Creepy cinema

After missing out on the Telluride Film Festival, I decided to go to the Telluride Horror Show, a three-day event showcasing the latest movies from across the world in the always excellent genres of horror and thriller. Instead of the 30-minute flight from Denver, I decided to take the road, a six-hour drive past some of the most scenic spots of the US. Through the 530-km distance, snow-capped peaks were my constant companion. Apart from gazing at the truly magnificent mountains of Telluride, I managed to watch a few movies at the event, which was packed to the rafters in each show. Most of the regulars wore T-shirts yelling “To Hell U Ride”, just to drive home the point.
 
Anna and the Apocalypse: This was easily the best feature showcased at the event. This zombie apocalypse drama set in a sleepy Welsh town has gratuitous blood splattered across the screen while its high school characters break into a song and dance routine at the most inopportune moments. There’s a decapitation scene involving a see-saw that made me doff my hat to the sheer genius of director John McPhail. There are also a few sinister-sexy cultural references pertaining to pop stars that kept one chuckling through this bloody affair. If Richard Linklater ever tried his hand at Shaun of the Dead, the result might be a movie as deliciously gory as this.
 
Cam: This nail-biting, soon to be seen on Netflix thriller about a girl (Madeline Brewer) who battles with identity theft in a world of webcam pornography, is a call for you to immediately get the subscription of the streaming service. Brewer’s powerhouse performance as a coquettish diva for all the rejected men of the world, one who suddenly has to deal with her online persona usurped by a virtual unknown, was the talk of the event. It’s like the best episode of Black Mirror that is yet to be produced. First-time director Daniel Goldhaber has woven a riveting yarn that presages the future of the dark web. His script is in equal parts bleak, beautiful and bruising. The visual explosiveness of the climactic scene is ineffably brilliant. Cam is a quintessential 21st Century movie, warts and all.
 

Anna and the Apocalypse was easily the best feature showcased at the Telluride Horror Show

The Witch in the Window: Andy Mitton’s slow-burning horror movie has enough jump cuts to keep the conventional viewer interested but it also spirals into something more sprawling involving a father and his son. Simon (Alex Draper) takes his son Finn (Charlie Tacker) to a countryhouse in Vermont, ostensibly to renovate it and sell it for a higher price, in realtor terms called “flipping the house”. Little did Simon know that he bought the house in ignorance of a witch called Lydia who had been seen at the upper floor window. Undettered, the father-son duo continues to fix the house until Lydia starts messing with their heads. Creeptastic to the core.
 
The Head: The event’s only underwhelming feature has been this movie, which wouldn’t even pass off as deleted footage of Game of Thrones. The event brochure described this rank unknown movie thus, “A medieval bounty hunter seeks vengeance on the monster that killed his only daughter.” A late-night show to this movie involved a belaboured narrative and the only cast member getting on my frayed nerves. Thankfully, the cinematography is stunning and shows the jungles in their absolute glory. Also, it’s only 70 minutes long and that made me sit through the whole Groundhog Day aspect of the protagonist impaling heads of multiple creatures until he stumbles across the culprit responsible for his daughter’s death. It’s the Vikings version of Waiting for Godot.
 
The Dark: Justin P Lange’s directorial debut is about two teens who are brought together by extreme circumstances to deal with both external and internal demons. Nadia Alexander is satisfyingly strange in her craggy performance as Mina, the disfigured demon, who meets Alex (Toby Nichols) after slaying his kidnapper. Apart from the mood, there’s a creaking house and enough axe-wielding scenes to keep the genre’s fans interested. Lange tells his tragic story in a back and forth manner to keep the viewer guessing. There’s a brilliant vertigo-inducing scene involving an axe that left me haunted hours after the screening.
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