The following article takes place over the course of sixteen hours and thirty-nine minutes, starting on the evening of 10th December 2022.
9:06pm
As the country commiserates being knocked out of a tournament I didn’t watch because of “moral reasons” (Scotland supporter), my evening is just about to begin. Created by Bristol Black Horror Club and Stormjar Studios comes Home Is Where the Horror Is Allnighter. Hosted by Watershed as a part of BFI’s In Dreams Are Monsters Season, five spooky, scary, creepy etc. films will be shown consecutively starting at 10:30pm until the early morning. If it wasn’t difficult enough just staying awake throughout, I’ve tasked myself with writing a review on each between intermissions. This is alongside creating my own horror character to enter a digital haunted house. Is this feasible? As long as I don’t get hung up on spelling and grammar, barely. Am I tired already? Best not to think about it.
10:19pm
Watershed is a warm welcome, with heaters and regulars contemplating how long through the evening they’ll survive to. I also start calculating when I can make an exit. First up, after an introduction, is A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night.
10:58pm
I’ve jumped the gun slightly as Stormjar share their short film which, almost teasingly ironically, is about someone who can’t sleep. Fantastical colour pallettes whilst sporting the studio’s impressive immersive engine. Now onto A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night.
12:42am
The Horror/Western dynamic is ground rarely skated upon but, when my two favourite genres do combine, I really enjoy when they do. The film is ambitious, experimenting with story structure with how it follows different residents through Bad City, as well as sound design and its uses of silence, songs and sharp bites. Aesthetically, the black and white softboi vibes really pleases the eye, and, with so much of the pet cat on display, it feels like A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night was tailored to my specific taste. It’s charming, funny, an air of mystery, subtle storytelling which really emphasises the understated big moments, and just not what I expected at all. A great start to the evening.
3:07am
We had our first snorer about halfway through The Changeling, through no fault of the film. This exploration of grief through a haunted house is almost too rational of a ghost story until, naturally, it goes off the rails. There’s inspiration for The Conjuring and Hereditary here, with a stellar George C.Scott performance. I’m not so much of a ghost guy myself but I was still engaged and it was barely ridiculous compared to the Wan universe nowadays. Have also taken this time to workshop my monster idea with Sophia from Stormjar. So far, it’s a herd insect that feeds on creativity and replaces it with nostalgia, sucking people dry. Nosferalgia.
5:08am
After two reasonably understated pictures, an injection of energy was definitely needed. Enter Tales From The Hood, a collection of short horror films akin to your Treehouse of Horror or Twilight Zone but told from a black perspective. It’s over-the-top, it’s hilarious, it has important messages…
5:30am
Before I could analyse further, I’m whisked away with Sophia and Malik to discuss further my monster Nosferalgia. Malik’s movement is astounding considering it’s half 5 in the morning, and he’s really able to understand my idea and produce further ideas to add the creativity. First time he’s had insects today too, so we take those.
6:53am
Creating a horror character meant I came into From Beyond a few minutes late. What follows is a low-rent Croenberg BDSM porn and it may have pushed me to my limit. Just kinda grim with no meaning I could perceive this late into the marathon and ridiculous story that reality tenuously links the mess together. Penultimate film is always a tough one. Ah, it’s the Re-Animator guys, well that one was better easily.
8:43am
Well, this was the ridiculous over-the-top nonsense Far Beyond should’ve been but with Demons, because it’s Demons.
1:45pm
After a brisk walk home in the snow (alongside fellow degenerates exiting a rave by falling into bushes) and not nearly enough sleep, I’ve taken a look back at what I’ve written. It’s unfortunate I didn’t make enough time for Tales From The Hood specifically and surprising I could squeeze out a sentence for Demons when I could hardly speak, but overall I achieved the goal I’d set out. The added incentive encouraged me to stay awake but does discourage socialising, which is a large part of the collective suffering fun. Most of these films deserve a proper review too, but we’ll leave that in more capable, less tired hands for now.