She Wants Revenge

She Wants Revenge, those words spark a sense of rebellion in you. Either the story or the filmmaker will be something outside of the box. Unofficially the ‘horror’ strand of the festival, the selection of films varied from traditional horror to new ways of the presenting the genre.

‘V’ broke the fourth wall with a young vampire who relates her story, in her own words, not letting on everything about her past. Taking the vampire genre and giving it a new blood, a new character and a different voice. ‘Baggage’ explored what it means to literally carry your past problems, friendships, relationships with you. Choreographed brilliantly by the two lead actresses who are attached to each other throughout the film. The idea that we are our own worst enemy was touched upon in ‘Bit’ about a dancer who finds out she failed an audition she battles herself as she dances in a mirror against a darker vicious version of herself. ‘The Other Side with Valerie Hope’ might not be a horror we’ve seen before, about a medium who finds herself in a difficult situation and her ‘gifts’ are put to the test. With a vert charismatic lead, the story does border the line of dark comedy with a very satisfying end.

New and social media makes an impact on us all, as we are fed perfected images from advertisements and other media, #EatPretty is fantastically pieced together using a technology used in beauty advertising, its grips and pulls you in with voiceovers from actors, seemingly innocent, a darker meaning lies beneath the perfect surface. The amazingly shot ‘Veiled’ explores the mythology of Jinn, using cleverly devised special effects and inspired by writings in the Quran about these creatures or beings that live in parallel with us. ‘The Old Woman Who Hid Her Fear Under the Stairs’ falls back to more traditional horror or dark fairytale with the only dialogue from a video about how to capture and trap your physical fear. It’s a cleverly devised story and as an audience vert quick to believe you can indeed keep your fear under the stairs. ‘The Blue Door’ which has no dialogue, is one the best horrors I’ve seen. Building suspense with quiet and an ever moving door that really does creep the hell out of me and everyone in the audience. The set itself felt like a character, created from old used film and TV sets, it was such a simple story but it had the best reaction from the audience. Ending on the perfectly named ‘Catcalls’ which sent shivers down my spine. Two girls take revenge on a pervert in ways you would never have guessed. Apparently based on a true story, I am really dying to know the real story!

After watching nine stories from women who are all talented storytellers, I was a bit shaken (horror has that effect on me) and also very excited to see more films from these filmmakers. Underwire is truly inspiring and I can’t wait for next year’s fest.

@underwirefest

#UnderwireFest