The Blood In The Snow Film Festival -The Features!

The Blood In The Snow Film Festival has wrapped up for another year and it had some really great films, and one very cool documentary as well. I was only able to get around to watching four of the films.

Anything For Jackson

When you have a film that is starring Shelia McCarthy I can guarantee that you will always be pleased with her performance. I remember seeing her in "I've Heard The Mermaids Singing" in the theater back in 1987, she was great then as she is now.

For me, this was a fantastic film and easily one of the best films I have seen this year.

Story synopsis:

"A bereaved Satanist couple kidnap a pregnant woman so they can use an ancient spellbook to put their dead grandson's spirit into her unborn child but end up summoning more than they bargained for."

This film is so engaging and so very well done, where we have so many similar situations where the couple who are doing the kidnapping are often over the top and just plain crazy--don't get me wrong this couple is too just so you know.

Audrey Walsh(Shelia McCarthy) and her husband Henry (Julian Richards) have been stalking their pregnant neighbor Becker(Konstantina Mantelos) who is pregnant. She is going to help The Walsh's --without even offering to help them or knowing she was required to do so.

It gets quite dark and interesting mid-way through and keeps the tension mounting throughout and the ending has a really good payoff. This is not for everyone, but if the story interests you then definitely check it out.

Story synopsis:

A teenage runaway takes part in a sleep study that becomes a nightmarish descent into the depths of her mind and a frightening examination of the power of dreams.

Switching gears to some science fiction and another great Canadian actress in Julia Sarah Stone, I first saw her in Wet Bum and quite a few of her other films that have graced a few Canadian film festivals over the years.

Here she plays Sarah who is having some disturbing dreams and when she stumbles across a note that they are looking for people for a sleep test, she quickly signs up for it. Mostly, due to the fact that she is homeless and needs the money as well.

We are with her as she falls asleep and we see her dreams, without getting into too much, I found it a little cross between Altered States and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

There is always good documentaries any time of the year, I was quite interested to see this film as it's more about the fans of the Evil Dead movies and TV show Ash Vs Evil Dead.

Here we see a young couple get married and it's all brought around one of the Evil Dead part of a horror convention. A lot of fans and their love for the films and TV show. Some of the footage is of talking to some of the actors & actresses in the film series. of course, Mr. Bruce Cambell makes an appearance in the film and makes for some pretty memorable things for a few fans, one very special and kind gift that you will see when you watch the film.

Hall was a very well-orchestrated little thriller that had reminded me a little of Resident Evil--only thing here is we have a lot more suspense and build-up than the previously mentioned film.

Here we also have a virus that is leaked into an apartment building but the only real damage that seems to affect certain individuals that were in the Hall when it happened.

Our culprit leaves the room shortly after releasing the toxins into the air, you can already feel the sense of dread right away because we all know what it's like now to be locked away for days/weeks on end with what is happening around us.

The announcement comes across the TV stations about the outbreak and that everyone needs to stay in for their own safety. This film is not a gore fest --as some might expect, instead it's a story that gives us, the viewer a little insight into what each character is about --during the stay with them.

The title of the movie is fitting because that is where most of happens and we spend a lot of time in the hall as our character(s) try to get to the end of it. Because the characters and the story were so well placed out and well written this was an enjoyable film.