Grimmfest Day 1

Film 1 - Tales from the Lodge - a reasonably funny portmanteau horror with a twist. A group of friends from University all now pushing 40 meet at a lodge in the middle of nowhere to scatter the ashes of one of their old friends. Whilst there they share horror stories that possibly reveal too much about themselves. Secrets are revealed and there's a big daft violent ending as events take a swing for the more unpleasant.

Johnny Vegas made for a very memorable guest.

The tone of the film is all over the place, there are some really creepy moments in there amongst the slapstick of the characters's relationships. And the ending is just asking for controversy. All in all I enjoyed it

3/5

Second film - She never died. 

A few years back, they showed He Never Died - with Henry Rollins in mesmerising form as some type of immortal - apparently Cain (as in Adam and Eve's murderer son) living in modern America struggling to keep his cannibalistic instingts in check.

She never died is basically a gender swap on the central idea. Very good looking film and very well acted, but I'm not entirely sure why they tried to tie it in with the other film as they are very different films. Olunike Adelyi is a badass indeed in the central role but whereas Cain in He Never Died could function in normal society, Lacey (our immortal being this time round) is homeless with almost zero social skills learned in the millenia the character has supposedly lived.

It's all very gritty and violent and the ending was a direct lead in to a sequel - maybe They Never Died where Cain and Lacey team up for more of the same.

Another 3/5 If they hadn't tried to link the films, maybe I'd have had less high expectations on it.

Final film of the day - Satanic Panic

This was great fun from start to finish. a pizza delivery girl accidentally walks in on a satanic coven and becomes the target for their upcoming sacrifice. It had a nice retro feel to it, whilst still finding some good original touches all of its own. Gruesome, gory and funny.  What more can we ask for.

Bonus on this was I noticed the screenwriter was Grady Hendrix - and the next book on my reading list is My Best Friend's Exorcism - by Grady Hendrix. On the quality of this, Im in for a treat.

easy 4/5