Culture.ee: Five film recommendations for HÕFF
Ahead of Haapsalu Horror and Fantasy Film Festival (HÕFF), which kicks off on Friday, Helina Koldek of culture.ee has shared her top five film picks for this weekend's three-day festival.
2017, directed by Evan Katz
Canada, USA
Cynicism, dark humor, exciting twists and fluent movement between different genres — these are only a few keywords that characterize the creation of director Evan Katz, who first won the hearts of viewers with his directorial debut "Cheap Thrills" in 2013. The festival's opening film is certainly worth a look — good filmmakers, decent implementation and just enough tension guaranteed.
2016, directed by Ben Wheatley
U.K.
Disturbing and dark "Kill List" (2011), morbidly humorous "Sightseers" (2012), the dreamlike mushroom adventure "A Field in England" (2013), stylish dystopia "High-Rise" (2015) — we cannot deny that Wheatly ha never disappointed and doen't this time either. "Free Fire" is a must-watch!
2016, directed by Liam Gavin
Ireland
Slowly flowing occult horror balances skilfully on the boundaries of the viewer's knowledge and ignorance, maintaining tension until the very end. Steve Oram, who is familiar to HÕFF's loyal guests, delivers an uncharacteristically humorless performance and is even better at this than he is at being funny. The film certainly offers something to moral lovers as well!
2016, directed by Nabwana I.G.G
Uganda
The action-filled soap operas of Wakaliwood are everyday rituals of a few film gourmets here, but at HÕFF, even ordinary people will have a rare chance of going on a journey into an unprecedented cultural cauldron, where logic and sound mind may not be the best travel companions but the hunger for humor will definitely be fed.
2016, directed by Morgan Spurlock
USA
Documentary- and animal-lovers should certainly watch the festival's closing film, which follows the rich lives and miserable ends of rats in different cities around the world from several different aspects. Approaching the film from the horror film perspective, one can also guess who the most horrible characters of the work are. There are several options to choose from: a) rats, b) tapeworms, c) people, or d) someone else.
-
This post originally appeared on the Culture critics' blog at culture.ee.
Editor: Aili Vahtla