The Bang! Short Film Festival's evil twin returned to the Broadway Cinema in the shape of Mayhem 2 – the Bleeding Edge of Horror, for a second dose of deadly chills from up and coming film-makers. The evening kicked off with Owen Davies' refreshingly nutso "Hiss in the Wind", confirming what we all suspected about swans – namely that their aristocratic, whiter-than-white exterior hid a sinister secret. With overtones of "An American Werewolf in London", "Hiss" is an accomplished little horror-comedy boasting a seemingly huge number of extras, timely subject matter in these times of bird-flu paranoia and a disquieting performance by Roger Knott-Fayle. Dan Baker's "Terminal" was next, made on a micro-budget, an inventively executed update on the Succubus legend with some good use of music. Andrew Brand's masterfully tense "End in Tears" presented a disturbing but familiar scenario, (scared children in woods) and proceeded to update the premise with strong performances and disorienting editing and sound design. "Amor So de Mae" or "Love from Mother Only", marked a turning-point for Mayhem: not only was it the first Brazilian short showcased, but for sheer visceral horror in the great tradition of the Italian horror-meisters, this was the Real Thing. A deeply chilling tale of devil-worship set in South America not for nothing does the director's credit read "Committed by Dennison Ramalho" whose blood-thirsty tale of Macumba voodoo and matricide features some of the most disturbing imagery seen in a very long time. Exceptional performances and disturbingly confrontational direction, it looks like Brazil has finally found someone to take up the bloodied mantle of Mojica Marins. Hail Mary's all round. The mood was lightened somewhat by "Weight" (sic) John and Tom Turrell's psycho fable featuring some nicely insane performances and an inevitably bleak ending. Nose Hair was also a dark giggle. James Sharpe builds his short towards a horrible gag that almost makes you gag. Nicely timed and very realistic brain matter! Another local film-maker Steve Sheil offered another slice (literally) of his dark vision with "Through a Vulture Eye". Not one for the squeamish, Sheil constructs a premise based around the old belief that a dead body will retain the last image it witnessed onto its retina like a photograph. Murderer and DIY ophthalmologist Mark Devenport takes steps to cover the tracks (of his tears…). With every new film, Sheil's work becomes more assured, "Vulture Eye" features the best use of exotic fruit I've seen in a long time. Keep 'em peeled for this one. The shorts section finished up with the hilarious blood-bath "Forklift Driver Klaus", a gory work safety film of do's and don'ts on the factory floor from Stefan Prehn and Jorg Wagner who gave everyone a bload-soaked chuckle from what's sure to become a short festival favourite. After the break another first – the evening's programme finished with a horror feature"Wilderness", Michael J. Basset's follow-up to "Deathwatch", featured Nottingham actor Toby Kebbell. Borrowing heavily from horror classic "The Most Dangerous Game" (as mentioned by Chris Cooke in his introduction) "Wilderness" brings the premise of the original bang up to date with young-offenders fending for themselves on a remote island whilst someone is out there hunting them. Kebbell is very watchable in the lead role, but sadly the film doesn't pay off in a satisfying way and Basset fails to make good use of the Wilderness at his disposal. Bang! is an inclusive, non-competitive event. The festival runs three times a year, each event featuring a main programme and a young filmmakers programme, each programme featuring 90 minutes of film mixing no cash raw talent alongside big money slickness, documentaries and drama, comedy and musical, experimentation and madness. The next Bang! will be in August '06. Please Contact Donna Bowyer on 07763864057 for more details. | 
