Grimmfest 2018 - Dead Night

Director: Bradford Baruh

Cast: Brea Grant, AJ Bowen, Sophie Dalah, Elise Luthman, Joshua Hoffman, Daniel Roebuck, Barbara Crampton

Synopsis: A caring mother loses her grip on sanity during one terrifying night in the woods.

Grimmfest say: This one has it all, and then some. It's a wild and genuinely unpredictable ride; splicing together Evil Dead style cabin in the woods antics with folk horror, pagan ritual and witchcraft with political satire, arcane conspiracies with gory axe-killings, and framing it all within a dual-timeline narrative structure, pastiching one of those lurid and bombastic true crime shows so beloved of US TV, and contrasting the actual events with how they were reported later. Even though we know almost from the start what will happen (or think we do!), the whys and wherefores remain obscure and the film's breakneck pace and unexpected switches in tone and focus will keep you guessing and wondering to the end. With a top cast headed by Barbara Crampton and AJ Bowen, this is an off-kilter, bloody, and darkly humorous study in family dysfunction, religious hypocrisy and media manipulation that you won't forget in a hurry.

What I'm Expecting: After my reading up on Dead Night I've been left expecting a film possibly taking influence from something like Nightcrawler or Hereditary, maybe even a dash of Frailty. I'm thinking maybe a home invasion kind of feel, but with a psychological, inner demon twist, à la Haute Tension. So basically, I don't really know what to expect, but my review of the film will be available through UK Film Review after the review embargo has lifted.