This year we saw film worker Q&As and introductions, and stalls from Arrow Video, Last Shirt on the Left, HotFoodSheffield, and more. Surprisingly we also got to enjoy an event menu in the Showroom Cafe Bar, as well as a Celluloid Screams branded beer, Jim’ll Paint It’s excellent artwork was displayed throughout the cinema and the festival even hosted a live event experience. Giving this year’s festival some nice variety.

But now it’s time to review and rank every movie I saw at Celluloid Screams 2022, from worst to best in 25 words or less. Additionally, like last year, I will give you some short film recommendations at the end.

Reviews

Wolf Manor: Some minor laughs from ridiculing on-set power dynamics don’t prevent the bland performances and poor staging from tearing this werewolf movie apart. (2 / 5)

Matriarchy: This year’s audience award winner is destined to become a so-bad-it’s-good classic. With its hammy acting, gloriously ridiculous writing, and surprisingly great effects. (2 / 5)

Megalomaniac: Realistic handling of abusive power dynamics and Eline Schumacher’s resonant performance, unfortunately, give way to something more conventional that provides little beyond shock value.  (2.5 / 5)

Evil Eye: Ofelia Medina is the reason to see this movie. Her passion and energy are amazing. Shamefully nothing else in the movie matches her.  (2.5 / 5)

The Elderly: Zorion Eguileor and Paula Gallego’s performances, the suspense, and high-scale finale are laudable. Unfortunately, that goodwill fades thanks to baffling decisions making many characters unlikeable. (2.5 / 5)

V/H/S/99: Parts of this movie are boring, leery, and poorly structured. But three-fifths is inventive, ambitious, and well-done storytelling. Just skip stories 1 and 4. (3 / 5)

The Leech: Sometimes The Leech cheaply paints homeless characters as “parasitic”. Overall though it’s a great satire of how destructive extremist Christian views are. Perfect Christmas viewing. (3 / 5)

The Passenger: Paula Gallego’s second great performance this year. Definitely a future star. Despite an unlikable lead and overly familiar setup, it’s a fun b-movie throwback. (3 / 5)

Barbarian: Constantly shifting focus and stakes make Barbarian an exciting ride. Even if by the end it feels rather lacking in impact. (3 / 5)

Holy Sh*t: This portaloo thriller initially feels stagey and narratively frustrating. But an over-the-top second half and Gedeon Burkhard’s deliciously evil performance help salvage it. (3 / 5)

Something in the Dirt: Although Benson and Moorhead’s films (Synchronic aside) never fully satisfy me, it’s good seeing filmmakers exploring complex ideas and creating rich characters over spectacle. (3 / 5)

Bubba Ho-Tep: Some of Bubba Ho-Tep’s writing and editing are juvenile 2000s relics. Conversely, Ossie Davis’ charm and Bruce Campbell’s comedic timing carry it over those hurdles. (3 / 5)

Ghostwatch (Live Experience): It’ll never recapture its broadcast’s shock factor. That said the live experience added lots of atmosphere and Ghostwatch remains a well-photographed, piece of TV history. (3 / 5)

Watcher: Maika Monroe can do no wrong. The forced final coda and the movie’s slow pace don’t keep it from being an effective gaslighting thriller. (3.5 / 5)

The Harbinger: A dark lament for those we lost (and now seemingly have forgotten) during the Pandemic. With one of the year’s most frightening villains. (3.5 / 5)

Huesera: The excellent cast and effective direction anchor this creepy story about societal expectations’ impact on motherhood. My favourite new release from the festival. (3.5 / 5)

Evil Dead 2: 35 years later almost nothing tops Evil Dead 2’s sheer energy, enthusiasm, and imagination.  (4.5 / 5)

Shorts

And what were Celluloid Scream’s short highlights?

Comedy: The pooch slasher Good Boy, werewolf howler The Wilds and the sweet personal favourite Unicorn all provided some much-needed laughs.

Drama: The bitterly depressing Everybody Goes to the Hospital and the gothic Memento Mori animation effectively made us empathise with our fellow human beings.

Historical: Facies (El Semblante) was a horrific look at the torture inflicted during witch trials.

Conclusion

2022 was another great year for Sheffield’s perennial horror festival. Even if the features didn’t hit the highs of last year the new experiences, great shorts, atmosphere and standout moments left me hungry for more. 2023 can’t come soon enough.

Also Read: Screaming Again: Celluloid Screams 2021

Your contribution to Big Picture Film Club will allow us to continue to produce content. No matter the amount your contributions are greatly appreciated.

The post Celluloid Screams 2022: Screaming For More appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

Synopsis

Jay (Maika Monroe) is a teenager enjoying all the foibles of growing into adulthood. One-night Jay decides to sleep with her new boyfriend for the first time. Afterwards, she is knocked out and taken to an abandoned building. There her boyfriend reveals he has passed a curse on to her. A shapeshifting creature which can take the form of anyone has begun following her and it wants her dead.

Her boyfriend then disappears leaving Jay to deal with the threat on her own. The one positive is that the creature only follows her at a walking pace, so Jay decides to use this to her advantage.

Along with her friends, she tracks down her boyfriend to get an explanation out of him and they learn that the only way the creature can be stopped is to transfer the curse to someone else. But can Jay bring herself to put another person in harm’s way or will she try something different?

What did I like?

The hyperbolic claims that It Follows is simply not a good film is baffling. Purely from a technical point of view, the film is great. As a horror film, It Follows has a firm grasp of how to create tension through its presentation. Using long takes, interesting camera movement and good actor direction to build anxiety about where the monster is and when it will strike. The score also builds a tense atmosphere through creating both a confrontational and quietly eerie soundscape.

The acting is also superb. With the story centred around teenagers, the film could easily become laughable if the cast weren’t believable. But all the main actors feel like real teenagers. Maika Monroe particularly stands out as an incredibly likeable, sympathetic and genuine lead. Her monologue about remembering her youth near the film’s beginning carries great weight because of her delivery. And the way all the friends talk about their childhoods and the antics they get up to gives a feeling of true friendship, allowing us to easily invest in their situation.

The film also pays tribute to older horror films in effective ways. With a synthesizer-heavy score, a stalking camera and an unknowable slow moving, shapeshifting monster, evoking the feeling of John Carpenters older horror films. But the film also has a very modern outlook.

Instead of simply killing characters for having sex or exploiting them for pointless nudity, It Follows is more a tale about teenagers coming to terms with the vulnerability of their bodies. Many scenes have Jay looking over her body and showing how she feels different now because of the danger brought on by the monster. But she never shies away from sex. Her challenge is choosing what to do with the burden she’s been given. As an extension, the women are not solely victims, like in many other horror movies. They take an active role in dealing with the threat, and they call the shots when it comes to sex. While most of the men are cowardly or self-centred. A far cry from the puritanical traditions of many older horror films.

This amalgam of traditions makes the film almost timeless. Ensuring most generations will be able to get something from watching it.

What did I not like?

But there are a few things that let the film down. There are a few weird editing choices throughout the film where the focus will instantly shift to another point of focus instead of giving a payoff to what came before. This is particularly noticeable in the finale which, although it gets a point across, does feel somewhat out of place.

Another problem is that despite the film using its narrative in an interesting way, the beats of the plot are still very familiar to anyone who has seen a passing-on-the-curse movie. And there are very few surprises to freshen up the formula. Which may put off some audiences.

Finally, while the film provides positive female representation with its characters, the film does occasionally feel very leery. With long shots of the female characters in their underwear, swimwear and revealing clothes. While both a staple of the genre and somewhat justified by the theme of body image, it is telling that we never get similar shots for the male characters. And this can leave a bad taste in the audience’s mouth, especially with everything the film does to paint its women positively.

Verdict

Despite a few hiccups in editing, a familiar story and tending to slightly leer at its female characters, It Follows remains a great example of how to do modern horror right.

It gives us time to get to know the leads, who are all relatable and down to earth. While focusing on building tension rather than using jump scares, which the film does through interesting uses of music, camera movement and actor direction; It Follows celebrates the horrors of the past while updating some tropes to tell a modern story.

It Follows follows in the tradition of Carpenter and gives us a modern retro gem, that I can see audiences enjoying for years to come. Check it out and judge for yourselves.

Verdict: (4 / 5)

It Follows is available for free on BBC Iplayer for the next 2 months

Also Read: How The Blair Witch Project Changed Horror.

The post Retro Review: It Follows appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.