Feature - Celluloid Screams 2012 - Post-Match Chat

So there you have it. Not the best selection of films (that accolade would have to go to last year's), but I suppose you can only show what's actually being produced. At least there was a dramatic improvement in quality on the last day.

Biggest disappointment: Sightseers.

Most pleasant surprise: Before Dawn.

Worst film: V/H/S

Best film: Excision

To accompany the main films there are numerous short films. Three stood out for me: Leyenda, where a young girls gets to batter someone's head in, in a Wild At Heart fashion, Him Indoors with Reece Shearsmith as a agoraphobic serial killer and Pollyanna McIntosh as his new neighbour, and finally, my favourite, 72. By the director of the 'not very good' We Are What We Are, this is a cracking short about a real-life occurrence of a Mexican narco gang taking out 72 people and executing them. Really hard hitting, yet poetic and beautiful too. Again, I was really surprised that this didn't make it into the top three shorts.

Sadly, one film couldn't be shown due to technical reasons. I was looking forward to Memory of the Dead but hopefully it will be rescheduled. 

A big thank you to Rob Nevitt for organising the event and to everyone who helped to run it. So as the sun sets on the festival, what is the main thing that I've learnt from this year's selection of films? Chilean men are real charmers.

evlkeith