Medium Latte [Festival Report: Horror-On-Sea 2019]

I was only able to attend one out of the six days of Horror-On-Sea this year so I made the most of it, taking in 6 feature films and several well-chosen short films. I picked up some... unusual DVDs on the second hand tables, so more on that story later when I've watched them. I ended the day in the casino beneath the venue for a drink and a chat with some of the festival organizers and filmmakers - as I found last year, this is a friendly, down to earth festival where the Underworld can meet the elite. After a brief flutter I left the casino up by £4 and a free pen, so can't complain about that either. I have added screening one of my films at Horror-On-Sea to my bucket list. In order to achieve this item I may need to actually make some films.

Themes for this year, at least for the day I attended, included vampires, mediums, cats, hipsters, curses, parallel worlds, international film, great memorable characters, and bonkers. Bonkers is the new jump scares.

Overall I was bowled over by the quality of the films screened. Every single one was either highly enjoyable, or still highly enjoyable if slightly too long. I'll post individual reviews of some of the films later, but I'd like to highlight some of the highlights - so here are the Sci-Fi Gene Awards for Achievement In Horror:

Snakes On A Plane Award for Achievement in the Naming of Horror Films:
awarded to Polterheist (UK, dir David Gilbank)

Last Temptation Of Christ Award for Achievement in Theatrical Portrayal of Jesus:
awarded to Vidar The Vampire (Norway, dir Thomas Aske Berg and Fredrik Waldeland)

Hidden Figures Award for Advancement of the Cause of Feminism:
awarded to Space Babes from Outer Space (USA, dir Brian Williams)

If the winners would kindly proceed through the interdimensional gateway to the parallel universe where there is actually money for this kind of thing, I (or my interdimensional double) look forward to welcoming them to the glamorous award ceremony and presenting them with their antimatter trophies.

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