Movies
Abertoir Film Festival Catches Giallo Fever
November might feel like a way off but here’s one event not to miss during the penultimate month of 2017. Aberystwyth in Wales pays host to horror with the annual genre film festival, Abertoir. Part of the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation they known for their off-site cinema screenings as well as a multimedia approaches to horror storytelling through art exhibits and performances. Running from November 14 – 19 they have just released their painted artwork, initial guests and short films in selection. Take a look at the pussy grabbing poster below along with the full info.
“Our overall theme for the festival, which will this year celebrate the giallo – a subgenre long-loved by the festival. With that in mind, it is with great pleasure that we can reveal the festival’s two guests of honor this year – directors Lamberto Bava and Sergio Martino!
Opening the festival on Tuesday, November 14th is Sergio Martino’s stylish and sensual thriller, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key. With its mesmerizing visuals and intricate plot, Your Vice is a definitive example of the classic Italian murder mystery, and a prominent entry in the career of our first guest.
Sergio Martino will join us afterward for an in-depth discussion about his incredible body of work, particularly his career as the man responsible for some of cinema’s most iconic gialli, including Torso, All the Colours of the Dark and The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh.
Over the weekend we’ll also be joined by Lamberto Bava, son of the father of the giallo himself, Mario Bava, and filmmaker in his own right. Lamberto will join us in conversation with expert Stephen Thrower to celebrate the genre and the magnificent contribution both Bavas have given to Italian horror cinema – and of course, you’ll be seeing plenty of examples from both!”
A Father’s Day
(Mat Johns, UK 2016, 10 mins)
Unexpectedly reunited with his daughter amongst the ruins of the world as they knew it, a father is determined to make this day special, even if they are already dead.
Devil Town
(Nick Barrett, UK 2016, 15 mins)
Patrick Creedle, one of London’s rudest letting agents, is told it’s the end of the world by a homeless street-preacher; Patrick is skeptical of course – but today he’s about to be shown the proof.
Event Horizon
(Joséfa Celestin, France/Scotland 2017, 11 mins)
Summer 1997, in a small village of Scotland where nothing ever happens and the days all resemble themselves, a strange cosmic event comes to disrupt Julianne’s boring everyday life.
Flow
(Shelagh Rowan-Legg, UK 2017, 6 mins)
On the battlefield, blood will flow….
Holy F__k
(Chris Chalklen, UK 2017, 9 mins)
A darkly erotic and comedic short film about a demon and an exorcist’s deadly sexual tangle towards release.
L’ora del buio
(Domenico de Feudis, Italy 2017, 11 mins)
A little girl is captive to a mysterious abductor. There is only one way to save herself: call for help.
Mab
(Katie Bonham, UK 2017, 15 mins)
A magical realism short that uncovers the sacrifices people make to take control of their lives and the evil that lurks in the darkness of desperation.
Roake
(Joan Cobos, UK/Spain 2017, 11 mins)
Roake is a prolific yet abrasive photographer. One picture by him will catapult you to the top of the ‘A’ list, but at a terrible cost.
Twinky Doo’s Magic World
(Alessandro Izzo, Italy 2017, 11 mins)
Four robbers take refuge in a warehouse after a heist gone bad at Twinky Doo’s Magic World, a theme park for families. The police have surrounded the place, but the real threat is not outside.
We Summoned a Demon
(Chris McInroy, USA 2017, 6 mins)
They just wanted to be cool but instead, they got a demon.
Art by Pete Stevenson.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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