Yesterday was the so-called main night of Night Visions. The program consisted of 7 movies and they ran trough the whole night. Kino Engel was again totally packed and at least in the beginning of the night all the screenings seem to be sold out. And why not, the range and quality of the films were better than ever.
Here’s a couple of photos from the very crowded Kino Engel.
Before the actual movies started the Zombies got to meet the main guest of the festival Buddy Giovinazzo over coffee. We had an interesting discussion and got to ask some directorial advice from him. Timo and Buddy found a common ground in Udo Kier, who will be playing a part in Iron Sky and who has starred in two of Buddy’s projects in the past. Udo and Buddy are dear friends and we got some great pointers from Buddy on how is it to work with him. Buddy said that “when Udo is on set, it’s his party and everyone is invited” with a kindness that made us even more exited to meet him in the future.
Buddy had two films screened at Night Visions, first was his debut film Combat Shock and the other was Life Is Hot in Cracktown. The director was there to open the screenings and give Q&A’s.
Read my previous articles about Buddy Giovinazzo here and here.
Here’s a couple of photos from Life Is Hot in Cracktown.
After our conversation with Buddy, we headed out to Kino Engel to see The Crazies. It is a re-make of the 1973 George A. Romero’s classic of the same name, but it doesn’t quite hold a candle to it. The Crazies is a zombie film that forgets to really explore the zombies itself. We of course get to see the zombies or the crazies in this case, but not nearly as much as I would have hoped to. Also they played it way too safe on the gore aspect as well. The only scene that actually worked was the morgue scene with Timothy Olyphant. Oh well, I’m not too surprised. This is exactly the kind of horror movie Hollywood is mass-producing at the moment. In short: nothing new, seen it before a dozen times and no surprises.
The festival has now officially ended, but will be back again in October 2010 with Maximum Halloween. I want to thank Buddy Giovinazzo for attending the festival and also to give a special thanks to Liisa Lehmusto and Mikko Aromaa from Night Visions. You guys are awesome!
But before I end this post, here’s a little treat. Apparently after we left (which was way too early I’m afraid, but we were dead tired) the baby from Buddy G’s Combat Shock had found it’s way to Kino Engel. If you don’t believe me, check out the proof below.
For more info visit the official site.
Until next time, Zombies out.
