soon as you can, watch The Editor. Buy it blind. Trust me.

The ABCs of Death 2: Wisely learning from the mistakes and excesses of the first film, this second anthology film in the series is leaner, meaner, and far more focused on scaring its audience. You’ll find very little of the wild abstractness of the first movie here. While any anthology film is inherently hit or miss, the odds are in your favor that you will like more of the episodes than less. Personal favorites include “A is for Amateur,” “S is for Split,” and “V is for Vacation.” A tenfold improvement over its predecessor, The ABCs of Death 2 makes one excited for a third film, or at least one based on a new subject. The Mathematics of Death, or something. We could all get a degree in this stuff.

Soulmate: Axelle Carolyn’s first feature film recalls the staid style of English ghost stories from the Sixties. There are shots of the rolling countryside, people wearing thick sweaters, and refusing to talk about what happened in “that house.” Soulmate, for a while, threatens to veer into Hallmark Channel land. The renter of the house begins to fall in love with its resident ghost, who begins talking to her . . . oh, I don’t like it when the monsters talk. Thankfully, it takes a turn back towards the bleak, rescuing itself from the abyss of other paranormal romances. Certainly not the weakest film of the festival, but I’m hoping Carolyn’s next work is stronger.

Housebound: This film from New Zealand has the approval of Sir Peter Jackson. Remember when he used to make movies that didn’t have Hobbits? When a felon is placed under house arrest and sent back to live with her mother, strange things begin to come to light. The house shows signs of being haunted and, well, frankly, that’s all you need to know about the plot. The script takes some wild turns, all of them totally logical, and the bloodshed is inventive. It has a similar tone to Jackson’s The Frighteners; no wonder he likes the film so much. Pull up the subtitles if you have a hard time with foreign accents, but do give it a watch. You’ll never look at a cheese grater the same way again.

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