| Bang! Short Film Festival | Bang! is the fastest growing short film festival in the region and showcases the best in filmmaking from the region and beyond whatever the budgets, style or genre. |
I tried to reassure her but the simple, terrible truth was - I didn't know. In the event, we both had nightmares. Bang! the fastest growing short film festival in the region showcases the best in filmmaking from the region and beyond, whatever the budget, style or genre, but each year they are inundated with horror movies- obviously the region is at the cutting edge of a renaissance in this genre and the Bang! Organisers decided to respond to this with a one-off screening of some of the best, bone-chilling shorts they could get their hands on… Monsters The night kicked of with Robert Morgan's Monsters from the Cinema Extreme label: siblings Stan and Mary are constantly at war over Stan's "strangeness" but is there really a murderer on the loose from neighbouring Broadmoor, or is Stan far stranger than he seems..?
Morgan's gift for creating truly bizarre and chilling tales, seen before with Bang! favourite The Cat with Hands, was once again on show here. Surely Morgan’s feature debut can’t be too far away? Coconut by Mehul Desai followed, a worrying tale about a sentient and sinister coconut! Loonar Loonar by Dirk Smith was up next, a nice take on the Werewolf myth. Smith, new to Bang! showed skill and verve and hopefully we'll see more of his work at Bang! The Fan by Jamie Lewis, an Australian short, featured a malevolent desk fan that becomes jealous over its owner's relationship with his girlfriend to devastating effect. This was both witty and scary, I'll never look at a fan in the same way again! Get Got by Matt Taylor "The Regional Zombie classic!" as Bang! describe it, they're not far wrong as a house full of lads gets infected by something in the rubbish... this is what Bang!'s all about, no-budget film-makers having a real good go and having a right laugh to boot. Cry Steven Sheil's Cry was a truly nerve-fraying experience; in form the last reel of a horror film, a sensory overload of images and sounds that I'm still trying to process. This looked great, featured an intense performance by Michaia Dring and as with all Sheil's work was an editorial tour-de-force. Cry showcases Sheil's superb visual style and an innate understanding of what makes us scared; experimental, dazzling, disturbing. The Man with the Exploding Belly by Joe Atom & Magic Dan, did exactly what it said on the tin and was absolutely hilarious. More power to Derby duo Joe & Adam! Animation was once again strongly represented at Bang! And Prick by Michael Lomon was no exception. An extremely affecting piece about a Child's dependency, indoctrination, and ultimate alienation, this featured stop-motion animation of a very high standard indeed; crucially creating characters you could empathise with and care about. Stunning. Separation And the top-drawer animation continued with the second of the night from Robert Morgan, Separation was again a stop-motion gem, about conjoined twins. Beautiful photography, set-design and characterisation, Separation was terribly dark tale, but at the same time moving as the pain of separation can sometimes be better than the pain of getting back together... What About the Bodies? Simon Ellis' timeless thrill-ride has been remixed with a new soundtrack but it still delivers the shocks and laughs in equal measure!
Joyful Inside by John Ross was next. A lot has been made of the Polanski influence but there's far more to this gem than a mere Repulsion rip-off. Great performances and masterful tension-building and atmosphere all add to an intriguing and unsettling psycho-chiller that poses more questions than it answers as an agoraphobe looks into the past for a way out of his self-imposed prison. Great prowling B&W camera work and editing all add to the claustrophobic paranoia. A classic in the waiting. 10 Steps by Brendan Muldowney closed the night on a high (or should that be a low?) and featured that horror staple - the babysitter. Originally handled, well acted and with a beautifully realised shock ending, 10 Steps is a real cracker from the emerald Isle. We don't have that long to wait for the next Bang! Festival and the organisers have this message for any budding directors: "We are calling all filmmakers for new work in any genre for the regions biggest and best short film festival. All films must be 12 minutes or under. "There will be a Family Matinee on Saturday 30th July at 3.15 and a main programme Sunday 31st July showcasing the best from the region including drama, animation, documentary and experimentation plus international and national festival premiers! Dead line for submissions is 1st July! "We will also be showcasing a new documentary that brings youth communities together to explore complex social issues, 'Reality Cheque', which follows youths from St Anns, The Meadows and Radford as they travel to Northern Ireland to get a fresh perspective on gun crime..." | 
